Anyone used these lifepo4 batteries?

[Flex]

For anyone interested in charging Lifepo4 batteries.

The best method I've been using is having an onboard Dc\DC lithium charger(redarc/sterling or enerdrive) They aren't much more than a 240v lithium charger anyhow.

You have the benefit of charging off your alternator if needed at sea plus they also generally have solar input and inbuilt mppt reg to boot.

But the main benefit is you run a standard 240/12v wet cell charger to your start battery when at home. Generally most people run a VSR, so it then flicks over and charges your house battery afterwards.
Then DC/DC on board charger will have its own internal sensor and will pull a charge into your lithium battery once house battery is charged.

I used it on my last boat and works a absolute treat.

Literally get home, slap one 240v charger on and away you go. no need to remove lithiums from home and charge it aswell as house battery

[stevej]

Are there water proof on board dc dc chargers ?

[Lovey80]

For anyone interested in charging Lifepo4 batteries.

The best method I've been using is having an onboard Dc\DC lithium charger(redarc/sterling or enerdrive) They aren't much more than a 240v lithium charger anyhow.

You have the benefit of charging off your alternator if needed at sea plus they also generally have solar input and inbuilt mppt reg to boot.

But the main benefit is you run a standard 240/12v wet cell charger to your start battery when at home. Generally most people run a VSR, so it then flicks over and charges your house battery afterwards.
Then DC/DC on board charger will have its own internal sensor and will pull a charge into your lithium battery once house battery is charged.

I used it on my last boat and works a absolute treat.

Literally get home, slap one 240v charger on and away you go. no need to remove lithiums from home and charge it aswell as house battery

Never thought about doing it that way. Really simple way of ensuring your house/TM lithiums are looked after without needing a 240v charger capable of lithium charging.

something like this would be perfect for Gaza’s set up. I wonder what’s out there in the 24/36v options that are cheaper.

https://offroadliving.com.au/product...RoCEEAQAvD_BwE

[NAGG]

For anyone interested in charging Lifepo4 batteries.

The best method I've been using is having an onboard Dc\DC lithium charger(redarc/sterling or enerdrive) They aren't much more than a 240v lithium charger anyhow.

You have the benefit of charging off your alternator if needed at sea plus they also generally have solar input and inbuilt mppt reg to boot.

But the main benefit is you run a standard 240/12v wet cell charger to your start battery when at home. Generally most people run a VSR, so it then flicks over and charges your house battery afterwards.
Then DC/DC on board charger will have its own internal sensor and will pull a charge into your lithium battery once house battery is charged.

I used it on my last boat and works a absolute treat.

Literally get home, slap one 240v charger on and away you go. no need to remove lithiums from home and charge it aswell as house battery

A couple of questions & or thoughts on this

How does a DCDC charger handle 2 x 12 volt (24vlt system) LiFePO4 batteries used for the electric motor ? -
*The batteries are in series giving you 24 volt - the charging via the Alternator / DCDC is 12 volt

Yes I can understand going this way if using a 12 volt system .

** How much charge will you actually provide to your leccy battery in a days fishing ? - A DC DC charger usually gives you a charge rate of 40amps .... So your going to need to run the boats motor for an hour (min) to put back in 40amps . Considering that most fishoes generally would never travel very far once they are on their fishing grounds . ( Yes if you were doing a Back 2 Basics type of trip - absolutely . Anyhow interested to know more & if this is realistic for a 24 volt set up.

Currently (no pun intended) I have 2 Lithium chargers permanently wired to the individual batteries (isolated with their own breaker) - the 2 batteries are linked by an Andersson plug which I disconnect when charging. I then set the 2 breakers & plug into 240 volts - I'm charging at 25amps . When away island camping I just use the generator to provide 240 vlt. Most days it's not anymore than 2-3 hrs charging .

Chris

[NAGG]

Never thought about doing it that way. Really simple way of ensuring your house/TM lithiums are looked after without needing a 240v charger capable of lithium charging.

something like this would be perfect for Gaza’s set up. I wonder what’s out there in the 24/36v options that are cheaper.

https://offroadliving.com.au/product...RoCEEAQAvD_BwE

I have the 12vlt 40amp version of this charger in my cars canopy - Great piece of kit

However I dont believe they are suitable for use in a wet environment ( specially salt)

Chris

[NAGG]

Are there water proof on board dc dc chargers ?

There are - the Sterling procharge is the one that I looked at

The trouble is that they have only 15amp output

Chris

[Corry]

Hey Corry.
What boat do you have the 55lb Minn Kota on?

Sorry Upstart, try to get on everyday, but doesn't always happen.

MK is swapped between both my boats, little one is a 4m Widebody Hornet, bigger one is a 5m Top Ender.
In the big boat I run the dodgiest set up for charging, but so far (touch wood) it has worked. Primary battery is just a normal marine starting battery, it is hooked via a Redarc VSR to the second battery which is a Marine Deep Cycle AGM, this is then direct connected to the third battery that is up the front for the MK, it's a Marine Deep Cycle but wet cell. The third battery is the one I've just replaced, only lasted a touch over 5 years , and only replaced as I let the water levels go right down as I haven't removed it for about 3 years. I did top it up and plug the charger onto it on the bench, it did come back, but time wise it's due for replacement.
The MK and an Engel fridge are connected to the third battery (which is obviously connected to the second battery).
Charging wise, I've got a 10amp CTEK, it gets plugged onto the Primary battery, this then opens the VSR when charged and charges the other two. Has been set up like this for nearly 10 years, and I get roughly just over 5 years out of any of the batteries.
Little boat runs a normal Marine starting battery, and an AGM Marine Deep Cycle for the MK, same as, they are connected via a VSR. Charged the same was as well.
All batteries are Century Batteries.

[stevej]

1697718[/URL]]There are - the Sterling procharge is the one that I looked at

The trouble is that they have only 15amp output

Chris

thanks Chris
just laziness on my behalf as a big days fishing when away camping means I have to recharge 3 batteries and Takes 2 hours each with the generator at 30 amps
and the mucking around once each one’s done

[NAGG]

thanks Chris
just laziness on my behalf as a big days fishing when away camping means I have to recharge 3 batteries and Takes 2 hours each with the generator at 30 amps
and the mucking around once each one’s done

Hence why each of my batteries has their own 25 amp victron charger .

All I do is carry the genny over to the boat - plug the double adapter to the genny & away I go ...... both batteries are getting 25 amp each . I could do the same if I had a 36 volt system ..... all 3 batteries would have their own charger .
The last thing you want is to be running a genny for the whole night

Chris

[Flex]

A couple of questions & or thoughts on this

How does a DCDC charger handle 2 x 12 volt (24vlt system) LiFePO4 batteries used for the electric motor ? -
*The batteries are in series giving you 24 volt - the charging via the Alternator / DCDC is 12 volt

Yes I can understand going this way if using a 12 volt system .

** How much charge will you actually provide to your leccy battery in a days fishing ? - A DC DC charger usually gives you a charge rate of 40amps .... So your going to need to run the boats motor for an hour (min) to put back in 40amps . Considering that most fishoes generally would never travel very far once they are on their fishing grounds . ( Yes if you were doing a Back 2 Basics type of trip - absolutely . Anyhow interested to know more & if this is realistic for a 24 volt set up.

Currently (no pun intended) I have 2 Lithium chargers permanently wired to the individual batteries (isolated with their own breaker) - the 2 batteries are linked by an Andersson plug which I disconnect when charging. I then set the 2 breakers & plug into 240 volts - I'm charging at 25amps . When away island camping I just use the generator to provide 240 vlt. Most days it's not anymore than 2-3 hrs charging .

Chris

I run a redarc 12vin/24v output charger permanently stuck ontop of my 24v lithium battery(not series 12v, but a plain old 24v lifepo4)

I have a set of cables off my house battery plugged into the redarc charger. then its output wired direct to the 24v lithium.
It senses voltage above say 14v before it will start charging you lithium.

the main advantage of this is at home charging,. who cares about putting enough in to your lithium at sea. generally a 24v, 100AH lithium will last 3 days of fishing easy. (remember lithiums use nearly all their AH compared to AGM).

A mate of mine also uses the same technique with a 36V setup. works a treat. He gets home, charges his house battery with standard 12v charger and next day all his batteries are topped up.

If you're worried about keeping your batteries topped up on extended camping trip. Slap a solar panel on your roof. Input it to yuor DC/DC charger and it'll keep your battery topped up nicely. You shouldnt have to charge your start/house battery at sea at all. So you only need to worry about lecky motor on extended trips. solar can take care of that easy
But its very unlikely you are going to need to charge your lecky battery at sea for most trips

Also amp rating on chargers is for its input rating, not output. So a 30A sterling unit is for 30A in. Not out, You will have losses so you're likely to only be inputting 6-10Amps to your 24v lithium. but thats ok for over night charging

[NAGG]

I run a redarc 12vin/24v output charger permanently stuck ontop of my 24v lithium battery(not series 12v, but a plain old 24v lifepo4)

I have a set of cables off my house battery plugged into the redarc charger. then its output wired direct to the 24v lithium.
It senses voltage above say 14v before it will start charging you lithium.

the main advantage of this is at home charging,. who cares about putting enough in to your lithium at sea. generally a 24v, 100AH lithium will last 3 days of fishing easy. (remember lithiums use nearly all their AH compared to AGM).

A mate of mine also uses the same technique with a 36V setup. works a treat. He gets home, charges his house battery with standard 12v charger and next day all his batteries are topped up.

If you're worried about keeping your batteries topped up on extended camping trip. Slap a solar panel on your roof. Input it to yuor DC/DC charger and it'll keep your battery topped up nicely. You shouldnt have to charge your start/house battery at sea at all. So you only need to worry about lecky motor on extended trips. solar can take care of that easy
But its very unlikely you are going to need to charge your lecky battery at sea for most trips

Also amp rating on chargers is for its input rating, not output. So a 30A sterling unit is for 30A in. Not out, You will have losses so you're likely to only be inputting 6-10Amps to your 24v lithium. but thats ok for over night charging

Thanks for the reply

Ok ..... the first thing is the battery consumption when using a leccy - How the hell do you get 3 days out of batteries when spotlocking . I've been offshore spotlocking for the last 6 or 7 years having run 54lb (200amp AGM) , 80lb (2 x 100amp AGM ) , 80lb (2x100amp Gel replaced by 2 x 125AGM) then a 80lb (2x100amp LiFePO4 replaced by 2 x 125amp LiFePO4) . That's 4 MKs running 6 different battery configurations in 2 voltage . With the exception of the 12 vlt 200amp AGM on the 54lb minn kota ........ all of the above struggle to get beyond 8 hrs .
I spotlock 100% ...... no drifting around or use it to correct position .

I understand that 24 Vlt uses less power than 12 Vlt & ditto for 36Vlt ...... but If my 80lb MK is running at 50% it's pulling 14amps . So my 125amp is going to be just over 7 hours (80% DOD) ...... I mean you need a really good day to go 10-11 hrs .

Off grid charging - solar How many panels would you need ? - If I'm spotlocking on a bright sunny day ..... A 160W (9amp charging) solar panel wont keep up to the leccy usage (14amp @ 50%) ....... eventually your battery will be dead unless you get it on 240 vlt . I just experienced that a 80W panel could not keep up with the power draw of a car fridge (40lt Evakool drawer fridge) over a 1 week period in NQ - (2-3 amps / hr) . When I came back to the car after a week - the battery was dead. ( A overcast & wet week) I have since replaced the 80W with a 160W panel .... brilliant as even on a wet overcast day it's still putting in enough power to cover the usage .

Anyhow - I'm just pointing out my experiences with electric motors , power usage , charging & realities .

Chris

[Ducksnutz]

I run a redarc 12vin/24v output charger permanently stuck ontop of my 24v lithium battery(not series 12v, but a plain old 24v lifepo4)

I have a set of cables off my house battery plugged into the redarc charger. then its output wired direct to the 24v lithium.
It senses voltage above say 14v before it will start charging you lithium.

the main advantage of this is at home charging,. who cares about putting enough in to your lithium at sea. generally a 24v, 100AH lithium will last 3 days of fishing easy. (remember lithiums use nearly all their AH compared to AGM).

A mate of mine also uses the same technique with a 36V setup. works a treat. He gets home, charges his house battery with standard 12v charger and next day all his batteries are topped up.

If you're worried about keeping your batteries topped up on extended camping trip. Slap a solar panel on your roof. Input it to yuor DC/DC charger and it'll keep your battery topped up nicely. You shouldnt have to charge your start/house battery at sea at all. So you only need to worry about lecky motor on extended trips. solar can take care of that easy
But its very unlikely you are going to need to charge your lecky battery at sea for most trips

Also amp rating on chargers is for its input rating, not output. So a 30A sterling unit is for 30A in. Not out, You will have losses so you're likely to only be inputting 6-10Amps to your 24v lithium. but thats ok for over night charging

Finally, we got there in the end….. cheers Flex.

[shortthenlong]

Thanks for the reply

Ok ..... the first thing is the battery consumption when using a leccy - How the hell do you get 3 days out of batteries when spotlocking . I've been offshore spotlocking for the last 6 or 7 years having run 54lb (200amp AGM) , 80lb (2 x 100amp AGM ) , 80lb (2x100amp Gel replaced by 2 x 125AGM) then a 80lb (2x100amp LiFePO4 replaced by 2 x 125amp LiFePO4) . That's 4 MKs running 6 different battery configurations in 2 voltage . With the exception of the 12 vlt 200amp AGM on the 54lb minn kota ........ all of the above struggle to get beyond 8 hrs .
I spotlock 100% ...... no drifting around or use it to correct position .

I understand that 24 Vlt uses less power than 12 Vlt & ditto for 36Vlt ...... but If my 80lb MK is running at 50% it's pulling 14amps . So my 125amp is going to be just over 7 hours (80% DOD) ...... I mean you need a really good day to go 10-11 hrs .

Off grid charging - solar How many panels would you need ? - If I'm spotlocking on a bright sunny day ..... A 160W (9amp charging) solar panel wont keep up to the leccy usage (14amp @ 50%) ....... eventually your battery will be dead unless you get it on 240 vlt . I just experienced that a 80W panel could not keep up with the power draw of a car fridge (40lt Evakool drawer fridge) over a 1 week period in NQ - (2-3 amps / hr) . When I came back to the car after a week - the battery was dead. ( A overcast & wet week) I have since replaced the 80W with a 160W panel .... brilliant as even on a wet overcast day it's still putting in enough power to cover the usage .

Anyhow - I'm just pointing out my experiences with electric motors , power usage , charging & realities .

Chris

To the part about solar panels. Try moving away from 12v panels. I use house panels and a MPPT solar regulator. Pushes 10amps

[NAGG]

To the part about solar panels. Try moving away from 12v panels. I use house panels and a MPPT solar regulator. Pushes 10amps

9 amps or 10 amps still wont get you to where I need to be when using my Minn Kota (a typical days fishing offshore) . A 160W panel would be the largest I could fit ...... 9W charging for 2 batteries - it's just not worth the effort & expense .

I think when my MK eventually goes to god - I might go a 36Vlt system which brings the power usage down to around 10amps running at 50% power on the MK .

Chris

[shortthenlong]

Sorry for the confusion I was meaning for your canopy/fridge combo

Matt