Inverters

[vas]

curious if you can find some docs/diagrams explaining how this is accomplished.
mind, starter battery should be fully charged 10mins after cranking I recon, so both alternators will be mainly charging home bank in this setup...

 

[BruceK]

I see the sterling units auto disconnect at 60C. Would this not become an issue in a crowded engine bay once the engines were switched off? My bay stays like a sauna for several hours after the engines have been run.

 

[vas]

batteries don't have to be in the e/r Bruce, and tbh shouldn't if the engine room is a sauna, not good for any battery or charger!
maybe going lifepo4 means you should be re routing the bank (which is easier as they're smaller (often) and lighter than LA
I'm seriously considering moving the house bank from the e/r to under the salon sofa when I switch to lifepo4

 

[Bouba]

batteries don't have to be in the e/r Bruce, and tbh shouldn't if the engine room is a sauna, not good for any battery or charger!
maybe going lifepo4 means you should be re routing the bank (which is easier as they're smaller (often) and lighter than LA
I'm seriously considering moving the house bank from the e/r to under the salon sofa when I switch to lifepo4

You may have to take on ballast to make up the difference ?

 

[vas]

sadly that's an issue I have anyway Bouba, as generator is on stbrd, batteries on port and they don't balance out, if I replace the heavy house bank FLA with 1/4weight Lifepo4, listing will be worse.
trying to fit the calorifier there to counterbalance that

 

[Bouba]

sadly that's an issue I have anyway Bouba, as generator is on stbrd, batteries on port and they don't balance out, if I replace the heavy house bank FLA with 1/4weight Lifepo4, listing will be worse.
trying to fit the calorifier there to counterbalance that

My boat lists to port with the water tank. And it rights itself as the water is consumed. But it’s a harder problem to fix

 

[vas]

fit another tank to stbrd
mine has two 250lt tanks nicely balanced port and stbrd, same with the 1200lt of diesel. it's the rest that are unbalanced...

 

[Pete7]

Just looking at the spec on those it states a max charge rate of 50A, I have very little knowledge of Lithium but that seems low when I keep reading that Lithium can take high charge rates. Am I misinterpreting this spec?

That is the small battery. Yhe 100A is quoted as max continuous charge of 70A and the 120A at 80A.

The point about temperature is valid. So what happens to lead acid batteries in the same engine bay, surely that can't be good for them. I installed the Victron battery widget that talks to the MPPT via Bluetooth last year. Bit shocked to see 26'c after motoring from Lymington to Cowes in January on a freezing cold day. During the summer 32'c was a regular temperature in the engine bay. Thankfully the solar MPPT cuts back the charge based on the temperature. When it came to fitting a drop in LFP I moved the house bank to the saloon seats. So the sea water temperature moderates the battery temperature. Hopefully that includes during the winter too.

This has been a low cost initial install and quite interesting learning curve to date. When you feel a 120A LFP battery weighs less than a small 85A FLA and the LFP will take all the charge you can throw at it, you can see the advantage. The initial cost is a bit steep and don't forget new cables, switches and fuses etc, but that is soon fades away when you run mains power items on for the first time on a small vessel.

Pete

Pete

 

[Nito]

I have a victron inverter 1600va (1300w), connected to 2 domestic 110Ah lead acid. Just running a kettle or coffee machine will pull the voltage from 13.8v to 11.8v and have the victron overload light flashing.

I was considering a pair of Rolls lifepo4 batteries, 100 or 135ah versions available, both with 100ah discharge and charge rates.



Not cheap at £650ea but if it does the job and allows us to use the inverter to suit our needs…it’s tempting as an upgrade next time.

I’ve converted motorbikes to lifepo4 and never looked back yet!!