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Installing Lithium Batteries in Boat

November 12, 2019 8 Comments

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Many Bluewater cruisers are now taking the opportunity to swap out their old lead-acid or gel batteries for lithium batteries. Is installing lithium batteries in boat a good idea? The advantages are many. Read on and make sure to watch the video too!

Installing Lithium Batteries in Boat Benefits

  • You get more output for the same space (at least double the power in the same physical space as lead-acid),
  • They’re easier to maintain
  • Lithium batteries are lighter (about 1/5 of the weight of a lead aside battery)
  • They can be discharged to almost empty
  • Lithium drastically reduce the need for generator use (saving you money in servicing costs)
  • There is no hydrogen gas generated
  • Once your lithium battery installation is complete, these bad boys charge almost five times faster than lead-acid,
  • They last 10 times longer than a lead-acid battery and unbelievable holds its charge for up to one year without a load. Not a bad idea installing lithium batteries in boat – eh?

Lithium Battery Install

What’s the downside of Lithium Batteries?

Well…until recently the cost has been too high to consider. And they’re still not cheap. Furthermore, they’re not a plug and play or ‘drop-in’ system that some manufacturers would lead you to believe. Several things need to be considered before installing lithium batteries in boat.

You want to make sure that all your charge sources can be set to work with Lithium so that includes your converters, solar charge controllers, battery charger, alternator(s) and inverters. Furthermore, you’ll want to find out how you will be able to log onto the system or update the systems to reconfigure their battery settings. Lead-acid have float, absorption and bulk settings whereas Lithium does not.

Prior to installing lithium batteries in boat determine if your systems are new enough to know what Lithium is.

Find out what’s required to change the settings. For us, we had to buy a new Mastervolt Charge Controller and a device that allowed us to plug the controller into our computer.

Anyway, watch our installing lithium batteries in boat video below to see how we set our system up. Every boat is different but by watching our set-up you’ll get an idea as to the benefits, what’s involved in the ‘drop-in’ process, any issue we had to work around and Simon details what it cost us to move over to Lithium. (Read more below for specifics on the exact set-up we have).

Lithium Battery Install Video – On Britican

On Britican, our lead-acid batteries were adequate for our needs, however, we had to run the generator every day. Previous to getting solar power, we had to run the genset multiple times per day. Bluewater cruisers are always looking for ways to increase free power and make servicing easier. With installing lithium batteries in boat, we now have we use solar to keep our batteries charged and only ever use our genset when we want to do a variety of things all at once such as cook, make water and do a load of laundry.

Gone are the days of using the generator to charge our batteries!

Lithium Battery Install

With the reduced use of the generator, we will spend less on servicing costs and enjoy a quieter boat too!

Britican Energy System Set-Up (re: installing lithium batteries in boat)

– Engine: Perkins Sabre’s 115t engine with a Mastervolt 150 AMP Alternator & Sterling IP86 Surge Protector
– Genset: Westerbeke 7.5 kw genset with alternator that charges only the start batter
– Charger: Mastervolt Mass 24/100-C
– Solar Panels: 3 x 325w Panasonic Panels
– Solar Charger: Classic Midnight
– Inverter: Mass Sien 24/5000 (5000 watts)
– Batteries: Battle Born BB10012 100 amp hour 12v LiFePo4

What differences have the solar and batteries made to our system?

Since getting solar power at the end of last year, and installing lithium batteries in boat, this year our energy world has changed. No longer is the genset needed to charge the batteries. No longer do I have to turn the generator on to do a couple of loads of laundry, heat the hot water tank, cook on all three burners or bake in the oven. Heck, I don’t even need the genset to run the air-conditioning for a few hours!



As long as I’m not running everything at once, and I keep an eye on how much draw I’m taking, I can run everything that I use to run from the genset off the batteries.

As I said in the video it just makes life feel more normal.

Rather than having to plan our genset use and cram three or four operations in at once I can now take my time and do things when I want to do them. In the past, I’d make dinner (at 10 in the morning!) do a load of washong and make water while topping up the batteries. Sure, I was productive and getting the most from my genset but who really wants to make dinner at 10 am in the morning?!

Now…if you start off with a boat that has lithium batteries you won’t know the difference. You’ll simply think that all boats have systems that you can turn on when you so choose. If however, you’ve been living on lead-acid power for a while installing lithium batteries in boat will be a game-changer.

Lithium Battery Install

Any questions or comments on our Lithium Battery Install?

Please leave them below.

Other Articles/Videos Of Interest

  • Solar Power Installation on a Boat
  • Understanding Your Boat’s Electrical Systems
  • Multimeter Basics For Boaters
  • How to Increase the Lifespan of Your Batteries
  • The Beginners Guide To Marine Boat Batteries
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Tags: Alternator, Battery Bank, Battery Charger, how to, Lead-Acid Batteries, Lithium Batteries, Power Sources, Solar, video Categories: Major Upgrades, Electrical Systems, How To's, Videos

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. W.W. says

    November 12, 2019 at 6:29 pm

    11.12.2019

    Lithium batteries are a good choice however the biggest obstacle for most people is
    the excessive cost per battery unit! This can only be justified by adjusting energy consumption.
    People that have lived on land for years unconsciously develop bad habits & excess
    baggage then the desire to become wan a be cruisers sets in without any thought as to how it
    all will fit on a boat!! Becoming a cruiser means more FREEDOM not less of it !

    Happy Sailing W.W.

    Reply
  2. Lars Solem says

    November 13, 2019 at 5:33 am

    Great video of your LFP change out, however I missed you going through the required changes to cabling due to larger charge accept from the LFP.. Also the extra heat from the generator charge beeing much higher, did you cool it or limit the amp output?
    Would love to see a video on that aspect of the swap.

    Reply
  3. Tor Aadnevik says

    November 17, 2019 at 3:40 pm

    Great blog,
    I’m going the same route also with Mastervolt Mass charger.
    May I ask what settings you entered to the charger?

    Best regards
    Tor Aadnevik
    SV Bjutil

    Reply
    • Kim Brown says

      November 19, 2019 at 10:58 am

      Tor, the guy that helped us do the install, Travis, is doing a boat delivery job right now so I can’t ask him. I’m going to assume that he contacted Mastervolt directly and either got the config from the website or from their service representatives. Kim

      Reply
  4. Paul B L'Heureux says

    August 17, 2021 at 1:25 pm

    Dear Kim & Simon
    I’m planning to make a Lithium conversion using Battle Born batteries.
    I’m also an Oyster owner. The YouTube video of your interior gave away you are also Oyster owner. I own a 2008 vintage 655.

    I also spent two winters in Grenada aboard my previous boat. I was on the hard at Clarkes Court and spent a lot of time at Secret Harbour. Great memories sailing up and down the Windwards & Leewards.

    I’d like to know more about any specifics I need to know about making a lithium conversion on an Oyster. I too have a MasterVolt system with (Qty 2) 24/100C charger units. My engine is a Perkins M185C.

    Best regards,
    Paul L’Heureux

    Reply
    • Kim Brown says

      August 24, 2021 at 2:30 pm

      Paul, I will have Simon email you directly. Smiles, Kim

      Reply
  5. THOMAS D W BURLAND says

    August 10, 2022 at 2:20 pm

    How was the importation and import taxes to Grenada resolved pls ? Do you have a good agent there you can recommend? Thanks Tom

    Reply
    • Kim Brown says

      October 11, 2022 at 1:48 pm

      Yes, we did use an agent. I’m not sure I have the contact details anymore. If you ask around in Grenada I’m sure get a quick answer to your question. Kim

      Reply

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Disclosure: We only recommend products that we use ourselves and all opinions expressed are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission.

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