battery box

[toenail]

Is it a requirement to have battery box

for the batteries in your boat? I'm talkin

a 14' fishin boat. I can't find anything in

the Mn Dnr boating guide.

Tony

[toenail]

nobody knows the answer?

[delmuts]

toenaiil. i don't know if it is a requirement, but i would anyway! they make a cheap version with lid. that way your batt. are protected from ,dropping something on it that cross arcks ( i did this once!), dirt and junk . unless they will be in an enclose space.

[Surface Tension]

I don't think they're required but when you think what a leaking battery can do to your floor and boat they aren't such a bad idea to have. Also like what was mentioned the cover will keep things from shorting out on the terminals.

[MuleSkinner]

I would agree with the reasons stated above. And the boxes often are on sale in Mills Fleet,etc. for way under $10.

But one bad thing about them is, unless you have an onboard charger, it is a pain to unstrap the lid to access the posts to hook on charger leads.

One easy solution is to just drill a few holes, get some copper studs (I got them free from a auto electric store - the copper starter studs from their junk cans.) For about $2, got 6 guage wire, wire ends, washers, and made some short jumpers to make posts come right out of the battery box. I got the idea to do this from the $34-$44 battery boxes at Mills.

I still hook my trolling motor directly to the battery posts, but it is a breeze to clip on my charger onto the posts I built on the battery boxes. Same thing in winter. I can carry a battery in the box, and can connect up to the fish house leads without opening the box. The only improvement I need is some red to mark the positive - my plus/minus scratched into the boxes is not very easy to see in dim light.

I got really hooked on boxes, because 5 years ago, I burned small battery acid holes in 5 pairs of jeans before I figured out it was battery acid from batteries I was carrying up and down the dock.

[Dave]

Holding the lid on with a strap of velcro would work quickly also, to gain access to the battery posts.

[Fisher Dave]

I would recommend figuring out a way to put in a battery tie down also.. those batteries can do a good job of encaving the bottom of your boat over time when they are bouncing around during trailering... this also eliminates the possiblity of the battery tipping over while trailering and spilling, or worse yet shorting out against the boat itself while on its side(battery).