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admiralslater · 19-03-2019, 06:44

Good morning forum , after murdering my fire fly battI am thinking about a Relion lithium battery.
Does anyone have experience of any type with them

mickt243 · 19-03-2019, 22:56

If you cannot provide adequate care for a lead acid battery system, you should steer well clear of lithium.....

Lake-Effect · 19-03-2019, 23:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by admiralslater

Good morning forum , after murdering my fire fly battI am thinking about a Relion lithium battery.
Does anyone have experience of any type with them

Not to derail, but how was this murder committed? Do you know the Firefly was killed by something you did/didn't do, or did it seem to die a premature death in normal use? Just curious about people's experiences with Firefly.

CatNewBee · 20-03-2019, 01:38

If I remember right, the Wynns have installed RelIon batteries on their 43ft Leopard catamaran. They seem to be happy with them after a year of permanent cruising. Check out their blog / website / facebook / youtube.

https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-kND4PaZm8

CatNewBee · 20-03-2019, 02:23

https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/pro...hium-batteries

ranger58sb · 20-03-2019, 05:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by admiralslater

Good morning forum , after murdering my fire fly batt...

Don't remember seeing a thread about how you did that. Details?

-Chris

CatNewBee · 20-03-2019, 05:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Don't remember seeing a thread about how you did that. Details?

-Chris

Hi Chris, why are you asking? Want to kill yours too to go for Lithium?

ranger58sb · 20-03-2019, 05:20

Heh.... no, but I'll have to replace one of our main battery banks within the next year or two (probably) and G31 Firefly Oasis batteries could be a candidate. So I'm paying attention to review/reports on their success, viability, etc.

-Chris

admiralslater · 20-03-2019, 07:39

I had hoped to avoid the how did it happen, part of the conversation as it is only a side bar,plus I am not interested in a bunch of “you should have known better “ comments.
The FFs worked perfectly for three years with no sign of degradation , I have sufficient charging capabilities to deal with the loads.
An external regulator was wired in live instead of switched several years ago and went unnoticed because we did not turn off the solar panels in the off season.
This year I turned of the panels and upon my return found batteries so dead that the link 10 was blank. The Victron regulator showed a voltage of 4 volts. Calculations indicate that the low voltage was there for 3 months or so.
Before you ask I tried everything I could to restore the batteries ,but it is not easy when in the middle of a cruise. In fact I have not completely given up but I am reasonably sure they are gone .
Thank you for the link to the Wynn’s that will be a big help

admiralslater · 20-03-2019, 07:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickt243

If you cannot provide adequate care for a lead acid battery system, you should steer well clear of lithium.....

Thank you very much for very helpful comments

Lake-Effect · 20-03-2019, 16:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by admiralslater

I had hoped to avoid the how did it happen, part of the conversation as it is only a side bar,plus I am not interested in a bunch of “you should have known better “ comments.

Thanks, just curious. $h!t happens.

Good luck with the Li batteries!

admiralslater · 20-03-2019, 16:35

I am surprised that no one has got them. The wynns dont seem to have discussed how the batteries have held up .
I guess that means no problems

mat jam · 20-03-2019, 17:58

The Wynns appear to be happy with their Relions, however about a year ago one their Relions died and they did not discuss the circumstances. I am a year behind on their videos so it is possible they have discussed why.

I have been studying the whole Lithium thing and am waiting and will be surprised if people can make them last beyond five years simply because of the nature of people's use habits.

So, I am leaning to Firefly but would like to hear more to support their claims.

CatNewBee · 21-03-2019, 01:29

As far as I understood, they've got a replacement from Relion while being in the Caribbean Sea, when their inverter broke due to overheating.

So far they seem to be happy with the batteries, however Jason seems to have only some basic understanding on electric systems, so it is a kind of "proof" of a "drop in" replacement, that works without user interaction and oversight by an expert. Batteries still alive, despite absorption and float all day long with no special chargers, alternators and fancy gear.

You can contact them and just ask about their findings, maybe Jason will make a tech video about them and one or two years of experience with lessons learned, I am sure they are seeking daily for interesting content to post and keep them traveling.

My best guess is, the internal BMS of one battery died and made the pack unusable - that is the most common failure in e-bike LiPo batteries with internal BMS, the cells are OK, but the BMS disconnects them and they are unusable. LFP cells are usually very robust, so I do not think it was one of the cells. But only Relion knows the real issue I assume, they just exchanged the pack on warranty.