Kelpie
Well-known member
I understand that the move from lead acid to LifePO4 requires a shift in mentality about the state of charge when a boat is not in use, and then I twigged that a recent addition DJI made to their drones might be worth considering. In short, when a drone battery is neither in use nor charging, the battery firmware enables some kind of load to gently run down the battery to about 50% at which point it stops. Would that be possible so that idiots like me don't have to think about it?
There are a number of ways you could achieve this. Somebody cleverer than me can probably come up with something smarter, but at the most basic level just have a device with a configurable low voltage disconnect (e.g. an inverter or fridge) and set that to say 13v, then turn it on and go home. It will run the battery roughly half way down and then shut off.
Or you could change the settings on your MPPT and stop charging at a lower voltage, either permanently (with occasional higher voltage charges for balancing) or when leaving the boat for a period of time.
Or just stop worrying about every last detail. These batteries are already cheaper than lead acid, don't deliberately misuse them but don't lose too much sleep over it either.