Boat Wiring - Need Advice/Guidance

[Junger]

So my ProV Bass came wired by my dealer. It has a Group 24 cranking/house battery in the rear, and three Group 31 trolling motor batteries up front.  The rear has a bus bar, which has the charger lead, two humminbird graphs, ethernet box, and console panel electronics. The Group 24 battery has leads from the bus bar, Mercury outboard, ignition switch, and hydraulic steering.

 

I'm upgrading the the Group 24 to a LiFePO4 dual purpose battery, and the screw in M8 post is pretty short, and I can't duplicate the connections above. I'm going to move the steering and ignition switch leads to the bus bar. I don't think it should be an issue, but just wanted opinions.

 

TIA

[MN Fisher]

Long as the bus-bar is rated for the maximum amps you expect to push through it...shouldn't be an issue.

[Junger]

28 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Long as the bus-bar is rated for the maximum amps you expect to push through it...shouldn't be an issue.

 

Looks like it's rated for 250A, and it has a 50A breaker on the lead to the battery, and the charger lead to the bus bar has it's own 15A breaker. 

[casts_by_fly]

Get a longer m8 bolt…

[Junger]

3 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

Get a longer m8 bolt…

 

I called Florida Lithium about the thread size. The support person who answered said their engineering desk had been tinkering with longer M8 bolts and he didn't know off the top of his head. So he said he'd call back in about 15 minutes after he talked to engineering. He called back promptly and explained that they didn't recommend any bolt other than the ones they provided (which had locking washers) because of the threading had to be precise due the electronics inside. I kind of stopped listening after he said he didn't recommend aftermarket bolts. That being said, I'm a pencil pusher, not an electrical engineer so I didn't push back any further. But I will say, the guys at Florida Lithium have been really good so far in the customer service department. I'll post more in a battery review thread after I get some time on the water with it, but so far I'm very impressed with the dual purpose LiFePO4 they have.

[casts_by_fly]

12 hours ago, Junger said:

 

I called Florida Lithium about the thread size. The support person who answered said their engineering desk had been tinkering with longer M8 bolts and he didn't know off the top of his head. So he said he'd call back in about 15 minutes after he talked to engineering. He called back promptly and explained that they didn't recommend any bolt other than the ones they provided (which had locking washers) because of the threading had to be precise due the electronics inside. I kind of stopped listening after he said he didn't recommend aftermarket bolts. That being said, I'm a pencil pusher, not an electrical engineer so I didn't push back any further. But I will say, the guys at Florida Lithium have been really good so far in the customer service department. I'll post more in a battery review thread after I get some time on the water with it, but so far I'm very impressed with the dual purpose LiFePO4 they have.

 

If the buss bar works fro you then great.  That's a simple solution you have in hand.  I had a similar issue with my amped battery bolts when I added some componentry on the AP.  I went to Ace and got matching stainless bolts (took the factory ones with me) and it works great.