Mac 19 strange battery terminals = stock?

[Redgreen25]

Hi, I recently bought a Mac 19 and I'm running some new wiring. There are a set of exterior terminals under the starboard cockpit seat and another on the front of the seat where the battery is located. Are these PO add-on's or were they from the factory? The interior bench seat could have a direct short of battery if a conductor bridged them. Just curious what the inside ones were for and if they were stock. Maybe for battery charging? Is it better to bypass these terminals with a single wire from battery terminals to the engine or leave them as is? If any of you are familiar with this set up, advice is welcome! Thanks.

[OverEasy]

Hi RedGreen25!

Those are interesting….. one might rightly suspect that they are charger inputs and power taps (as they would work in either direction).
They look aftermarket like the ones I used to get from Radio Shack (back in the olden days of yore…. ahhh… those were the days ).

Did you get any stuff from the PO that might plug into them?

If I were up to me I would be tempted to replace them with a more traditional ‘cigarette’ style outlet with an integral cover.
That way you could have an accessible 12 VDC outlet should you need it and place to plug in a trickle charger to keep your battery topped up…
On Over Easy when I refurbished the electrical system I incorporated a pair of polarity charging leads that match to our automatic charger that is dedicated to our boat use (but can still be removed and utilized elsewhere should the need arise). I made up a standard battery lead clamp set and a cigarette style corded socket for it while I was at it. (I’ve used the removable feature and that socket when at home to power up the chart plotter when developing longe distance cruising routes… a lot nicer at a desk rather than in the boat cabin! )

I have a solar battery topperoffer thingy that I use when storing a car for long periods (that seems to work like a champ ) that plugs into the car cigarette outlet. It goes in the boat when towing to keep the battery up enroute as I incorporated two panel mounted cigarette type outlets that are on circuit breaker switches for cabin use.

Note: Just in case you haven’t already done so it’s good practice to incorporate either a positive terminal fuse or circuit breaker ( which I prefer to use as they are resettable) on your power output to your engine to preclude the damage/fire that could occur due to a potential short circuit. Without it you could potentiall dump all the power in your battery rather abruptly…..

Your boat - Your rules!


Best Regards,
Over Easy

[Deeseas]

The original battery from factory is under the starboard seat. We’ve moved our battery under the V berth, had to extend the battery cables, but did not leave old connecters there, as it sounds like the PO did.
Doug

[Deeseas]

Redgreen25
Where in Vancouver are you