Anyone gotten their hands on a Trojan Trillium yet?

[KTP]

Now that we are getting into Spring 2019 I am hoping to hear some reports from real world users before I place my order for 16 of these bad boys.

They do have a user's guide now but I have still not heard about warranty.

The safety protections are just insane. In addition to being totally waterproof IP68, they have:

LOW VOLTAGE
The battery is designed to automatically shut off to avoid
damage if voltage falls below specified limits. During cutoff, the battery voltage will slowly climb back up, and when it reaches the specified restart voltage, it will turn back on. If the battery shuts itself off for low voltage, it will restart when a charger is attached

HIGH VOLTAGE
The battery is designed to automatically shut off to avoid
damage if voltage increases to a level that would be
harmful over the long term. During cutoff, the battery voltage will slowly decrease, and when it reaches the specified restart voltage it will turn back on.

EXCESSIVE DISCHARGE CURRENT
The battery is designed to operate in a safe discharge
range and will shut off to avoid damage if discharge
current is detected above specified limits. After cutoff, the battery will restart after 30 seconds. If the battery shut off for high current, it will restart when a charger is attached

EXCESSIVE CHARGE CURRENT
The battery is designed to shut off to avoid damage if charge current exceeds specified limits. After cutoff, the battery will restart after 30 seconds.

TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS
The battery is designed to shut off to avoid damage if the
internal temperature is beyond the following temperature
limits:
Lower than -13°F (-25°C).
Higher than 140°F (60°C).
The internal temperature of the battery must be brought to between
-4°F (-20°C) and 140°F (60°C).

SHORT CIRCUIT
The battery is designed to shut off to avoid damage if a
short circuit condition is detected. If the battery shuts itself off due to a short circuit, it will restart itself when a charger is attached (See Charging - Section 6).

[john61ct]

Those are not unusual protections.

Most people familiar with LFP technology would say it would be foolish to have it on a boat without all of them present.

[Checkswrecks]

Agree as usual with John on battery answers, in this case noting that those would be the desired protections for any make of L-I battery on a boat. Plus, install where they will not have any potential vibration near the engine, abrasion/puncture/physical harm, or the ability to short a terminal.

16 of them??? It sounds like this is for an e-propulsion system.

If so and you are asking such a question while being impressed by what you cited, it'd be a real good idea to have somebody with a lot of experience go thru your design for wire sizing, system lay-out, installation issues, etc. It's generally not the major components, but the little design and installation aspects that can overheat or create the biggest issues.

[Singularity]

So the batteries are a component in the power system.

Just make sure that the rest of components in the system (e.g. charging) knows what to do when the smart batteries decide to take a time-out, and maybe consider what your options are in a one-in-a-million scenario where you wish you could access the last little bit of juice but the battery won't let you (and/or other rare circumstances). Sometimes too much automation can be problematic unless the entire system knows precisely what to with every component in every probable scenario.

[john61ct]

Well the whole point is to protect the bank from a less than expert owner.

Be good to have a Reserve lead bank IMO. Could double as engine Starters, if ICE propulsion is indeed present.

[Q Xopa]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Well the whole point is to protect the bank from a less than expert owner.

Be good to have a Reserve lead bank IMO. Could double as engine Starters, if ICE propulsion is indeed present.

Agreed about having a Lead starter batt for absorbing spikes when a Charge HVC disconnects from the Alternator. Blown Alternator diodes can easily result otherwise.

[john61ct]

My concept of a Reserve is Ah capacity large enough,

in the event your LFP bank becomes non-operational,

to feed your Essential load circuits - not just engine cranking but navigation, comms, safety devices etc - long enough to get you back to safety, even if in "limp mode".

And yes as a load dump too.

The non-Essential loads, call them Auxiliary if you like may often be the biggest consumer, galley, screen gadgets entertainment etc.

Cranking engines is such a light Ah load relative to a big House bank, not worth dedicating "dead lead" to, as long as you have Redundancy.

But switching the cranking function between banks is a good test to regularly confirm that all is in order.

[KTP]

Originally Posted by Checkswrecks

Agree as usual with John on battery answers, in this case noting that those would be the desired protections for any make of L-I battery on a boat. Plus, install where they will not have any potential vibration near the engine, abrasion/puncture/physical harm, or the ability to short a terminal.

16 of them??? It sounds like this is for an e-propulsion system.

If so and you are asking such a question while being impressed by what you cited, it'd be a real good idea to have somebody with a lot of experience go thru your design for wire sizing, system lay-out, installation issues, etc. It's generally not the major components, but the little design and installation aspects that can overheat or create the biggest issues.

Actually I have looked at most of the duct taped assembled in China LFP homebrew solutions on here and have been less than impressed. I also have more experience than some installers of EP systems, one of which used Blue Sea switches on a 72V system even though Blue Sea stuff really shouldn't even be used on a 48V battery bank.

The IP68 case and the ability to withstand short circuit situations are two that I do not see regularly on here.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by KTP

the duct taped assembled in China LFP homebrew solutions on here and have been less than impressed.

I must have missed where using these were suggested?

No one is saying these products **are not** the cat's pajamas.

Just that all those protections are important, so any OTS packaged solution - especially intended for sale direct to end users on boats - would be expected to include them.

If Trojan (actually K2?) has done a good job in that respect, that should not be surprising, they have a strong reputation to uphold.

[KTP]

If compared to a Battle-Born battery, I see immediately a few differences:

Battle-Born is not IP68 rated

Battle-Born only capable of 100 amps continuous and has this caveat from the user manual:

DO NOT CONNECT BATTERIES TO AN INVERTER/CHARGER THAT IS GREATER THAN 4000 WATTS INSIZE WITHOUT A CSL500 CURRENT SURGE LIMITER. FAILURE TO INCLUDE A CSL500 WILL DAMAGE THE BMS AND PRESENT A POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD.


There is no mention of restrictions like this in the Trillium docs.

[OldMan]

Originally Posted by KTP

If compared to a Battle-Born battery, I see immediately a few differences:

Battle-Born is not IP68 rated

Battle-Born only capable of 100 amps continuous and has this caveat from the user manual:

DO NOT CONNECT BATTERIES TO AN INVERTER/CHARGER THAT IS GREATER THAN 4000 WATTS INSIZE WITHOUT A CSL500 CURRENT SURGE LIMITER. FAILURE TO INCLUDE A CSL500 WILL DAMAGE THE BMS AND PRESENT A POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD.


There is no mention of restrictions like this in the Trillium docs.

from your first post, it appears Trillium includes such protection:

EXCESSIVE DISCHARGE CURRENT

[KTP]

Originally Posted by OldMan

from your first post, it appears Trillium includes such protection:

Right, yes but the Trillium can handle 250 amps continuous (for the smaller 92AH version) and 350 amps for 30 seconds and does not mention needing any external protection or limiting devices when hooked up to loads with high input capacitance like large inverters. There is also the impression from the documentation that you could technically drop a wrench across the Trillium battery terminals and it would shut down safely without damage, where the Battle Born seems to indicate the battery would be damaged. I would not recommend doing that though.

Honestly before the Trillium came around I was thinking something like the Battle Born was almost the right one, the only problem I was having is the length of time the company had been in business and the worry that if sales did not go their way, the 10 year warranty could be quite meaningless. Trojan on the other hand has been around for a few years.

This is the reason I am curious about user experiences though. All I have right now is the documents, no real world experiences. I also have heard nothing about the warranty, for all I know, it could be 30 days or 30 feet, whichever comes sooner.

[Steve_C]

How's the pricing?

[KTP]

Originally Posted by Steve_C

How's the pricing?

It looks like 16 of the 92ah version (the only one with CAN communication right now) would be about $750 each from the only online source I can find who seems to have them.

There are a lot of golf cart companies who appear to be offering them so I hope the pricing gets a little better.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by KTP

If compared to a Battle-Born battery

I 100% agree that BBs current products are not great, would not use them myself.

But then no one here has claimed otherwise.