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mtndewdrops
03-04-2005, 12:52 PM
Last weekend I was taking my boat in for service and discovered that both batteries were dead. I wanted to charge the batteries but the hatch is electric. I figured that there would be a quick release pin on the hatch mechanism to allow for manual operation. :jawdrop: I could not see or feel anything when I looked through the hole beneath the rear seat. :frown:
What is the normal procedure for accomplishing this?
What I ended up doing is taking a cigarette lighter adapter, strip the ends, connect the ends to the battery charger with a 2 amp trickle charge and was finally able to open the hatch. It seemed a little like McGuiver, but it worked.

MRS FLYIN VEE
03-04-2005, 12:55 PM
I thought all elec. hatches had quick release.. I know ours does.. from experience also. :cry: are you sure they are somewhere you can't see them.. ours were pretty hard to see.. kind of had to feel around to see them.. :smile:

mtndewdrops
03-04-2005, 01:01 PM
I thought all elec. hatches had quick release.. I know ours does.. from experience also. :cry: are you sure they are somewhere you can't see them.. ours were pretty hard to see.. kind of had to feel around to see them.. :smile:
I know there is a release pin at the top of the hydraulic ram, but I couldn't reach it!!! I am 6'3" and have pretty long arms too. Maybe an orangutan could reach it.
Also don't mind feeling around...to see things. ;)

MRS FLYIN VEE
03-04-2005, 01:03 PM
I know there is a release pin at the top of the hydraulic ram, but I couldn't reach it!!! I am 6'3" and have pretty long arms too. Maybe an orangutan could reach it.
Also don't mind feeling around...to see things. ;)
LOL!! they are far.. maybe you can reach it with a crow bar.. They have the little hook thing at the end.. just a thought till you can get some put closer in reach. LOL!! :D

charlyox
03-04-2005, 01:10 PM
I had the same problem with my Essex.I couldn't reach the pin at the top of the ram.When I took it in I found out there is also a pin at the bottom of the ram. duh! you have to feel around.

DrewDown
03-04-2005, 01:11 PM
Take your hatch switch out and connect the wires to your cordless drill battery

Powerquestboy
03-04-2005, 01:11 PM
While I have never done this, I heard you can unhook the wires to the switch and hook them to one of those really big flashlight/Lantern battery's and it will get r done for you.

Roxysnow
03-04-2005, 01:17 PM
We ran into the same situation last year and found out there are a couple different electrical hatch systems. We had to do the same cig lighter thing too. What a pain in the ass! We ended up installing a automatic charger source in which we plug it in a leave and the batteries stay charged.

MRS FLYIN VEE
03-04-2005, 01:19 PM
We ran into the same situation last year and found out there are a couple different electrical hatch systems. We had to do the same cig lighter thing too. What a pain in the ass! We ended up installing a automatic charger source in which we plug it in a leave and the batteries stay charged.
that's what we did also. I got tired of gettin scratched up from the little hole half your arm would fit in.. :hammer2: :D :D

LUVNLIFE
03-04-2005, 02:03 PM
that's what we did also. I got tired of gettin scratched up from the little hole half your arm would fit in.. :hammer2: :D :D
Exactly. The hole on mine is small,I can get my arm in put when I try to pull and turn the pin my muscles flex and tears my arm up :cry: Why don't they make the holes a little bigger. My plan is to hard wire cable coming near the holes from the battery. Then I can just hook a charger right there if needed. And like someone else said, I do have a lighter in the engine compartment, I'm going to have to check it out if I can use it with an adapter.

jbtrailerjim
03-04-2005, 02:07 PM
My old Essex had a pin at the top and the bottom of the actuator. It wasn't to hard to reach through the hole in the seat base. Does yours not have a release pin at the bottom of the actuator? :confused:

Rev. Williams
03-04-2005, 02:16 PM
Exactly. The hole on mine is small,I can get my arm in put when I try to pull and turn the pin my muscles flex and tears my arm up :cry: Why don't they make the holes a little bigger.
Are you still talking about your hatch or your Midget House Servant?? :D :D

Ziggy
03-04-2005, 02:18 PM
Last weekend I was taking my boat in for service and discovered that both batteries were dead. I wanted to charge the batteries but the hatch is electric. I figured that there would be a quick release pin on the hatch mechanism to allow for manual operation. :jawdrop: I could not see or feel anything when I looked through the hole beneath the rear seat. :frown:
What is the normal procedure for accomplishing this?
What I ended up doing is taking a cigarette lighter adapter, strip the ends, connect the ends to the battery charger with a 2 amp trickle charge and was finally able to open the hatch. It seemed a little like McGuiver, but it worked.
What a bummer dude.......How was the water after you got her going or did you guys take out Karls boat instead?
Your dilema is the second reason I opted for the Dana Jacks, you can release the Hydrolic line pressure and slowly pull the lid up on them.

ClownRoyal
03-04-2005, 02:24 PM
My Magic doesn't have squat. If I have dead batteries then I am hosed. I think this is a 'huge' design flaw. 'Hude' only because I have had it happen to me twice (not dead batteries but the engine shut down and took the batteries with it) while out on the water. A little embarrasing getting towed to shore by 4 old farts in a pontoon boat. I have to take the whole plate off where the hatch switch is and hook it up to one of those drill batteries. I have since had the hatch re-wired to bypass the battery control (much like the outdrive control) to eliminate the engine shutdown problem. But dead batteries will still leave me with no way to get the hatch up until the MickeyMouse routine.

Havasu_Dreamin
03-04-2005, 02:27 PM
I had the same problem with my Essex.I couldn't reach the pin at the top of the ram.When I took it in I found out there is also a pin at the bottom of the ram. duh! you have to feel around.
DING DING DING DING! We have a winner. Had the same problem with our 21 one time. You ahve to be careful when lifting up the hatch after undoing the bottom pin, it's real easy to pull the electrical wires out which is what I did. Now, the hatch stays up at least enough for me to get in and undue the top latch.

Essex29
03-04-2005, 02:28 PM
I am actually going through the same issue at the moment....
I am going to rewire the 2 actuators that I have and run a seperate pos/neg to a port/switch so that if the batteries are dead I can plug it in and power up.

Danhercules
03-04-2005, 02:32 PM
My buddies Essex, same deal. UNTILL WE FOUND THAT THE HINGE ARE PINS!!!!!!!!! Pulled the pins, and the ram becomes the hinge.
We reallyl overlooked that one, untill we sumbled across it.
You guys that have regular, hinges, might wanna look into pin hinges.

Rocky
03-04-2005, 03:33 PM
If your Perko is out side of your hatch you can un-screw it flip it over hook up battery charger to positive and find a wired ground for negative running back to hatch.

ClownRoyal
03-04-2005, 03:57 PM
You can do what I did. I used some of those Phoenix Gold charging plugs. They used to use them on the car audio circuit to hook their show cars up to outboard DC power. They are blue and will accept up to 1/0 gauge wire in each crimp on lug. Each plug has a spot for positive and negative. I ran 2 gauge wire out from the engine compartment to under my back seat and terminated it with that connector. I have the same connector on my battery charger and another one on a set of jumper cables that I carry. Seeing as how all these plugs will interact with each other, I can give a jump or get a jump on the water by simply plugging the jumper cables in under my seat. I charge my batts by plugging the charger in under my seat. I can plug the jumper cables into my battery charger and use it in a normal fashion.
Here's the connector I used, makes for a pretty sweet custom setup:
http://www.cardomain.com/item/PHOPC171
Thanks alot for the info. I am going shopping.

Kilrtoy
03-04-2005, 04:22 PM
On my old boat (2000) that is why I got a pull hatch, they didnt have those quick releases and fancy stuff they have now...
back then in 1999 when it was ordered you would have to disassemble the rear interior of the boat to charge the batteries....

AZKC
03-04-2005, 04:24 PM
Ditch those accuators and get billet broom sticks :idea:

Racer277
03-04-2005, 04:31 PM
Our old boat has an additional set of leads coming off the ram. In case of dead batteries, connect them to a 9-volt battery, and it will slowly lift the hatch.
They brought the leads in under a seat, for easy access.

Jbb
03-04-2005, 05:40 PM
My boat has the batt switch and charging posts under the rear seat....hook up the cables ....up goes the hatch... :hammer2:

Havasu Cig
03-04-2005, 06:48 PM
Our Cig had the pump for the ram under tha back seat. Hook power to it and up it goes.

mtndewdrops
03-07-2005, 07:26 AM
There are some good ideas here...
Its good to know that there should be a 2nd pin, I just remember seeing the top one and was pissed when I couldn't reach it. I also removed the hinge pins, but the hatch didn't seem to want to lift and I didn't want to damage anything.
Luckily the cig lighter adapter bailed me out...and I was on the lake that day.
Thanks for the replies.

moneypit
03-07-2005, 09:34 AM
Crow bar always works...

Essex502
03-07-2005, 09:47 AM
There are some good ideas here...
Its good to know that there should be a 2nd pin, I just remember seeing the top one and was pissed when I couldn't reach it. I also removed the hinge pins, but the hatch didn't seem to want to lift and I didn't want to damage anything.
Luckily the cig lighter adapter bailed me out...and I was on the lake that day.
Thanks for the replies.
There is a pin on both ends of the hydraulic ram cylinder for an Essex Sterling. When we picked ours up, during orientation the Essex folks described what to do in the event of a battery failure. Also, I religously put the batteries on chargers every time in Havasu - every other weekend. Also, I installed a Battery Combiner (http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=5461&catalogId=10001&classNum=12106&subdeptNum=544&storeNum=9) that makes sure both batteries get charged when either one does. Cheap insurance.

RiverDave
03-07-2005, 09:52 AM
My boat has the batt switch and charging posts under the rear seat....hook up the cables ....up goes the hatch... :hammer2:
This seems like the smart setup to me.
Pretty much the same as my boat, except my batteries are actually under the rear seat as well instead of in the engine bay.
RD

Scream
03-07-2005, 09:59 AM
Had the same problem last year, forgot to turn off the batts and left a light on in the cuddy. I tried everything and thought "1 I'm gonna have to sawzall the engine hatch off, or 2 Kachina has had to have this problem before" so I called them and sure enough they had pre wired extra leads to the switch, just used a pencil to pull them out and hooked up my old Makita battery and up it went. Easy.
Scream

phebus
03-07-2005, 10:05 AM
I carry one of those portable jump start boxes in my boat, in case I get carried away with the stereo, and forget to switch the Perko. I wonder if you could rig a plug on the end of the cables that would plug into your 12V outlet to power the hatch, or if it would be too much amps and fry the wires. Just keep it under a seat and not in the engine compartment, and you would be good to go. You could raise the hatch, and then start the boat and be on your way.
I have hydraulic lifts, so it isn't an issue for me to raise the hatch, but it is cheap insurance to start the boat. In your case, raising the hatch just solves half your problem, your still not going anywhere until you get her started.

Essex502
03-07-2005, 10:22 AM
I carry one of those portable jump start boxes in my boat, in case I get carried away with the stereo, and forget to switch the Perko. I wonder if you could rig a plug on the end of the cables that would plug into your 12V outlet to power the hatch, or if it would be too much amps and fry the wires. Just keep it under a seat and not in the engine compartment, and you would be good to go. You could raise the hatch, and then start the boat and be on your way.
I have hydraulic lifts, so it isn't an issue for me to raise the hatch, but it is cheap insurance to start the boat. In your case, raising the hatch just solves half your problem, your still not going anywhere until you get her started.
The Jump 'n Carry unit I bought at Sears has a cigar lighter socket on the front of it. It would be a piece of cake to make a cigar lighter to cigar lighter cable to plug into the boat if both the boat and the JNC had them. That would be a small current to raise a hydraulic or electric hatch I'd think.

pixilatedpussy
03-07-2005, 09:28 PM
If you have a cigarette lighter, use a 9 volt battery, should have enough current to bring hatch up!

KACHINA KEN
03-07-2005, 09:33 PM
Our old boat has an additional set of leads coming off the ram. In case of dead batteries, connect them to a 9-volt battery, and it will slowly lift the hatch.
They brought the leads in under a seat, for easy access.
Same on Kachinas, except they are underneath the dash and I use a makita battery.

RiverPirate
03-07-2005, 10:21 PM
My old Advantage didn't have access to the engine compartment if the batteries went dead. The Perko switch was in the rear bench seat. I ran a positive and negative lead off of it and capped them until needed. Dead batteries = battery charger attached to the Perko leads and the hatch went up. That's how I did it.