My Ranger lost 33 lbs!

[mikesxpress]

Upgraded my charger to a PS4 DeltaVolt this spring and had to some reinforcing on the plastic panel over the bilge where it mounts. I added a 3/16" aluminum plate with 1/4-20 SS rivnuts to hold this 33 lb beast and after a few months I started asking myself why am I carrying this thing around with me up/down the HWY and then hauling it around while I'm fishing? Didn't make sense to do that if I'm not using it. Like most folks, except the traveling tournament fisherman, I use the rig and tow it home and charge it there. These pigs are heavy enough without hauling extra weight around.

I yanked it out and mounted it on the wall with a removable bracket/20' long service cable so when I do travel I can take it along. After clearing my materials selection with the guys at Charging Systems this is the end result. Less weight in the boat. More room in the service well and less cluttered. Less abuse to the charger. No voltage drop in the 20' cable or waterproof plug. *Note: You will need to Dremel out the entrance slightly for the cable to fit inside each plug.

Pictures explain the rest.












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My transport box for road trips.

[BoatBuggy]

What a great idea......

[O'Conner_482]

I'm sure you've probably said before, but what are the straps on the back deck for?

cool idea on the charger, but that's just one more thing I might forget when I load up to go to the lake.

[mikesxpress]

I'm sure you've probably said before, but what are the straps on the back deck for?
.

A few reasons:
I opt to have passengers strap the rods on the back deck VS the rod ramp as I have new seat skins and all that ramp does is throw treble hooks into the seat covering. Saltwater fishing requires the rods/reels get a good wash down and being up on deck assists in getting them clean.
Trophy cat fishing in the winter has multiple large diameter tuna style rods strapped there as we fish from the back.

[rubberdown]

Man I wonder about this... i added a 4th battery and the 4 bank Quad Pro Professional Series charger. I also added a Talon at the same time. Its slow to get on plane. I dont know if its the weight, the 103 degrees outside instead of 70 degrees, or that I need a tune up. I'm going to try a new prop and a tune up. If not... I may go back to a 24V system and offload the charger.

I like your solution!

[nojretlas]

I love that....I need to try it!

[TopgunZ521C]

As usual you have another great idea, thanks mike for all your support and help on the boards of BBC.

[mikesxpress]

Your welcome. I like targeting stuff that doesn't make sense.

[mullanator66]

i love that idea !

[krindgen]

I wanted to do the same thing with my new boat. I watched Hackney's piece on his 920 and he's doing the same thing, not mounting the charger in the boat.

[jc2bg]

The thing I don't understand is how you set up the wiring to conveniently hook up the charger to 4 batteries when the charger isn't permanently rigged. I did zero overnight trips this year, so I wouldn't mind losing the extra weight if it were as easy as plugging in a single plug to charge.

[mikesxpress]

It's that easy. 9 pin male/female plug. Plug the charger to boat cable in. Plug charger in.

[mikesxpress]

I wanted to do the same thing with my new boat. I watched Hackney's piece on his 920 and he's doing the same thing, not mounting the charger in the boat.

I don't follow any of those guys so not sure what he did. My only concern was voltage drop and effect on Delta Volt battery profiling. That's why I talked to the OEM 1st. They already offer extension cabling that is 14 AWG as they determined it has no charging degradation.

[Rick McFaul]

I always thought it would be innovative if there was a way to have the charger mounted in a small box on the trailer towards the front by the tongue. You could have a plug on the front of the boat somewhere that connected to the batteries in the back. There is absolutely no need for the charger to be in the boat. Not only did you drop 33 lbs... you also gained some much needed bilge space.

[mikesxpress]

I thought about that but theft deterrent measures and still hauling it around killed it.

[bkbtr210]

Great idea where did you find the cable.

[Pro's Choice Pete]

Excellent idea Mike, thanks for posting.

[blkfalc4]

Not a big deal....but you kinda mismatched the female/male ends.....female always on the bigger power side.

Like I said not a big deal,,,but being a licensed electrician/EE it's just something I noticed.

Still a nice setup

[mikesxpress]

Male is on the charger side. Cover protected female that rest inside the service well on the battery side. Done that way for safety reasons.

[mikesxpress]

The cable is not hard to find but it is hard to purchase in 20' lengths. Most places have a minimum order quantity. My brother has a distributor near Chicago that managed to get me the length I needed. As a few of you have expressed interest I have asked the distributor to come up with a part # for a wall charger kit that would include the 8 lead 14 AWG 20' cable & 9 pin M/F plug set. [I left the center pin on the plug open] Then you can go to one place and get it them both. I will post the info once he responds.