MAX II battery access for charging

[hipowerone]

I am not sure about what others think, but I find it a PITA to have to remove the floor pan/seat to access the battery on my MAX II for any purpose, especially to check condition or charge. I did a quick search to see if this topic has been mentioned before, but found nothing.

I think that I have come up with an idea to rectify that, loosely based upon a few years working with small Cessna airplanes, that have ground service connections. I ordered a few parts and attempted a fix. First I used a 6FT length of Extension Cable 12AWG, SAE to SAE Extension Cord DC [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C8HR2XNS?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1].
I cut that to length so that it would extend from the battery terminals to the left side, just below the dash area. I then crimped lug terminals to the wire ends, connected to the battery and ran the cable to the desired location. I crimped lugs to the other piece of the extension cable. I connected the two extension cable pieces, using the molded connectors, and temporarily connected my charger to the lugs on the end of the 2nd cable, and tested. The charger worked perfectly. I plan on making a unit to permanently attach the 2nd jumper piece to so that the lugs will not accidentally touch, and I can get my charger grips to easily connect to. I am thinking a piece of wood with two bolts to secure the lugs to, with enough of the bolt exposed to allow the charger grips to connect to. That wood assembly can sit on the seat, while charging. Will include photos, however, only 5 allowed per post so I will add 3 more later

[hipowerone]

Here are the other 3 photos

[Nortonscustoms]

I used a panel mount charging port on our Hustler and Max. Hard wired to the battery. Mounted the ports in the dash. End of the day just plug the battery tender into the port.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W3RNJK6/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?pd_rd_i=B07W3RNJK6&pd_rd_w=Vc2dU&content-id=amzn1.sym.386c274b-4bfe-4421-9052-a1a56db557ab&pf_rd_p=386c274b-4bfe-4421-9052-a1a56db557ab&pf_rd_r=JBF44YTJZQQRB4Z3PWX1&pd_rd_wg=bnjBm&pd_rd_r=e731bfec-5532-4e09-9294-46bc35415ddc&s=lawn-garden&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1

[hipowerone]

I used a panel mount charging port on our Hustler and Max. Hard wired to the battery. Mounted the ports in the dash. End of the day just plug the battery tender into the port.

Thanks for your idea. I had seen those, but as this is just a proof of concept setup, I considered 18-16AWG a bit small in case I wanted to connect/jump start battery to battery, so I opted for 12AWG. If 12AWG turns out to be too small (wires get hot due t current draw) I will replace with 10-8AWG, as those too are available with panel mounts, just a bit more pricey.

[msafi65]

I find battery access in the max II at real pain. I’ve always cut the floor pan under the seat about one inch behind front seat screws. Seat is them removable without floor. I did a lot of them with customer permission even before delivering new ones. Never lost a seat on the road.

[hipowerone]

[hipowerone]

I’ve always cut the floor pan under the seat about one inch behind front seat screws.

msafi65: Great idea! I will look into doing that or similar. If the seat had been hinged from day one, there would hardly ever be a need to remove the floor pan, except to service chains, bearings, brakes, etc, or to clean out leaves, dirt, debris that settles in after a few rides in the woods.