Lithium Batteries

Has anyone used these in a boat. They are starting to use them on RVs and they are much more efficient then AGMs.

Read the following thread, specially posts by tfmkevin:

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s4/board-power-made-easy-28564.html

Check out this thread on Cruising Forum. Also note it mentions other Cruising Forum discussions on LiFePO4 batteries.

They are long discussions but valuable.

LiFePO4 Batteries: Discussion Thread for Those Using Them as House Banks - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

Later,
Dan

"I'd like to use Lithium Batteries" - Said no off-grid person ever.

They are not more "efficient" they have better watt/hr per lb and better watt/hr per cu ft.

They are more expensive per lifetime watt/hr than lead acid.

I think maybe same could be said about AGM.

Besides a high watt/hr per pound, lithium batteries also take a charge much faster than any type of lead acid battery.
Still not worth the money for my application, but for some they may be suited too their purpose.

jrs1958 said:

Has anyone used these in a boat. They are starting to use them on RVs and they are much more efficient then AGMs.

Click to expand...

Compare overall installation cost of lithium to a) Lifeline 6V AGM golf cart batteries, b) Trojan T-105 flooded lead acid 6V golf cart batteries, and c) Firefly Group 31 Carbon Foam 12V AGMs. Include cost in your comparison criteria, and include the cost of a battery management system (BMS) for lithium (reading suggests that's mandatory in a lithium installation).

Check our Compass Marine's website articles on various batteries, and the various battery-centric posts he's made in the forums. He posts here as CMS and on CruisersForum as MaineSail.

-Chris

I agree, read the articles. There are several that go into some detail. Many more are available. Google will find many.

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s4/board-power-made-easy-28564.html

Panbo: The Marine Electronics Hub: The DIY lithium battery bank; Bob Ebaugh has 330 cycles so far

Living the Lithium Lifestyle – 3.5 Year Lithium RV Battery Update | Technomadia

Many installs that I have run across [read] were done by E.E.s who could truly understand what they were getting into and had the knowledge to fill in most of the gaps.

Note, there is a difference, a big one, between the lithiums that go into our small devices and the LiFePO4 type cells that you would put into your boat.

I could have reduced my battery weight by about 300-400# and the space by ~ 1/2 by utilizing the higher discharge and higher recharge capability of the Li batteries vs Gels.

I was semi seriously looking at them 2 years ago but decided that the recharging requirement equipment was not quite there, the cost was still too much higher and did not feel like being another guinea pig.


I was comfortable with wiring and such but between the still quite high cost, the limited cell size availabilty necessitating more cells than I liked and the know quality of my old gels I stuck with what I have for hopefully another 10 yrs.

It will come but as of yet , to me at least, there is still a bit to much of the bit fiddler stage at play.

I'l guess even another two or three years and there will be GOOD recharge systems and a better supply of cell sizes/capacities that will take care of the problems I was concerned with.

AGMs went through something like this although I'm looking back 10-12 years. There were some AGM mfgr. that demanded a specific charger be used [Lifeline was one] or WHEN, NOT IF, your new, expensive AGMs failed you were on your own. Since then I think most AGM mfgr realized that demand was impractical so batteries have been modified. That is a a guess on my part simply because I do not see that demand any longer. Your AGM will perform better and longer with a proper recharge setup but it is not longer a demand from mfgrs.