charging system changes. Looking for opinions and ideas

[Seaduction]

about the batteries

I just replaced 10 batteries with three no maintenance 8Ds and use one of two chargers, mostly the solar and when needed the 120v charger, we have a 2000 watt inverter on our Wellcraft 38' we keep our trawler in St. Pete FL. wc

 

[Ebaugh]

All my batteries are FLA.

If I do cook my batteries, I'll replace them with AGMs or lithium iron phosphates, both of which can handle much higher bulk charge rates than FLAs. I like the idea of LiFePO because I can fit 720AH of batteries in the space where I now have 660 AH, and because of deeper allowable depth of discharge, my usable AH capacity would be 576 AH, which is pretty much double what I have with lead acid technology (between 198 and 330 AH) in real-world use).

Make sure you research all the steps to completing a safe LiFePO4 installation. We installed a 1200Ah 12V bank when cruising through Grenada on our DeFever 44. Subsequently I worked on several installations after returning home. They are awesome in operation, last longer than flooded, but not forever. My 2 cents:

1) they can't go into the engine room because of the heat.

AND, at least one of these:

1) You are seriously space challenged
2) You are weight challenged
3) You spend 180+ days a year at anchor.

Otherwise, install traditional batteries. Only use AGM if the space can't be made suitable for flooded or if the space is too small to get the capacity required for your desired bulk rate charge.

This is a cost/operational advantage based opinion. If you really like tinkering, regardless of cost, well then it doesn't necessarily apply.