Lithium batteries, worth the plunge yet?

[levonluther]

I have a 186 Tyee, came with 24V setup. Would like to upgrade to a 36V TM setup but having issues with the space / cost debate

Can get two 36V 40AH batteries from lithium pro and be a pretty easy swap but north of $4k.

3 12V 55AH batteries from amped outdoors would be just over a $1000. So a little better than half the capacity on paper for a 1/4 the price. I don't think I can fit three of their 100 AH batteries but might be able to shoe horn in there on their sides

Fish Saginaw and port Huron rivers and big water. Plan on ulterra.

Anyone have real-world feedback on lithium yet. Few bass whackers posting about them but not many river or big water guys.

Thanks



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[Snowking]

Right now unless you are high income to expensive. I rather use AGM trolling batts right now. That’s for boat size lithion. If they start going for 650 bucks 12 volt 110 amp. I will be buying. I think you also would want the 36 volt 60 amp battery. That would be more inline with size 31 regular batts. I just picked up a 10 amp lithion to use ice fishing. Power my portable graph. That was 100 bucks. The weight should be nice when hand pulling stuff out. Plus more usable power.

[Relaxin17803]

You can get a 36 volt 40 AHr battery from the Lithium Battery store for under 1200.00.

[WallyWarrior]

I’ve made the switch in atvs but not the boat yet. You can get the smaller ones for about the same price anymore, but man those full size batteries are steep.


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[GBS]

Do your homework - lithiums require very different, and attentive, care and feeding.
The supplier should:
1. Clearly indicate how you are to charge them. Some are packaged to use standard chargers (internal electronics to properly regulate), some require a dedicated lithium charger.
2. Clearly tell how are you to "balance charge" more than one bank. Critical to making sure both batteries stay consistent in their output levels. May be handled individually if electronics are internal, or it may make things more complicated if you are on your own for figuring out charging.
3. Do the batteries have automatic cut out levels? Fully discharging lithiums, just once, likely will ruin them. They need to have electronics to prevent that.
4. Is there temperature protection? They can be used in cold weather, but charging below freezing quickly shortens their life.

3 12v batteries, for longest life, will give you only about 28 AH. It hurts them to constantly go lower. With one 36v lithium you will get 36AH (90%). Do you really need two?

[levonluther]

Originally Posted by Relaxin17803

You can get a 36 volt 40 AHr battery from the Lithium Battery store for under 1200.00.

Hadn't found that store yet, that is for sharing. Might have to do some more research on them as far as quality, but I see they have a two year warranty. That 100AH is VERY attractive. One battery vs 3 , and I would free up some space to put some gear that's currently burning up prime real estate in the boat.

To the other post - I don't know if I need more than one 100AH. I'm guessing no. But there's so little real world feedback it's hard to know for sure.

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[GBS]

I also forgot to mention about storage charge - you have to keep them at about 50% charge during times of non-use. The Lithium Battery Store says over 2 months. I've seen other places talk about 2 weeks....more research needed.
Note in the manual from the Store that they also warn about using 2 in parallel - voltages have to be within .01 v of each other.
They say they include a meter so you know the charge level. I'd question them about how it works. Lithiums are known for being VERY constant in their output, and then they die really, really fast. So measuring voltage is a very poor way to estimate remaining capacity. It NEEDS to be an ammeter - measuring total amps used, to give you a better idea of how much is left.
Finally, they say operating range is 41 to 95 degrees. No cold weather fishing, or hot weather fishing, then....

The cells inside need to be balanced - each individually charged to the same level, at least periodically. I didn't see where their chargers have that capability. Something else to ask about....

[Snowking]

Dakota lithion Battery’s brand have a listed operating temp of -20 to +125. I not going to be ice fishing under -20 with my 10 amp battery. Some of the lithion battery’s you can not connect to each other. Some you can.

[KJINTF]

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=982657


Check out the above link.



For me YES YES YES changing to Li batteries has been wonderful. Two 100amp/hr Lifepo4 in the boat for the 24volt Ulterra, four 200amp prismatic cells for the RV excellent for inverter usage, several Li batteries for the drones, two Li battery packs for the Gopro, the Garmin GPS uses them, my phone and tablets use them, the list goes on and on.



Just re-read your first post

95% of my fishing is on a big River in a 17ft Deep V boat - the Li batteries and the 24Vdc Ulterra do great in the river current - use spot lock all the time




Sure they require a bit different maintenance as compared to the old Lead Acid things. If you look around and read the above thread you can get two 100amp/hr LIFEPO4 "12Vdc" group 31 drop in batteries fro just over $1K.

[clawman]

As always have a fire extinguisher on board... probably at hand if you are using lithium batteries.
The FAA still does not allow removable lithium batteries on any flights.
Good Luck!!