Modified Hobie battery box

Whipped this one out tonight.  Materials consist of a standard Hobie tray, a 7ah Battery (bought at Home Depot for $20) [replacement battery for an automatic gate opener], a two prong plug from the auto parts place, a small grommet, wire loom wrap and a couple connectors.  I just cut out one of the dividers for the width of the battery and drilled a couple holes for wire.  The battery is the EXACT depth of the Hobie tray.  Like it was meant to be! 

Good first, quick attempt.  I already want to do a few things different like adding a fuse inside the Hobie tray.  There is also leftover space for spare emergency Hobie parts.

Great idea!  Thanks for sharing Bill.

Looks good!

looks good I do want to get one of those 2013 battery trays tho!

Dude that rocks, I see I have to break down and use that set  now that I have a FF, that tray fits in my Quest, so this is a slam dunk idea!

So your running your cables all the way to the back to use that tray?  Did you have to extend the power cabling for your FF?

Thinking about running the cables all the way back.  Haven't 100% decided.  I want to place the battery weight towards the back of the kayak, rahter than the front.  I kinda put the kart before the horse, I know.  The rear hatch on the AI is somewhat useless due to the rudder control lines.  I don't want to run the risk of something jamming them up or causing wear.  As for extending the Lowrance FF/GPS power cable, it would have to be extended to reach the rear hatch.  My plan is to cut & seal off the NMEA 0183 cable & use a single Hobie Thru-Hull Wiring Plug [Hobie P/N 86505621] (with a 2-wire insert); 1 for power wire/pl;ug & the other for Transducer wire/plug.  Thinking of using some of the stick on wire mounting pads with zip ties to control/retain wire placement inside the hull.

Thanks for the tip on $20 battery at Home Depot.  I do mine different and keep everything under the bow hatch.

 
  You could put it in the center hatch, just add some slack to the power lines so that you can remove it to access the inner hull.  It's actually a great idea for that otherwise useless (In my mind) tray, I tried leaving the tray in place one trip and found it completely in the way!  Tossed it in my shed and haven't looked back at it until now.

Well, I really like how it looks and definetly give you style points for sure    I guess it would be pretty convienent for a perm install and a good use for the rear tray.  I used to keep a medical kit in the rear until I figured out that I couldn't access it OTW.  I wouldn't worry about the weight of the battery though.

Nice job!! I've been looking for a similar tray to fit the rear of my cuda with no luck. I'm going for the rear hatch to balance the weight of my wheels I store in the front. With the battery and wheels towards the front I can't pick it up without it nose diving. If you put the battery in the back would you need a heavier gage cable to carry the power to the head?

 

  Anything up to 15' or so you'd be ok using 14ga wire, 16ga, you might be pushing a little.  But with the current draw of most FF today and, what maybe 5 to 6 foot run of wire? 16ga would probably suffice.  Add in hull lighting, nav lights (Compass light) then min. 14ga from battery to the load.

Of All the batteries I have put on Hobie's, this is the best way. The tray doesn't need to be sealed either. I usually don't run a lid on mine. I use 14gauge wire and solider the connections covering them with quality marine grade heat shrink tubing to seal them. I've had too many butt connectors corrode and fail. For the battery terminals I solider on the wire, cover it with heat shrink, then apply liquid electrical tape to completely seal them. Dielectric grease on all quick connectors and FF plug.