R29 2016 Battery Arrangement

boaterjoe · Oct 23, 2024

On my R29 (as many have said) the access to batteries is difficult. Is the starter battery and the thruster battery the same, or are they separate batteries? I believe they are two separate batteries?
How best to access them from the lazarette?
thanks for any help
boaterjoe
Flying Turtle - R29

Mastercraft · Oct 23, 2024

boaterjoe said:
On my R29 (as many have said) the access to batteries is difficult. Is the starter battery and the thruster battery the same, or are they separate batteries? I believe they are two separate batteries?
How best to access them from the lazarette?
thanks for any help
boaterjoe
Flying Turtle - R29

I have 2017 R29. The thruster battery is on starboard. Four house and one starter are on port. Starter I think is most forward. If you are over 200 lbs and over age 65, seriously consider hiring a young skinny basketball player who is mechanically inclined. Lifting up and down the 75 lb batteries was not the bad part. The bad part is crawling where the sun doesn't shine. I did it two years ago at age 64 and weigh 180 lbs, 5 ft 8 in. I did it in 4 hours myself. A marine place wanted $2k ( two people, and two hours travel time).
All at $175 per hour per person.

Fishpants · Oct 31, 2024

I have a 2016 29S. I pulled the cockpit fridge and cut an access hole below it. This gives easier access to starter battery and 2 forward house batteries, which makes wiring easier than blindly reaching in from the lazarette. You can also remove these three batteries through the access hole, although it's still a bit awkward. But as unnatural as it was to cut into my boat, it was worth it for better battery access.

gswearin · Oct 31, 2024

I have a 2021 29s. As Fishpants said, pulling the fridge is pretty much a necessity. Mine already had an access hole. I don't think it would have been big enough to pull a battery out of. I used it to be able to be able to remove the battery cables and with that after unscrewing two (or maybe 3) that fasten the plywood slider down the plywood will slide out. i had to remove the first two batteries in before the plywood would budge. I have a drawing of the batteries and cables as well as some pictures if you want them. Good luck!!

Mastercraft · Oct 31, 2024

gswearin said:
I have a 2021 29s. As Fishpants said, pulling the fridge is pretty much a necessity. Mine already had an access hole. I don't think it would have been big enough to pull a battery out of. I used it to be able to be able to remove the battery cables and with that after unscrewing two (or maybe 3) that fasten the plywood slider down the plywood will slide out. i had to remove the first two batteries in before the plywood would budge. I have a drawing of the batteries and cables as well as some pictures if you want them. Good luck!!

Please post drawing and photos. I have 2017 r29 and no hole under fridge. I crawled in lazerett to change batteries.