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Post by lg260ss on Jul 22, 2020 15:28:25 GMT -5
I am in the process of researching deep cycle Lithium LiFePO4 batteries to replace my 2 house batteries. The prices for lithium have come down a lot in the last several years and they now have built in Battery management systems (BMS). Has anyone made the jump to lithium LiFePO4 batteries?
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Post by rlazar on Jul 22, 2020 15:40:37 GMT -5
Are they safe? Any risk for fires?
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Post by lg260ss on Jul 22, 2020 16:05:06 GMT -5
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Post by sgilbert on Jul 22, 2020 18:32:47 GMT -5
For $950 each, I'll keep buying wet cells every 4-5 years!
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Post by lg260ss on Jul 22, 2020 19:36:57 GMT -5
For $950 each, I'll keep buying wet cells every 4-5 years! Yeah, I know that’s a big investment. For us I believe the benefits will be worth it. I currently have two 100 amp our house batteries and can only use about 80 A before they need recharge. You can safely use 90% of the lithium capacity Before needing recharge so that is twice the usable amp hours. They are 1/3 the weight and charge faster. And they have a 10 year warranty. We spend a lot of nights out with 2 fridges, a fan, and cell phone chargers running all night and by morning the voltage is low. |
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Post by omarf4 on Jul 22, 2020 22:42:22 GMT -5
Why not just fire up the generator when on the hook spending the night?
I am running a lithium battery on my motorcycle and love the weight savings but the ROI on a boat would be questionable. I just fire up the generator since we need the AC (in Texas) and life is good.
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Post by lg260ss on Jul 23, 2020 4:59:13 GMT -5
Why not just fire up the generator when on the hook spending the night? I am running a lithium battery on my motorcycle and love the weight savings but the ROI on a boat would be questionable. I just fire up the generator since we need the AC (in Texas) and life is good. I use the generator as needed but I’m not comfortable leaving it running all night and it’s too loud to use while trying to sleep. Not to mention the other campers around that would be annoyed by it. On a quiet night on lake George you can hear a pin drop for miles. |
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Post by omarf4 on Jul 23, 2020 7:13:14 GMT -5
Why not just fire up the generator when on the hook spending the night? I am running a lithium battery on my motorcycle and love the weight savings but the ROI on a boat would be questionable. I just fire up the generator since we need the AC (in Texas) and life is good. I use the generator as needed but I’m not comfortable leaving it running all night and it’s too loud to use while trying to sleep. Not to mention the other campers around that would be annoyed by it. On a quiet night on lake George you can hear a pin drop for miles. Makes sense....if budget allows it, I say go for it. I am pretty sure the chargers installed in our boats allow for different profile based on position so that you can charge the lithium battery with the proper profile vs the starting batteries. Would be interested in how it works out for you. |
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Post by lg260ss on Jul 23, 2020 18:51:22 GMT -5
I think I am going to go for it. I will be on the boat for 8 nights starting this Saturday, if I have any issues I will be ordering them as soon as I get home.
The charger does meet the necessary charge and float voltage requirements. And the batteries are safe to use when the engines are running and the alternator is charging.
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Post by gofast24 on Jul 24, 2020 11:10:30 GMT -5
We have a group  AGM house battery (replaced the flooded wet cell when purchasing boat 6 years ago) , $650 5 years ago. Still doing fine but never discharge it below 12.4 VDC (have a Blue Seas (pricey but very accurate) OLED volt gauge at the helm), if it gets below 12.4 VDC start great quiet 1800 RPM Westerbeke 7.0 kW gen set for a few hours but not all night long! Running gen Possible to get CO from exhaust into cabin while sleeping at night (highly sensitive to wind direction) . So, have 3X CO alarms on boat to warn if CO too high. Also, our Charles house battery charger has a switch on back to change from lead acid (flooded) to AGM, no experience with a LiFePO4 battery? Suggest you contact the mfg. of your house battery charger and ask about that type of battery before laying out that much money?. Another caution, when tied up to friends on the hook and they are running there gen set twice we had CO alarms from their gen exhaust entering or cabin even though we weren't running our gen set! When alarm went off, we un tied and pulled away from being tied up with friends, a few hundred yards, anchored, and finished sleeping for the night! Will n longer tie up at sea with friends running gen sets (gas or diesel) Check out AGM batteries on Amazon , one for $460, 200 AH! Didnt read reviews but a lot less costly than the LI battery you are looking at? |
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Post by lg260ss on Aug 9, 2020 19:01:08 GMT -5
So I installed 2 Battleborn 100 ah LiFePO4 batteries this weekend to replace my one year old lead acid house bank. The new batteries way about 100lbs less. With a 100% charge at 9 pm Saturday night we sat for 19 hours, used 114 amp hours, and at that point we were still at 13.14 volts per my battery monitor. That is fantastic performance.
For comparison, I could only get about 40 amp hours out of my lead acid batteries and I’d be down to 10.8 volts or so.
Yes, they are expensive, but I am very happy with the purchase.
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Post by gofast24 on Aug 10, 2020 10:19:17 GMT -5
Great, but LiFePO4 and Li Ion batteries maintain almost full voltage to 80% of their discharge cycle? Our 4 year old group AGM house battery ($480 from NAPA on sale) still great but again, we never let it get below 12.4 VDC. At dock always on shore power battery charger. Also of interest, last weekend (friday night/saturday AM) 2 people died from CO poisoning over night on our lake while on the hook and gen set running, no CO alarm either in cabin or not working? Local news didnt indicate CO alarms but coroner indicated CO cause of death. We have two CO alarms, one factory installed and I bought one portable unit to put in fwd berth if on hook over night. We didnt have our gen running but tied up to several other boats with gen running and apparently their exhaust migrated into our boat and CO alarm woke us up about 2 AM. Disconnected from other boats and back to dock alive! |
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Post by Mypleasure on Aug 11, 2020 9:39:03 GMT -5
Also of interest, last weekend (friday night/saturday AM) 2 people died from CO poisoning over night on our lake while on the hook and gen set running, no CO alarm either in cabin or not working? Local news didnt indicate CO alarms but coroner indicated CO cause of death.
We have two CO alarms, one factory installed and I bought one portable unit to put in fwd berth if on hook over night. We didnt have our gen running but tied up to several other boats with gen running and apparently their exhaust migrated into our boat and CO alarm woke us up about 2 AM. Disconnected from other boats and back to dock alive! Dang...That's awful....so glad you had those detectors....I feel bad for those other boaters. I just installed and inverter because of that. I don't want to run the gen set early in the morning when others are asleep with the port windows open including my wife......I can brew my coffee without all that disturbance and fear of gassing people out. |
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Post by gofast24 on Aug 11, 2020 11:03:32 GMT -5
Me too! What 120VAC devices do you need to run over night needing a inverter? Cant believe HVAC unit(s) will run on a inverter? Our fridge/freezer is dual voltage AC/DC so when away from dock and off shore power it will run on group eight D AGM house battery(PS: Everytime I enter the number 8 and D it shows up in post a a smiley?) , only a few amps on DC. Audio system take the most current but not on when going to bed  Also, What gen set model/rating/engine RPM do you have (1800 or 3600 RPM)? Also wonder why my previous post when you reply showed up in red font? |
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Post by tc33obx on Aug 11, 2020 11:35:09 GMT -5
Very sad about the deaths, it's needless with good detectors and if you run your gene at night with a closed cabin you need to have multiple detectors for backup.
We never had the CO2 go off on gene but we had this issue during a raft up last year with our 4460. A boat we were tied up to had their gene running during the day while we were rafted up. There were a bunch of us on my boat just talking and having a few drinks. The Isinglass was all down but there wasn't much of a breeze. I had my cabin port lights opened and my cabin hatches opened with screens inserted. I was sitting at the help seat sideways talking to everyone and starting feeling light headed. A few others noted the same thing. Suddenly my CO detector in the aft cabin went off, quickly followed by the one in the forward cabin. Keep in mind my engines and gene were off. After looking into it found out the guys gene exhaust exit was amid ship about even with my helm seat and the port lights at the kitchen sink. His exhaust was dumping into my boat and even with all the port lights open the light breeze we were getting wasn't enough to push the CO2 away.
I disconnected from the raft up and took a ride to clear it all out and about 5 minutes after going up on place everyone started feeling better.
So be careful in raft ups, always note where gene exhausts come out when rafting as well. If someone has an amidships exhaust they should end up being on the end!
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AGM house battery (replaced the flooded wet cell 
Also, What gen set model/rating/engine RPM do you have (1800 or 3600 RPM)? Also wonder why my previous post when you reply showed up in red font? 