Lets talk Battery hold downs

[Strokerdean]

I started this in the Jasper thread and it was suggested to start a new thread so here it is.
Lets talk battery hold downs. I have 3 large optima's held to the alum plate Chub glasses into the floorboards. They are held in with a 2" X 1/2" alum bar with 4 ea 5/16" J-Bolts with lock nuts sitting in front of the off shore trim pump. There is a J'Bolt on the end of the 2 outside batteries and one on each side of the center battery. There is also a 1/8" thick alum tray they sit in that is sandwiched between the batteries and floor. The J-Bolts go thru the tray and the floor, the tray is also held in with 4 large screws. I check the bar for any slop very often and never find it loose. I have thought about adding another bar with more J-Bolts but have not to date, not sure if that would even hold any better or would the alum plate pull out or the bolts just straighten out. Based on James rig I doubt mine would stay put as it would be 180 lbs trying to break free. They have never come loose to date. Is there a better way to hold batteries down to keep them from braking loose or is the floor going to give way?
I'm just curious how others do it and if there is a better way to keep the batteries held in place. This is for any kind of rig not just Strokers as we all go faster than most and what happened could happen to any of us. I would like to feed back on this.
Thanks.

[StrokerSmoker]

I have separate battery trays... I also have one battery a trolling battery that can be unbuckled and moved to the other side for ballast with a passenger.....I am going to put more than 4 screws in my trays ....the other 2 batteries have j bolts in the trays and the trays are screwed down I am going to put more screws in them and might add a buckle in case the j bolt fails....the only time I have heard of them coming loose are in a accident situation.....but in the 2 times I have seen it the battery becomes a projectile and has destroyed the boat lifted the top cap and exited out ....

[katdiesel]

I have heard of at least one manufacture that uses I believe 3M 5200 adhesive sealant to glue the battery trays down as well as screwing it down, just something else to consider if you know you won't ever move the battery tray. This is normally on the metal trays

[abianca99]

I don’t have a go fast boat, but I see some rough water. I have thought about this exact thing myself. Those North Star 31 agm are heavy! I will be following. Maybe moving this to the general forum will get more responses.

[bassworm1]

Didnt lou at one time make a aluminum hold down with a top?? sorta looks like something could be made to look good and sealed and screwed to the bottom plate with welded on 1'-1 1/2' plates going up with a top that went down over with nuts to tighten it up,i invision like 3 metal straps on each side, if done right you could have 2 or 3 different bases installed individually with one top which would be secured in 12- 18 points so if one base did break loose the other and the top would keep it all together. May cost alot but i could see it all be powder coated looking good.

[cbailey]

lithiums would be a good choice. they would be much easier to keep in place that a 70lb battery, but they are hhiigghh! im going to build a battery box for mine very soon that will do the trick. stay tuned

[06 SB]

I have Relion lithiums in my boat and had a custom tray made for them. Since they are lighter, I also had a custom ratchet strap made to completely encircle the batteries. I don’t know if this would work on a Stroker but a 75 pound battery/wrecking ball is not something I want in my boat!

[Strokerdean]

Lithiums would be much lighter but then I would have to add the weight back in as ballast.

[dentguy]

I run lithiums.. 28 lbs for my 36 volt trolling battery and i believe 18 lbs for my cranking... They don't move around very much. We have some pretty big water up here that gets pretty rough at times.. Then again, I check the hold downs religiously, as well as all other super critical bolts and screws too.. Not saying something couldn't happen, but i'd rather there be as little weight flying around if it did..

[StrokerSmoker]

Lithiums would be much lighter but then I would have to add the weight back in as ballast.

with a passenger you could shed some weight with lithiums I think

[Strokerdean]

I do add ballast for a passenger, anywhere between 75 and 125 lbs and move tackle around. Is there a 12v lithium that meets the min cc amps for a 300xs opti and how many amp hrs are needed for a 24v tour 82?
I guess another question would be with more screws holding the battery pan down and more jay bolts holding the batteries thru the pan and floor will the floor brake allowing the alum plate to come loose and then have batteries bouncing around. Would it make a diff between 180 lbs and 2 lithiums at I'm guessing 90-110 lbs.

with a passenger you could shed some weight with lithiums I think

[Strokerdean]

I'm actually surprised that more haven't popped in on this conversation. There has to be a lot of guys in perf or non perf rigs with different types of battery hold downs.

[bassworm1]

im surprised also Dean, in my mind i think i would rather have the batterys as ballast if you could make sure they was secured at least they are strapped, ive seen dumbbells and lead bags just laying loose looks like they could could cause just as much or more damage if something bad happened.