Dead Battery Help

[1999 CC Cuddy 210]

I have a dead battery in my (new to me) 1999 ChrisCraft Cuddy 210. It's an I/O with 5.0 Volvo Penta mated to an OMC SX sterndrive. The battery and all relevant components are buried beneath the rear hatch, which is controlled by an electrically driven hydraulic ram -- no battery power no working ram. The boat does not have shore power or remote battery cables that I can find. I tried muscling up the engine hatch cover but no luck. Also cannot find any secret hatch, clevis pin, etc. to free up the hatch. Searches of the www have produced nothing useful. Calls to local dealers produced no insights (boat too old for anyone to remember), and a call to CC customer service hasn't produced a response yet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Alumarine]

Re: Dead Battery Help

Hi there.

You should be able to feed the system 12 volts using an external battery through another source like a cigarette lighter or you may have to spice into some wires.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Dead Battery Help

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard to the forums here at iboats.com...

You can reasonably Safely backfeed about 10 amps thru any connection leading back to the Battery....
Light socket,..?? Ciggerette lighter,..?? Anywhere you can access the (+),+ the (-) circuits...

You could probably backfeed 20 amps or more to the Battery if you can get to the Hot side of the fuse panel,+a solid Ground path....
edit;

Seems like there ought to be a manual way to get into the hatch.

Ayuh,... Can you get at the Hinges,..??

 

[1999 CC Cuddy 210]

Re: Dead Battery Help

Thanks, I'll try the 12 volt charger since it does have an aux power connection. Not an immediate problem, but what happens when it's the ram that goes kaput and not the battery -- so that external charging won't fix the problem (if it fixes the problem)? Seems like there ought to be a manual way to get into the hatch. Anyway, thanks for the good idea.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Dead Battery Help

Back feeding a 12V plug is the easy way. and after you get the hatch up, route the release to where it can be accessed. If there isn't one put one in before you close the hatch again.

 

[chiefalen]

Re: Dead Battery Help

You could of course install one, after you get it open.

 

[1999 CC Cuddy 210]

Re: Dead Battery Help

What do you mean by "the release"? Should I expect to find some mechanical means to take the ram downforce off of the hatch?

 

[1999 CC Cuddy 210]

Re: Dead Battery Help

Yes, I can access the hinges (by knocking out the pin and destroying them), but the ram is on the opposite side of the engine bay, so I still need a way to take the downforce off the hatch in order to raise it enough to get access. You'd think a mechanical engineer would have thought of an easier way to get into this thing ... and designed it into the system.

 

[1999 CC Cuddy 210]

Re: Dead Battery Help

Just got a return call from CC customer service. He said to go the 12-volt aux route as well but did not know if there is a manual means to access the hatch other than just generating enough muscle to overcome the ram downforce. He promised to follow-up with the "old-timers" at CC to see if they know anything specific about this model boat. Really nice guy.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Dead Battery Help

Yes, I can access the hinges (by knocking out the pin and destroying them), but the ram is on the opposite side of the engine bay,

Ayuh,.... Replacement hinges are Cheap.....
'ell,... Be gentle,+ you can probably put'em back together....

And,...
You'll have More access than you do Now....

All you have to do is disconnect either end of the hatch-lift.....
Bolts, Screws, Pins,..?? Who knows what you've got....

 

[chiefalen]

Re: Dead Battery Help

After it's open you could fashion a pin you could pull with a string that would remove one end of the strut.

Run the string to where you can get it.