Building a lithium bank

[Wandering]

Originally Posted by Kd9truck

As a retired captain on the FDNY I will caution the purchase of lithium batteries from questionable sources. NYC is suffering a now 5 year spike in fire related fatalities directly because of the indiscriminate use of “cheap” lithium batteries.

The fault in charging tech is the cause, be careful.

Your on the wrong chemistry of lithium, my friend. We are talking lifepo4 technology. See if you can find us facts on a lifepo4 fire.

[Kd9truck]

Originally Posted by Wandering

Your on the wrong chemistry of lithium, my friend. We are talking lifepo4 technology. See if you can find us facts on a lifepo4 fire.

Putting more clarity on my prior post.

The collection of energy is dangerous, all energy, some are less dangerous than others, skimp on who is waxing your boat, don’t skimp on the construction of an energy system you are constructing your self.

We are all humans, inherently faulty.
My previous occupation exists because of human fault, I was kept very busy.

See if you can find us facts on a lifepo4 fire.
You don’t have to finish like that mate, it’s not necessary.

I didn’t say don’t use it. I said be careful.

[sailorboy1]

What a weird thread

OP you need to check for how many of those batteries they say can be parallel. Mine dropin 100ah LFP say only 4. But the are lots of choices now for higher capacity drop ins that work out to same $/ah that could be used.

[tanglewood]

Originally Posted by CrispyCringle

Why do so many Asian manufacturers that intend to market to the US have such ridiculous names- Redodo?! Absurd! I couldn't buy it for the name alone. Amazon is littered with company names like this. How much man-on-the-street market research does it take to figure out almost anything is a better name than what a lot of these companies come up with?

And now we return to your discussion about marine batteries....

Because for many buyers (perhaps the majority), price is all that matters.

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by Kd9truck

Putting more clarity on my prior post.

The collection of energy is dangerous, all energy, some are less dangerous than others, skimp on who is waxing your boat, don’t skimp on the construction of an energy system you are constructing your self.

We are all humans, inherently faulty.
My previous occupation exists because of human fault, I was kept very busy.

See if you can find us facts on a lifepo4 fire.
You don’t have to finish like that mate, it’s not necessary.

I didn’t say don’t use it. I said be careful.

yes your gas installation on your boat is dangerous too.


I prefer one collection of energy in Lifepo4 or LTO that is heavliy controlled and secured, then several uncontroled like an AGM lead bank, Gas tanks for cooking..


I get rid of gas due to fully electric galley too, so one danger less going lifepo4 thats a PITA to refill if you travel arround the world.


want it ultrasafe: use LTO, you can even drill into them while using them.

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by SVSeaHawk

Yes, I may not put in the full 1200ah but really I'm more concerned with understanding the limits of the battery I'm looking at. When people like Will Prowse talk about building large banks, they increase voltage. I dont want to do that. I want a large 12v bank.


I am somewhat limited with space so 100ah batteries are the best option despite the added complexity. As for external communications, I don't have that now with the AGM and doubt I'll miss it.


I don't know what you mean by "there is no such thing as a class a battery" they claim to be Grade A.

"And they are manufactured by Grade A LiFePO4 Cells with higher energy density, highest-level safety based on UL testing certificates. And we do 100% testing of all Redodo batteries before shipping to you, get it without any worries."


As for Will Prowse, he seems to be a fan back when the same battery cost ~$400 (and were s0ld under a different name), they are $224 now...

I do like your suggestion that I use larger batteries and fewer but space is a huge problem on my boat. Right now I am looking for ways to stuff larger units into the space.


Thanks for the feed back. Please continue to dissuade me, it's helpful...

you don't have communication now but for LIFEPO4 and especially a large bank like that its essential!! as a huge bank like that need to be monitored and controlled. if you short a 1200AH LFP bank 12000 til 15000A will be easily reached and gonna do a big mess...

As other mentioned before i would get as big as possible capacity in one battery. there is also a limit how many battries you can parallel due to BMS, mostly 4 some 6.

for a 1200AH bank, the minimum capacity per battery should be >=300AH


As you obviously on the cheap side I would look at building it out of 304AH EVE cells. from sun&fun kits you get a complete kit to build a 304AH drop in battery from 4x304AH, so you need 3 (and 12x) or 4 kits (and 16xEVE 304AH cells).
I would start with 3 batteries/kits and 912AH, more then enough to replace 1200AGM. you can always add one.

[Wandering]

Originally Posted by Kd9truck

Putting more clarity on my prior post.

The collection of energy is dangerous, all energy, some are less dangerous than others, skimp on who is waxing your boat, don’t skimp on the construction of an energy system you are constructing your self.

We are all humans, inherently faulty.
My previous occupation exists because of human fault, I was kept very busy.

See if you can find us facts on a lifepo4 fire.
You don’t have to finish like that mate, it’s not necessary.

I didn’t say don’t use it. I said be careful.

Large lead batteries have a high energy content as well. Suggesting lifepo4 batteries are dangerous is incorrect. These batteries have a BMS that manages the battery. When it gets overcharged, it shuts down. When it gets hot, it shuts down. Even if this went wrong, there are no recorded cases of lifepo4 fires with photographic evidence. There are plenty with other lithium chemistries, such as those used in scooters and Ebikes. There are more issues with on boats with poor installation than the risk of fire in the cells. There are too many people installing lithium who are unconsciously incompetent. That's why we have standards to meet, such as ABYC and ISO, but some people don't like working with standards. I don't agree with all aspects of the standards, but they are a pretty good on the whole

[RedneckRedcoat]

Please don’t skimp on quality made lithium batteries

As other have said look at battleborn or Dakota. Something to take into consideration is insurance, some insurance companies are now requiring to know what brand of batteries you are using. I’m not sure about Dekota but Battleborn are on of the few that are recommended by AYB and hence insurance approved.

Battleborn are expensive but it’s a worth while investment and the after care services are brilliant.

One of the things to watch is Emily and Clark on YouTube , he is an engineer and is doing battery tests and some of the batteries whilst having the right chemistry have poor bus bars and can over heat and possible catch fire.

[jheyland]

Originally Posted by RedneckRedcoat

Please don’t skimp on quality made lithium batteries

As other have said look at battleborn or Dakota. Something to take into consideration is insurance, some insurance companies are now requiring to know what brand of batteries you are using. I’m not sure about Dekota but Battleborn are on of the few that are recommended by AYB and hence insurance approved.

Battleborn are expensive but it’s a worth while investment and the after care services are brilliant.

One of the things to watch is Emily and Clark on YouTube , he is an engineer and is doing battery tests and some of the batteries whilst having the right chemistry have poor bus bars and can over heat and possible catch fire.

My take is that I need to be aware of what I'm expecting of the battery. Currently, my house bank still consists of flooded batteries, I have a LifePO4 battery as "play" battery mainly for watching tv and such. Given the rapid changes in battery technology and pricing, and my current coastal cruising area, I don't mind if that battery fails in a few years, and I'm not really put out when it will, since I'm not depending on it. I'm fine getting a cheap one in this scenario. While I'm confident that this battery https://www.custommarineproducts.com...4-Battery.html is better built, will last longer, and provides monitoring (which mine does not), for the scenario I have, I'd rather have mine fail get a new one in a few years when prices and technology will have evolved more. This may apply when you have a bank where it doesn't matter too much if one battery in the bank fails. Or it may not.

[tanglewood]

Originally Posted by RedneckRedcoat

I’m not sure about Dekota but Battleborn are on of the few that are recommended by AYB and hence insurance approved.

Who/what is AYB? If you mean ABYC, they do not recommend anything. They just write specs and it's up to the manufacturer to determine whether or not they comply with the spec. ABYC doesn't even determine compliance, let alone name or recommend products.