Upgrading your Battery Banks and Alternator in 2014 is a Waste of Money.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Sounds like you have it covered quite nicely then. Well, I'm definitely at the cheap end of the battery gene pool. So until the LI batteries drops a wee bit, I'll be hanging with low tech FLA side of things.

$3 an amp/hour is my price point. Maybe 4.

[d design]

Is it normal for you guys to be so rude to each other on these forums or is it just negative humor?

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

This is a classic mistake, that technology watchers make. i.e. that "just around the corner" something better is coming , so wait,

.................

[colemj]

I think you just haven't been around these particular personalities much. Given the players, I haven't seen anything rude and I don't think anyone here has taken comments as rude.

I don't know what negative humor is, but that may be it. I would call it yanking chains.

Mark

[sailorchic34]

Oh lordy, I'm taking Don/ SB1 side, that $450 ish FLA are easy to deal with. Lord know I don't stress about mine either, and they get used lots.

LI has a ~11 year break even point over FLA. Sure there is watering of FLA, but I check the wiring connections at the same time, maybe twice year. But then I'm not stressing that my LI electronics don't take a dump in year 6 either.

LI has to get a little more affordable. Though I like Rick's black box idea.

[kmacdonald]

IMHO flooded batteries by Trojan are the way to go. Easy to charge without spending a fortune and the T-105's can be discharged to about 25% charge and still last a long time----7 or 8 years is not unheard of. Just don't leave them at 25% SOC for a long time. A 200 AH bank is all you need without frig or autopilot, maybe even less. 400 AH with frig and autopilot. If you think you need more, consider a geny and add AC while your at it.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Anyone who tries to sell you on LFP battery bank as a cheaper alternative to FLA...are either lying, smoking crack, or both. Price isn't where their value to a cruiser is at, at least from my bozo point of view as an early adapter of the technology.

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Oh lordy, I'm taking Don/ SB1 side, that $450 ish FLA are easy to deal with. Lord know I don't stress about mine either, and they get used lots.

LI has a ~11 year break even point over FLA. Sure there is watering of FLA, but I check the wiring connections at the same time, maybe twice year. But then I'm not stressing that my LI electronics don't take a dump in year 6 either.

LI has to get a little more affordable. Though I like Rick's black box idea.

But for your price comparison to be more fair and accurate, you need to about double your $450-ish FLA to about $900 to have a "comparable" battery bank in just pure capacity to the $1700 LFP battery (or cut the LFP battery bank AH in half along with price). That is about exactly what I have now and paid for my 6-T105 battery bank ($995 to be exact), but I've also went through 3 Banks if 7 yrs....so how does that $995 look times 3, with one of those replacements being in Mexico? Looking at the apples to apples comparison in terms of usable AH, doesn't change the fact that LFP is and will continue to be more expensive...all the pretty marketing brochures and sales pitches can't change that!

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by d design

Is it normal for you guys to be so rude to each other on these forums or is it just negative humor?

I didn't see anything rude....maybe it's the fact that the written word comes off in different than intended. Some of us also know eachother pretty well....so we do throw in a smart ass tone here and there just for fun...it comes pretty natural to me...heck you should see the things I edit out of the post after I re-read them...

[kmacdonald]

Another thing to consider when sizing a battery bank is recharge time and efficiency. A large bank discharged to 90% SOC will take a long time to fully recharge. A bank one quarter the the size would be at 60% SOC and recharge more efficiently and faster. A large a bank is not always better-----its not a d--k measuring contest.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Another thing to consider when sizing a battery bank is recharge time and efficiency. A large bank discharged to 90% SOC will take a long time to fully recharge. A bank one quarter the the size would be at 60% SOC and recharge more efficiently and faster. A large a bank is not always better-----its not a d--k measuring contest.

Bingo....
This is a HUGE problem on a cruising boat that need a large battery bank to support the loads but then can't get the Lead Acid battery bank back up to 100% charge once per 10 discharge cycles to prevent sulfanation. That's basically what took out my No 1 and No 2 675AH sets of T-105's while cruising/living at anchor. It's also what I'm looking to do away with by making this change to LiFePO4 batteries because the entire SOC story/drama that I've lived with goes away and I guess is repalced by a new set of drama..ha ha ha .....**** what I'm I doing...I need a drink?

[neelie]

Kmac,, you could of course wait for big bank to discharge to 60% before you started charging it, the efficiencies would the same then.

Isn't everything to do with boats a d--- measuring contest?

Or have I been fooled by the advertising in the glossy magazines.? Yet Again!

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by neelie

Kmac,, you could of course wait for big bank to discharge to 60% before you started charging it, the efficiencies would the same then.

Isn't everything to do with boats a d--- measuring contest?

Or have I been fooled by the advertising in the glossy magazines.? Yet Again!

Yes, but why cary all that extra weight in batteries? I would rather change out a small bank more often than a large bank less often.

If there are two sailboats in sight of each other its a race so I guess its also a contest.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by d design

Is it normal for you guys to be so rude to each other on these forums or is it just negative humor?

Sailiorboy has a few thousand posts, he's hard as nails.

Third Day is a vendor - he has to have a tough hide - LOL...

Believe it or not folks actually get to "know" each other's online personas - several folks have met up in real life.

It's when two known protagonists get going is when you wanna grab some - - and pull up a chair

The mods get their ticket books out and are on Red Alert! And they come - from the back room!

And then a thread gets closed - :

Then both protagonists complain about censorship realize they agree on something and -

2 Days later they repeat...

[d design]

My god Cruisers forums is like another world! cyber life! Thats what all the cruisers do! sit in their boats reading this forum! sorry hijacking thread. shhh

[d design]

I'm liking this black box idea. It means you can have everything sealed up from the elements and have everything in one spot easily accessible. You could even have a wireless telemetry display at the chart table to monitor everything. Sounds like a fun project. Do you think a waterproof pelican case would work or make something from scratch?