Merged LiFeYPO4 1000Ah Winston prismatic cells and all electric galley...

[CatNewBee]

Yes, its really nice not to have to care too much on the amps. We had the washing machine running, also one A/C and cooking on the oven, there had been peaks, but the Quattro handeled it easily, solar contributed also its part, so the battery was pretty relaxed during the day.

Without the power assist the breaker will switch frequently.

[arsenelupiga]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

Well, with half the Solar, I guess, I would have on sunny days the energy I use recharged, without extras for the watermaker or cruising electronics, but on anchor it would be OK, maybe I would not make hot water daily too, that would safe 150..160Ah and prolongue the time to recharge.

Well, any cloudy day would not be compensated by solar, after 2 or 3 days with clouds I would probably have to run the generator for 2-3 hours to recharge (i can charge with 300A from 220V sources by the quattro - 220A and the 2 Cristec - 40A each, plus the solar up to 100A).

So it would not kill me, but I would have to burn diesel.

With that setup now I am completely independent on other sources and have on good days excess energy for the water maker or washing machine or other stuff.

I asked this as I have 360 W solar at the moment and with planned 400AH upgrade LFP, get similar ratio solar/battery power as if you had 1/2 solar in current setup.

Have 2 x 180 W solar panels on davits and simplest upgrade would be to replace them with 2 x Sunpower 360 which will increase total solar area exposed to waves only for 1/4 but double the solar power. In this case will match your current ratio solar/battery power which you are happy with.

Plan to do upgrade in 2 phases. One is to upgrade batteries, and later on double solar power.

At least from distance, looks doable with not too many $$$. But have to dig out from depths of my memory electrical skills gained long time ago at uni.

[CatNewBee]

Hi there,

solar/battery ratio is not that important in regards to LFP, they can take almost anything solar can provide. It is more a lead acid thumb of rule, because charging current is limited by the battery chemistry / capacity. (0.1C.. 0.2C).

You should size capacities for battery and solar based on your consumption and the bad weather days you want to cover without running the engines or a generator.

The system should just be able to provide for the current demand and recharge the extra energy of the bad weather days drawn from the battery, when the sun is back, dont forget the nights in your calculation.

LFP can be safely charged with up to 1C, a 400Ah LFP bank can continously accept a charge current of 400A, that woud translate to an solar array of up to 5000Wp.

[CatNewBee]

Attachment 173256As promised, here a photo of the re-fitted galley...

[arsenelupiga]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

Attachment 173256As promised, here a photo of the re-fitted galley...Attachment 173257

looks well made and functional

i am out of this league, though. My biggest consumer apart from electric winch is water pump and use overnight modest 35AH when not sailing. No plans to increase as my wife happy with setup

400 AH battery will be installed to cater for cloudy days & a/p & computer for passages.

[CatNewBee]

WAF (wife acceptance factor) is high, more functional and space better used by introducing the waste bin in the dead corner via a top hatch.

She feels more like home with the bigger electric appliances.

And Happy Wife, Happy Life... [emoji1]

[CatNewBee]

Here a photo of the BMS, interface board, fuses, solenoids and shunt, also visible, the cells bridges in the rear and the original battery swithes in the front...

[CatNewBee]

detail with the MPPT controller on the right...

[CatNewBee]

... with protection board above wiring...

[CatNewBee]

... and closed drawer...

[CatNewBee]

The black stuff on the connections / copper bars ets is liquid rubber for isolation and corrosion protection, all screws are A4 stainless steel, between copper bars and battery poles is NoAlOx paste to prevent oxydation and corrosion. connections between the cells, to the shunt and to the main fuses is made by solid elertrical copper bars 30mm x 5mm square the wires to the Victron Quattro are 2x 90mm^2 for plus and same for minus.

Four ML-RBS solenoids used, one for the Quattro, one for the loads, one for the charge bus - all controlled by the BMS - and one in series for the legacy charger controlled by the Victron BMV.
Additionally the Quattro is controlled by the BMS digital outputs on different thresholds.

See description and diagramms above in the thread.

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

The black stuff on the connections / copper bars ets is liquid rubber for isolation and corrosion protection, all screws are A4 stainless steel, between copper bars and battery poles is NoAlOx paste to prevent oxydation and corrosion. [...]

Very nice and clean setup, excellent job! Not sure why you needed that paste (as opposed to dielectric grease), it seems it's only any good between aluminium and copper? I guess your screws are bolts and they're M4 not A4?

[CatNewBee]

Originally Posted by hzcruiser

Very nice and clean setup, excellent job! Not sure why you needed that paste (as opposed to dielectric grease), it seems it's only any good between aluminium and copper? I guess your screws are bolts and they're M4 not A4?

The battery poles of the Winston cells are massive aluminium blocks, so NoAlOx is almost mandatory here to be used for a long lasting connection.

Also the sealing with liquid rubber is in my opinion necessary to isolate the bare copper / aluminium / stainless steel connection and also keep moisture away. In a repair situation you can easily remove / peel it off in contrast to sikaflex or silicone. Silicone is also more sticky and not adviseable to be used on aluminium because it contains acids and would start corrosion.

It may look a little ugly, but it protects well.

This are all technical details, well discussed in LiFeYPO4 forums for usage in mobile application and moist environments, like RV and cars. I thought, it was already common sense how this Winston cells must be treated / connected.

Alternatively to NoAlOx you can use bi-metal washers (Al/Cu), especially with the smaller cells, for the big ones you want as much connection surface you can get to transport the high current with as little voltage drop as possible, so the connection remain cold during usage.

There also specific torque momentums to be applied on the M12 bolts for the same reason, see data sheet from manufacturer.

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

The battery poles of the Winston cells are massive aluminium blocks, so NoAlOx is almost mandatory here to be used for a long lasting connection.

Ah, ok, good to know.

[arsenelupiga]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

... and closed drawer...Attachment 173898

where is the battery then?