Lithium Conversion - update
After two seasons how is the lithium going?
We had a false start. The company who installed the Lithium batteries bought all the right kit, it is first class but their installation left a lot to be desired. It all worked of but by the time they had finished it looked like spaghetti junction and they undersized soime of the cables which is a hazard. I had no option but to have it all stripped out and re-fitted and for this task I took the boat to Knight Marine in Universal Marina. What a stroke of luck Knight Marine employ the electrician who worked for Discovery yachts and wired the first eighteen Discoveries.
Paul and his team removed all the wiring and kit and re-installed it completely with added functionality. The system now works like this.
When you plug in shore power it connects to the Quattrro and this charges the battery and provides shore power. If you are on 60hz then we have a second power lead and that connects to a Skilla this charges the batteries but does not connect to the domestic mains supply, that is left to the Quattro to provide inverted power. This means that the air conditioning etc does not get anything except 240V 50 HZ and as a result with protect the motors.
We have connected the water maker to 2 X Rolls lead acid batteries and these are charged by two dc-dc chargers from the lithium batteries. This is to prevent any damage to the water maker because there have been reports of water makers failing when used in conjunction with lithiums.
Last year I upgraded our flexible solar panels which we place on the spray hood and when they and those mounted the deck provide 380W of solar. In addition we have a Balmar 190A alternator. The result was that last summer 2022 we were almost always off grid spending most time at anchor and as a result we used the generator for a total of about 14 hours. I think if we were to fit a proper solar arch with say 2 x 500w panels the generator would be almost redundant.
We are able to run the water maker (24v) just on batteries as the lead acid batteries are being charged by the Lithium batteries. Our strategy is to switch on the water maker as soon as the engine goes on, if we have loads of water and are low on battery we would just charge the batteries.
The lithiums thus far are a huge success. The speed and most importantly the efficiency of the charging of the batteries is a game changer. No energy is lost wether is it from the alternator or solar it is all captured. Consequently batteries are nearly always full in any event they can be charged from 30% to full in just two hours by the generator. The fuel and noise saved is wonderful benifit.
The installation of Lithium is not straight forward and it was an expensive mistake for me to have used the first company. Knight marine on the other hand have been brilliant.
Paul and his team removed all the wiring and kit and re-installed it completely with added functionality. The system now works like this.
When you plug in shore power it connects to the Quattrro and this charges the battery and provides shore power. If you are on 60hz then we have a second power lead and that connects to a Skilla this charges the batteries but does not connect to the domestic mains supply, that is left to the Quattro to provide inverted power. This means that the air conditioning etc does not get anything except 240V 50 HZ and as a result with protect the motors.
We have connected the water maker to 2 X Rolls lead acid batteries and these are charged by two dc-dc chargers from the lithium batteries. This is to prevent any damage to the water maker because there have been reports of water makers failing when used in conjunction with lithiums.
Last year I upgraded our flexible solar panels which we place on the spray hood and when they and those mounted the deck provide 380W of solar. In addition we have a Balmar 190A alternator. The result was that last summer 2022 we were almost always off grid spending most time at anchor and as a result we used the generator for a total of about 14 hours. I think if we were to fit a proper solar arch with say 2 x 500w panels the generator would be almost redundant.
We are able to run the water maker (24v) just on batteries as the lead acid batteries are being charged by the Lithium batteries. Our strategy is to switch on the water maker as soon as the engine goes on, if we have loads of water and are low on battery we would just charge the batteries.
The lithiums thus far are a huge success. The speed and most importantly the efficiency of the charging of the batteries is a game changer. No energy is lost wether is it from the alternator or solar it is all captured. Consequently batteries are nearly always full in any event they can be charged from 30% to full in just two hours by the generator. The fuel and noise saved is wonderful benifit.
The installation of Lithium is not straight forward and it was an expensive mistake for me to have used the first company. Knight marine on the other hand have been brilliant.
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Out withthe old, each battery weighed 50kgs -
Victron batteries and chargers and inverter. -
new buzzbars being fitted inthe old battery compartment.