Best 8D non lithium battery

[Idylles15.5]

Figured I would take advantage of all the knowledge on here from real cruisers. I'm about to once again buy 4 8D batteries for my house bank. I do not want to go the lithium route. Just had a fire at our marina from a lithium battery. So, from experience and real world off the dock cruising what would you say is the best manufacturer for 8D s

[sailorboy1]

No "best" acid 8D battery and there are 100s of discussions of them.

but I bet we would like to hear about the details of the fire and how it was a lithium problem

[nuku34]

I've not used an 8D size lead acid battery, but I have had very good performance and life from Trojan T-105 6V batteries (in series to make 12V). I believe Trojan make good batteries and they do make an 8D 12V model.


Re lithium systems: one of the main problems I see with these is the quality and sophistication of the BMS (battery management system) that controls the charge rate and other vital aspects of the battery.
Most of the off-the-shelf ones have only 1 level of fail safe protection. A friend with lots of electronics knowledge did a lot of research and constructed a custom BMS from parts sourced from China. His unit has 3 levels of fail safe protection and is custom designed for his boat's electrical system. He demonstrated it for me by deliberately creating situations that would cause a fire/meltdown. In every case, the BMS worked. How many off-the-self generic units are tested in this rigorous way?

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Idylles15.5

Figured I would take advantage of all the knowledge on here from real cruisers. I'm about to once again buy 4 8D batteries for my house bank. I do not want to go the lithium route. Just had a fire at our marina from a lithium battery. So, from experience and real world off the dock cruising what would you say is the best manufacturer for 8D s

Can't say if "best" or not...

But we currently have Lifeline AGM 8Ds, rated 255 Ah @ 12 VDC. $$$$$

Odyssey AGMs also good $$$$$, but higher cranking amps and lower capacity -- so we went with Lifeline this time.

I've read Rolls Surrette does good batteries, $$$$$

-Chris

[marlin driver]

Lifeline AGMs would be my choice for non-lithium, and I’ve owned quite a few of them (Lifelines) and others over the years. Not cheap, but the quality and customer support is top notch.

That being said, I don’t expect to be buying anything other than LFP in the future for house batteries. Having had lead acid, AGM and LFP, the LFPs are so much better that it isn’t close.

Sometimes simple and familiar takes priority, and that may be enough reason to stay with AGM for now, so do what works for you.

[Shrew]

I have 2 8D Lifeline AGM wire in parallel for my house bank. I'm very happy with them.

[Reeve21]

Another vote for Lifeline. I inherited 2 Lifeline AGM 8D's for my house bank. Prior owner was not positive of the age, but they are somewhere between 6 and 8 years old and still getting the job done. He kept them on a charger while at the dock. This will be my first full season with the boat, it will be interesting to see if I can keep them going with solar only. They did sit on a mooring for 2.5 months last summer with no charging except for maybe 20 days of engine running, and that did not kill them. They are pricey, but at this point I'd be inclined to stay with them when the time comes. At 30-40 days a year of local use I'm not ready to make any big changes. The best price I've seen is at batteryguys.com.


On the previous boat I was burning through cheap flooded batteries every few years. Finally bit the bullet and installed a modest solar panel and Rolls batteries, big difference.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by Idylles15.5

Figured I would take advantage of all the knowledge on here from real cruisers. I'm about to once again buy 4 8D batteries for my house bank. I do not want to go the lithium route. Just had a fire at our marina from a lithium battery. So, from experience and real world off the dock cruising what would you say is the best manufacturer for 8D s

Do you know what battery chemistry was involved in the fire at your marina. I have searched the internet and have yet to find any boat fires attributed to Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries in boats. All of the articles i have found were attributed to lithium ion batteries in electric bikes, scooters, and other devices which typically use other lithium chemistries with higher energy densities. Could you identify the marina location so I might find some information on this fire?