1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Magnum Energy Inverter/Charger

I’m getting myself reacquainted with my Roamer refit. I was away from it long enough to have forgotten where I put stuff!

One thing I haven’t forgotten about are the batteries and charger I temporarily installed a few years ago. The temporary nature of the install means that every once in a while a connection comes loose. I also bought a marine battery box years ago that holds two 8D batteries. But I never installed that, either, and now that I’m doing lots of stuff in the engine room it’s getting in the way. I’ve also been tripping over two rolls of 1/0 battery cable that I left in the ER.

Since I’ve got all the components already, I decided to just install everything and check a box on the list of stuff I have to do before I can splash the boat.

Preparing to make a battery charger cable

I’m a big fan of Magnum Energy inverter-chargers. For this boat, I’ve got a 2000 watt unit that charges 12 votes at a maximum of 100 amps (model 2012). It also has an equalization function, which helps blow oxide layers off the lead plates inside the battery, which makes them last much longer.

The best spot for the charger is ten feet of cable from where I’ll install the battery box. So it’s fortunate that I picked up those rolls of 1/0 marine cable earlier in this refit.

Strip the insulation and slip on the heavy duty tinned cable end

This hydraulic crimper is a great tool…and I am a lousy photographer!

Crimped and sealed with adhesive lined shrink tubing

2 x 10′ of 1/0 battery cables ready to install

OEM wire chase on the ER ceiling has enough room for the new cables

Magnum Energy 2012 inverter-charger hanging in its new home

Permanent AC electrical connections will happen later

The battery box is FINALLY out of my way!

The charter remote panel is installed in the salon electrical panel cabinet

That’s a wrap for the battery charger installation.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Making Raw Water Thru-hull Outlets