Lithium Battteries

Some may remember when I replaced my 400 Amp hour AGM battery bank with a single 130 Amp hour lithium battery.  The port hull came a 1/2" out the water with the removal of the weight.

I heard all kinds of criticisms. 

- that is way too small of a battery bank.  Answer:  With a lithium battery the voltage remains at 13.2 VDC until the battery is nearly depleted.  With a lead acid based battery, the voltage immediately starts to drop as charge is removed.  Once you exceed 50% loss, you are permanently damaging the batteries.  Not so with lithium. 

- Lithium batteries will start on fire and sink your boat.  Answer:  Marine batteries are a cross of lithium, phosphate and cobalt.  The Valence batteries have been tested, under full load, in a fire and shot with a 50 caliber bullet.  Still no explosion.   

- You need to change all of your charging equipment.  Answer:  Nope.  With the chemical makeup, listed above, the same charging parameters can be used.  Just need to change the acceptance and float voltage level.  On that note; it always amazes me the number of people who just replace their batteries, with similar type, and never check to see what the new batteries require for charging parameters.  When their batteries last 2-3 years, they don't question the cost to replace them again, but question me on the cost of lithium batteries.  

- Too expensive.  Answer:  My first battery, including the BMS (battery management system) and safety relay, cost me about $1500.  That may seem like a lot, but based on the 10,000 cycles (minimum), the battery will last longer than I will have the boat.  As noted above, no one seem to complain about spending $700-$1000 every 2-3 years.  I have had, my single battery, for 6 years.  Zero degradation in static voltage or capacity.  Three years were spent living aboard on a mooring ball with 60-100 amps drawn out every night (unless the wind was blowing).   

This past summer, my old starting batteries finally bit the dust.  Instead of replacing them with standard batteries, I rewired the boat to use my house bank to start the engines.  I then purchased an additional lithium battery (same model number), to double my house bank to 260 Amp hours.  Not really needed, but figured the extra capacity would ensure enough starting power after a night on the hook.  Found the battery, used (1year old), for $400.  Total battery weight is still under 50lbs. 

Since I was adding to the load of the BMS, I contacted Valence and they sent me the programming files to update the BMS.  I had to purchase $160 worth of stuff to do that.  When I had issues getting it to take, I called the engineer directly and he modified the program, on the fly, and we were successful.  That is customer service! 

Being an ABYC certified tech, I get first crack at their webinar's.  The latest Lithium batteries if what prompted me to write this blog.  I am sold on Lithium for boats, and have 6 years of use to prove their worth.  Don't just take my word for it.  

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21Ql6n7nndQ



We are still enjoying Marathon.  Opening the keys have doubled our COVID cases, but there are still less people to contend with.  We plan to stay through the end of July at this point. 

Christmas photo, but with the 4th coming up, we plan to hang up the American Flag again. 

   
   

Head Space

A favorite topic amongst boaters and RV owners.  Seems like every blog has one of these posts, so I figured I should ante up.

Yasmine Ann came with the standard 2 electric macerating heads and 15 gallons on holding tank on each side.  Our first year, we replaced both heads with our favorite from Raritan, the Marine Elegance.  It is a full size toilet, like in your home, and uses a programmable control to save water and holding tank space.

The following year, we switched to fresh water rinse and added a in-line deodorizer.  Yes, our toilets flush with blue water.  The main purpose is to lubricate the valves so they last longer, but the deodorizer is a plus. 

This past summer, my project was to make our holding tank capacity larger.  Everyone knows that is a major hurdle on a sailboat.  Most of us, sailors, have water makers and we burn hardly any fuel.  To base your cruising destinations on where you can get a pump out is "shitty" way to plan your cruise (come on I had to do it).

On our catamaran, the tanks are housed in the wall.  On the port side (guest) head, we were able to increase our tank size to 25 gallon from the 15.  On the starboard side (master) head, we were able to increase the tank size to 28 gallon from the 15.  All this with a just a few modifications to the existing enclosures, without encroaching on any other space.

Along with that we replaced the bronze thru-hulls and seacocks with an all new Marelon setup for the overboard discharge and the sink discharge.  All new hoses.  We added a remote controlled wash down that rinses the tank from the top down, while your getting a pump out.  We also added the new SCAD tank monitoring.  This uses foil strips on the outside of the tank to avoid fowling.

After taking my surveying classes, and seeing the effects of corrosion on boats, I went with Marelon thru-hulls and seacocks.  They are ABYC approved and eliminate metal underwater.  I plan to replace more bronze thru-hulls at every haul out.     

All part of making our vessel feel more like a home.  At the same time we are updating old hardware and systems.

The reason why all boaters worry about their black water and how long they can last until the next pump out.