And just like CQR for the vast majority of people AGMs are fine - suspect you will find that FLAs are still the most common type of batteries used on boats. Post#56 illustrates the situation well. Most boat owners will not benefit from the properties lithium offers in the same way that most boat owners won't ever need the superior properties of an NG anchor.
To be fair, when we're in weekender mode I leave the boat at 50-60% and return to a 99%. Switching off shore power has saved me hundreds of pounds in a couple of years so there certainly can be some benefits for weekenders. I wouldn't have done this with lead as it would have killed them in short order whereas now the only downside is we might occasionally turn up to a battery at 70% charge (still enough for a weekend).
Have a look at Rod Collins utube channel Marine How To. He is a very well respected guy in the USA. He is on the ABYC committee and was instrumental in writing the ABYC standard for lithium. He has run his 12v lithium battery for 15 years on his own boat. He recently tested it for capacity and it had no loss. Pretty impressive. He has gone through several different BMS as the tech has improved. He now runs a JK BMS. The same ones I am running. He is a cool guy and his utube channel is super informative
We converted to lithium as liveaboards 12months ago. We have saved about £300 on gas and diesel by using hardly any gas cooking and running the genset for a vastly reduced number of hours. Eventually there will be a payback but we didn't do it for that. It's the improvement of quality of life onboard that we find the greatest benefit. There is enough stored kWh in the lithium to do stuff we never could do with lead.
I get the same too, which is what prompted my tongue in cheek post above.
Yes, just as I considered it when I rewired my GH 2 years ago and rejected it in favour AGMs primarily on cost grounds, but influenced by several years' experience with the same set up in my last boat. However my pattern of usage really does not make full use of the different properties of lithium - no fridge, no pressure water, no heating, simple tillerpilot, no night sailing, no crew and plug into shorepower. I would not class myself as a "lead lover" rather prefer to assess what is available to suit my needs at any given point in time. With my kw/h usage and charging regime the Exide stop start batteries I fitted will outlast me.
There are one or two around - but generally you are right and maybe the lack of balance is because the people who don't see the benefits for them don't engage in the discussion!
How much do you think lithium costs? I think this is a myth that needs to be debunked. If you're paying more than £80 for a 110Ah lead acid battery, you'd be cheaper with DIY lithium.
Your MPPT almost certainly can be configured for lithium. The alternator and how you want to handle splitting the charge between house and starter is more complex, and it's an issue I just avoided by keeping the two systems totally separate; I appreciate this wouldn't work for everyone.
Which model do you have? Do you have to get it talking to a computer to do this?
Of course I will. I expect to be in my early seventies by the time I need my AGMs, if I survive that long, perhaps by then lithium will come free with a box of cornflakes as everybody will be raving about a new technology.
Na, with global warming, thr UK will get weather like the Med, your lead batteries will cook like mine do in the Caribbean and you will be replacing AGMs every 3 years like most people over hereOf course I will. I expect to be in my early seventies by the time I need my AGMs, if I survive that long, perhaps by then lithium will come free with a box of cornflakes as everybody will be raving about a new technology.
It will be some time before the amazing beaches of Barra will be as busy as Torremolinos.Na, with global warming, thr UK will get weather like the Med, your lead batteries will cook like mine do in the Caribbean and you will be replacing AGMs every 3 years like most people over here
Reading of battery developments it is more than likely that within 10 years, so before the current LFP batteries need to be replaced
, There will be better and different technologies. LFP as we know them today will be dated and a newer technology (or plural) will be the subject of debate.
That would be three of the batteries I have, which are standard leisure battery size rather than the larger size leads many yachts have. Total cost would only be about £2400 and would fit in most battery compartments on 40’ boats and above.
