Trojan Boat Forum

I have just purchased 2 - 12V 300AH Lithium Ion Batteries from Smart Battery. www.smartbattery.com
They weight 90 lbs each compared to the 269 lb. AGM batteries I took out. They are supposed to last over 10X longer since I was replacing my AGM Lifeline batts every two years I am expecting over 10 years with the Smart Batteries. This will also save me money since it costs me around $1500.00 for the AGM batteries X 10 years would be more than what I am spending one time for lithium.
I can run my lights, water heater, TV, one AC and two refrigerators all night without draining the batteries too low. Has anyone else had experience with them? They recharge way faster than the lifelines as well. I have a Magnum 2000 watt inverter charger that works great so far with them.

Do you have a smart charger on board, and what setting do you set it to for the lithium battery? Technically, they should have their own charging characteristics that likely differ from the other battery technologies. To get the most life out of them, you should be using the proper charging specs, that's why they came out with lithium battery chargers.

PS, if you're going through AGM batteries every two years, there's something wrong, and you should consider investigating your charging system and DC wiring and design. If there is an underlying problem that's causing your batteries to fail prematurely, the lithiums will fail too...$$$

I agree there maybe some problems if your killing AGM batteries in 2 years . I get over 2x that on wet cell lead acid batteries . I sure could not justify $3400 for a battery when mine run around $150 and I would need 2 not including the gen set battery

11meterconvertible wrote:
I can run my lights, water heater, TV, one AC and two refrigerators all night without draining the batteries too low. Has anyone else had experience with them? They recharge way faster than the lifelines as well. I have a Magnum 2000 watt inverter charger that works great so far with them.

2000 watt inverter can run all that ? The numbers don't add up , I assume you can run the a/c and water heat at the same time .


With high loads I would think a get set would do a better job .

prowlersfish wrote:I agree there maybe some problems if your killing AGM batteries in 2 years . I get over 2x that on wet cell lead acid batteries . I sure could not justify $3400 for a battery when mine run around $150 and I would need 2 not including the gen set battery

11meterconvertible wrote:
I can run my lights, water heater, TV, one AC and two refrigerators all night without draining the batteries too low. Has anyone else had experience with them? They recharge way faster than the lifelines as well. I have a Magnum 2000 watt inverter charger that works great so far with them.

2000 watt inverter can run all that ? The numbers don't add up , I assume you can run the a/c and water heat at the same time .


With high loads I would think a get set would do a better job .

+1

He has a big problem.... I use Lifeline House Batteries on both my boats and each set sits idle for 6 months with the Canadian one's at freezing! (like now, while I'm in FL ) My Canadian Lifeline are from 2007 and still going strong!
I make sure not to discharge below 50% DOD whiuch is 12.2Volts and use a Smart charger set for AGM.
My guess is the OP does not do either of those things!!

Perhaps he is discharging them almost daily ? I know using the wrong charger or setting can damage AGM batteries


11meterconvertible , How often are you using them in this manner ? discharge/ recharge ?

prowlersfish wrote:I agree there maybe some problems if your killing AGM batteries in 2 years . I get over 2x that on wet cell lead acid batteries.

+1. Thats way too soon to be replacing batteries. My wet cells are going on 3 years old on the house bank, and the Stbd. is the one Nancy put in there in '09.

Must be a constant draw somewhere unless they are just getting banged down to 9 or 10 volts on a regular basis. Even if thats the case, spending more on batteries when they go every 2 years seems counterintuitive to me. 300 bux on wet cells EVERY year is still cheaper.

I am discharging every day and then recharging. The charger came with the profile set for the Lifeline batteries. After talking with several battery companies they say I am getting about the average life out of the lifeline batteries the way I use them.
The reason the 200 watt inverter is enough is that the lithium ion battery holds higher voltage during heavy amp loads so the inverter can keep the power up more easily.

These lithium batteries are supposed to be able to be drained 100% DOD without damaging them.

Big D wrote:Do you have a smart charger on board, and what setting do you set it to for the lithium battery? Technically, they should have their own charging characteristics that likely differ from the other battery technologies. To get the most life out of them, you should be using the proper charging specs, that's why they came out with lithium battery chargers.

PS, if you're going through AGM batteries every two years, there's something wrong, and you should consider investigating your charging system and DC wiring and design. If there is an underlying problem that's causing your batteries to fail prematurely, the lithiums will fail too...$$$

Here is a link to these batteries http://www.lithiumion-batteries.com/pro ... attery.php

I am using the Magnum inverter/100A charger and the settings are as follows
Bulk 14.2V
Absorb 14.6V
Float 13.4V

I also have their 12V 4 bank lithium ion charger with two sets of leads going to each battery -
http://www.lithiumion-batteries.com/pro ... harger.php
I plan to purchase two more of the 12V 300AH batteries soon. My goal is to get a few days without plugging in while being able to run the AC

Would not a generator be a better option ? /