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Location of Battery switch and batteries
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Author:  njlarry609 [ Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Location of Battery switch and batteries
My '96 Horizon with sport seating has a single battery with a master switch right next to it in the aft starboard area under the "swim platform".
Since this is under the heavy sunpad in the engine compartment, it dosen't seem like a very safe location. In an emergency I don't think I could get to the swithch to turn it off.
Are all Horizons rigged like this? If you have a second battery where is it located?
I'm considering adding a master switch under the rear seat in the cockpit but winder about the gauge of cables needed. I'm also considering adding a second battery so I don't end up with a dead battery after a day of running the cd player.
Thanks for your input.
Author:  230 Mike [ Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:04 pm ]
Post subject: 
As long as your new switch is relatively close to the battery (i.e., not all the way up at the helm), you should be fine using the same gauge cables that you have on there now. I think adding a 2nd battery with a switch is one of the best things that can be done to a boat that has a single battery. It really doesn't take that long playing an amplified stereo to begin to run down a battery. Adding a 2nd battery is more involved than just putting the 2nd master switch in, as you began to describe.

Many of the '04 - current 230/240's (different hull than yours) has a slight starboard list problem if they have the dual battery option. That's because the factory mounting location is to have both batteries next to each other on the starboard side, just behind the aft starboard storage locker. The 1-2-both-off switch is right next to them. The fresh water tank and of course the captain are also on that side, and there's hardly anything on the port side to balance out all that weight. The fix is to move both batteries over to the same location on the port side (a net weight shift equivalent to adding one adult to the port side). This involves running new cables all the way from the port side all the way back to the switch which remains on the starboard side. On mine they used the same gauge cables as was used in the factory installation.

The balance issue in the current 230/240's with dual batteries is exaggerated by the hull's slightly steep deadrise. If the two batteries were for some reason mounted on the starboard side but up in the front of the boat, they probably wouldn't cause the list. But putting that much weight right over the steepest part of the stern is like trying to balance a "V" with a lead weight sitting at the top of one side. Bottom line: you might consider any potential balance issues before adding a 2nd battery.

As far as the 230/240's go, I've spoken with a number of buyers of recent ones. Every one of them with dual batteries had the list. Every one of them was corrected by moving the batteries to the port side.
Author:  njlarry609 [ Thu Mar 29, 2007 12:33 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your thoughts. My one battery in on the port side even though the starter is on the starboard. I will have to look for any list when next in the water but I don't remember any.
My main concern is getting the battery switch out of the engine compartment so it can be turned off easier, especially if there were an electrical fire.
Larry
Author:  JustBreathe [ Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:33 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hey Mike... remember the looooooooong threads many of us had when we discovered the list issue as we were shopping two years ago? By this time I can't believe FourWinns isn't mounting them at the port side at the factory!
Author:  230 Mike [ Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:59 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hey Ernie... they haven't heard that it was an issue :roll: :roll: :roll:
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