Lithium batteries availability in remote locations

[Mantas]

Hi,

I need to change my battery bank (1000Ah) and was thinking about going for Lithium, but I got this opinion that Lithium is not a good option for long distance cruising as in case of battery failure it is very hard to get replacement in remote locations and shipping lithium battery by air is impossible. Can someone advice me on this, is this actually true?

[Paul L]

Lithium batteries are made out of Unobtainable. This is the same for most important boat parts while in remote and often not remote cruising destinations.
I can't see the lithium batteries as a special case. Worse case you could buy some car batteries locally and use them for a few months till you got to somewhere where you could replace your expensive power storage system.

[Santiano]

You buy lithium expressly not to have to replace the bank for many years. If it dies, it's because of extreme circumstances or your own error. Either way, you'd have to replace whatever battery bank you had.

[seandepagnier]

battery space . com

it is unlikely they would fail but I have 8 cells and a huge switch to switch between 12/24. At 24 a converter makes 12, and 24 volts is available for high power use.

As long as 4 cells are working there will always be 12 volts.

[tarian]

Originally Posted by Santiano

You buy lithium expressly not to have to replace the bank for many years. If it dies, it's because of extreme circumstances or your own error. Either way, you'd have to replace whatever battery bank you had.

One wonders if you have bought something new that has broken or not worked to standard , batteries are no different , to think that all lithium is bullet proof is not a good example, every production line will have a fault sometime down the line , a bored employee, a digit mistype , can cause a batch of duds, if it can happen in the drug industry it sure as well can happen in battery production , and the OP is right to think about this

[boom23]

It can be extremely difficult to find a specific lithium battery replacement in many places...

I investigated finding a Winston lithium battery replacement in New Zealand 3 years ago. There were few lithium battery dealers there, but none carried the battery model I had. If I really needed one, I would be out of luck for many months. Shipping can also be an issue.

I hope things will change...

[transmitterdan]

Generally lithium banks are designed with redundancy. So a battery failure may reduce capacity but not render the whole bank useless. So if you go afar you want to know what redundancy you have and how to isolate bad batteries.

You also should choose bank voltages that can be temporarily supported with “standard” batteries. In the event the whole bank fails you can temporarily use standard batteries until you are ready to replace.

Finally, you should always (IMO) have a method of powering critical systems via a different method. For example, a power supply that runs from solar or a gen set with the ability to run navigation and comms. Then house battery failures are not a true single point failure safety item.

Engine start batteries should not be lithium, again IMO. Lithium can be the backup to regular start battery.

[Mantas]

Thank you everyone for your answers

[LostNation]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

battery space . com

it is unlikely they would fail but I have 8 cells and a huge switch to switch between 12/24. At 24 a converter makes 12, and 24 volts is available for high power use.

As long as 4 cells are working there will always be 12 volts.

Hi, could you please specify the lithium cells you are using? I have powered a cabin with solar for 30 years and always used the Trojan T105’s or now L16 6 volt batteries. Was considering 2 T105’s for my boat, Bristol 24.Small electrical needs, Led lighting and tablet,radio,phone. 100 watt solar panel. I would love to get away from the lead acid battery but have always been stopped by cost.
Thanks

[donradcliffe]

If you are handy, take a look at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uU43CZJxL0