Drop in LFP Recommendtions

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Chotu

400AH of Amperetime batteries doing great 6 months in.

I forget I even have batteries at this point.

Great feeling isn't it

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by T1 Terry

I hope you all keep us updated on how your drop in batteries are going, yr on yr. The systems we build have returned a 10yr full time service and still retain their 100% of the advertised capacity under the factory 2C load, the capacity /2 as the load amps and discharged over 2 hrs. If the battery is any good, it will still hold 12v while under load. As an example, 400Ah with a constant 200 amp load for 2 hrs and every cell is still above 3v while still under the 200 amp load.
Sound like an excessively heavy load, 2400w @ 240vdc requires a 200amp draw from a 12v battery, that is the max load per power point in Australia and electric kettles, air fryers, coffee machines, hot water systems, all pull around that 2400w mark.

T1 Terry

Dang that's a lot of watts on each item .

Here in the USA electric kettle, air fryer, coffee makers all are 1500W draw at 120v
My hw draws 1500W at 120vac and 400w at 12v dc. So have to turn on electric heater at 1800w to get even a .5C on my 250ah bank .

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

Love the setup. Lithium plus the correct charging is a game changer for cruising. In winter in the keys I’m still close to 100% by afternoon.

Wow, you must have a lot of solar. I have spend 4 winters in the Keys and never got close to making up 120ah in morning in the to charged by noon. Right now I have in Bahamas and still will not get the 102ah made up till 4 maybe if facing the right directrion all day.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Great feeling isn't it

Really is. now that I’m trading in tropical heat for cold weather, and may stay all winter up where it’s pretty cold, I’m going to have to get one of those battery heating blanket things. That’s about the only thing. But I want to set it up with a thermostat so it works without having to be monitored.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Wow, you must have a lot of solar. I have spend 4 winters in the Keys and never got close to making up 120ah in morning in the to charged by noon. Right now I have in Bahamas and still will not get the 102ah made up till 4 maybe if facing the right directrion all day.

I think it really does help to have a lot of solar with them.

I know that’s difficult that on a Monohull

I have a chest freezer, regular standup household refrigerator, I leave my salon lights on all night long to help people see the boat. Anchor light. The autohelm steers all day. And I don’t make power from anything except solar. I don’t have an alternator. I run my instruments all day long. Charge all of my electronics. Laptops. Phones. Kindle. Use lights whenever I want.

each day, I reach float by around noon or 1 PM. In the evenings it says it makes about 130AH a day. But that’s because my batteries are full and it shuts down at around noon.

and do you want to know the crazy part? I only have half of my solar panels hooked up right now. 700 watts. The other half are just not connected. And I only have one of my outback charge controllers hooked up.

I had all the extra power in anticipation of doing a lot of water making and microwaving or whatever. Vacuuming. But I haven’t needed it at all. Maybe once the water maker is hooked up that will change things.

cloudy days back to back have not been an issue either. I have about three or four days worth of power in these batteries. So there are no issues with going a day or two without Sunshine.

in the event of a freak of nature where it is dark out for a week straight, I do have generators. And a regular old 90amp charger that will run off the generator.

I haven’t needed to use it yet at all.

[4arch]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Well Will Prouse evaluated a new 12 volt server rack 400ah setup

Amazing build quality but those cases are painted mild steel so better have a very dry place to put them on a boat. My battery compartment stays bone dry but still not sure I'd be comfortable with a steel cased battery aboard. The shipping cost is insane ($285 to my address) so that changes his $/100 Ah calculus a bit. Also there have been reports of the seller of EG4s being slow to respond to post sale support and warranty claims. I don't expect much post-sale or warranty support at this price point, but US based support is one of the claimed benefits this company offers over the cheaper Amazon no-name batteries.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I think it really does help to have a lot of solar with them.


each day, I reach float by around noon or 1 PM. In the evenings it says it makes about 130AH a day. But that’s because my batteries are full and it shuts down at around noon.

I just don't believe it.

I have 640W and have experience in Keys and Bahamas. A great day is 200ah total.

People saying they make up 120ah by noon is saying that from 9-12 they did 40amps continuously from solar (assuming they turned everything off). That is 40ax13.3v (avg) = 532W x 2 (because only going to get around 50% capacity 9am -12) =1064W

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by 4arch

Amazing build quality but those cases are painted mild steel so better have a very dry place to put them on a boat. My battery compartment stays bone dry but still not sure I'd be comfortable with a steel cased battery aboard. The shipping cost is insane ($285 to my address) so that changes his $/100 Ah calculus a bit. Also there have been reports of the seller of EG4s being slow to respond to post sale support and warranty claims. I don't expect much post-sale or warranty support at this price point, but US based support is one of the claimed benefits this company offers over the cheaper Amazon no-name batteries.

Painted mild steel wouldn't give me a moment's hesitation. My inverter charger has a painted mild steel cover, seems to be doing just fine. My engine block is painted cast iron, and looks pretty darn good. The cover over my windlass motor is painted mild steel and looks pretty darn good. The shell on my hot water heater is painted mild steel with only a few spots of surface rust.

I suspect all of those would do poorly sitting in the bilge, but I don't think many of us will put our batteries in the bilge.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I just don't believe it.

I have 640W and have experience in Keys and Bahamas. A great day is 200ah total.

People saying they make up 120ah by noon is saying that from 9-12 they did 40amps continuously from solar (assuming they turned everything off). That is 40ax13.3v (avg) = 532W x 2 (because only going to get around 50% capacity 9am -12) =1064W

I believe it.

In the evenings it says it makes about 130AH a day.

That 130 Ah represents 24hrs of usage. You say with 640W on a great day you make 200Ah total. Why shouldn't 700W make 130Ah total? Assuming during the day he is using more stuff than at night, by morning he might only be down 65 or 70 Ah. That can happen by noon.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I just don't believe it.

I have 640W and have experience in Keys and Bahamas. A great day is 200ah total.

People saying they make up 120ah by noon is saying that from 9-12 they did 40amps continuously from solar (assuming they turned everything off). That is 40ax13.3v (avg) = 532W x 2 (because only going to get around 50% capacity 9am -12) =1064W

What’s to believe? It’s not religion. It’s just looking at the numbers on the outback charge controller which you also have don’t you? You don’t have to believe anything. You just have to see the numbers. I’ll just take a picture tonight.

And yes. I get over 30 A continuously in the mornings.

I’ll take some pictures for you. Nothing to believe. All you have to do is look at the charge controller.

And the 130 amp hours is how much power was created by the solar panels and deposited into the batteries, from dawn to dusk.

Keep in mind that after noon or 1 PM, it’s putting almost nothing in anyway. Because it’s fully charged. It could certainly do better than that if my batteries were more empty.

I just ran down from the helm to take a quick picture while underway right now. It was a very cloudy and dreary morning here in the Carolinas. The sun has come out now. And things are starting to charge. Take a look. 34 A.

I’m sure you are familiar with this display.

[Chotu]

And as dreary as it was, before the sun came out, there was apparently enough power available to pretty much fill them up this morning anyway. Even though it is after the noon or 1 PM typical time they are done. It’s just wrapping them up now it looks like at 1:47PM


They are running about an hour late thanks to all the cloudiness this morning.

At 14.2 it will go into absorption mode for one hour. To help keep the balance.

Along with the chest freezer and the regular household refrigerator, I even used my electric blanket all night last night.

I’m usually down about 107 to 120 amp hours in the morning.

I have a 400AH bank. I don’t know if this is the reason that it has good charge acceptance? Do you have the same size bank? Or smaller?

[Chotu]

Funny. This is all happening real time. 2:10 PM. After a lot of clouds today. Done.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I just don't believe it.

I have 640W and have experience in Keys and Bahamas. A great day is 200ah total.

People saying they make up 120ah by noon is saying that from 9-12 they did 40amps continuously from solar (assuming they turned everything off). That is 40ax13.3v (avg) = 532W x 2 (because only going to get around 50% capacity 9am -12) =1064W

What don't you believe his making 130ah by noon with 700 watts solar in 5 hours of sun?

Let's say full output for the 9-12 and half output ( it ramps up from sunrise to 9)

Ok 700watts = approx 50 amps output at 13 volts ( bank voltage) X 3 hours well that by itself is 150ah
Now the 3 hours from sunrise to 9 am you get another 75ah total.
So a total of approx 225ah production potential.

My 200 are producing 2 amps in within 30 minutes of sunrise so I could see 7 amps out of his system .

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by newhaul

What don't you believe his making 130ah by noon with 700 watts solar in 5 hours of sun?
.

That's right I don't based on years of experience needing no math on paper.

But it doesn't matter to me if you say he does 300ah

Sun from 7am to 9am is a fly fart worth into 130ah

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

That's right I don't based on years of experience needing no math on paper.

But it doesn't matter to me if you say he does 300ah

Sun from 7am to 9am is a fly fart worth into 130ah

Don you really should check your system if your not producing that much sounds like you may have a failed connection or panel.