Which battery

[Ed on Toast]

Further to my quest to make my boat, half as awesome as my camper, with respect to Electrickery.

My thoughts now turn too Battery Selection

Lead Acid, AGM, Carbon Gel, Lithium Ion or even now, Lithium Ion self assemble !

Lets start with the mega interesting questions:

Has anyone assembled their own LiFi 04 yet?

With LiFi04 do i just need two, not three?


Lead Acid, AGM, Carbon Gel, Lithium Ion or even now, Lithium Ion self assemble, which type is your prefered choice and why?

Come on, tell me all you fine folk know.

Thanks

 

[R0B]

Come on, tell me all you fine folk know.

Won't take long to tell you all I know.
When I was a kid we could check if a 9 volt transistor radio battery was any good by putting it to the tongue.

Now I know that leisure batteries are a little bit bigger - 12 volts - but surely it can’t be all that different.

 

[Ed on Toast]

...but different, they are, lol

 

[mjvw]

Won't take long to tell you all I know.
When I was a kid we could check if a 9 volt transistor radio battery was any good by putting it to the tongue.

Now I know that leisure batteries are a little bit bigger - 12 volts - but surely it can’t be all that different.

So i was not the only one to do that? nice tingle

 

[trevskoda]

All down to price,me i would stick to lead acid esp the bosch/varta silver power frame,stable for 5 years before normal breakdown like other do from day one,costing just over £100 meens you could buy a shed full before getting into the cost of lith/ion at £900 a pop,anyway you would have to live a long time to get a return on monies spent,best to take it with you.

 

[mjvw]

And don't forget Alpha battery discount for members, I had fantastic service early this year good discount, delivered on time and courtesy call after delivery to see if was happy with the purchase.
Yes i went for Lead Acid AGM type as the battery was under the seating in hab area so though AGM would be a little safer spillage wise.

 

[Markd]

There's a built in computer on lithium batteries to ensure they don't melt either themselves or your alternator when they are cold or flat - not really a DIY job!

I agree unless you are going fully electric (and maybe even then) go for Powerframe or Exide EFB

 

[QFour]

I have built a couple of Life04 batteries for electric bikes. Not that cheap but built to save weight. The circuit board to control the batteries are easily obtainable. In a boat where weight does not really matter I would have thought a couple of sealed lead acid would work. Cheap and cheerful and easily replaced if need be from most Swindleries.

 

[groyne]

[QUOTEHas anyone assembled their own LiFi 04 yet? ][/QUOTE]

No, but I've got all the bits to make a 12v 16 ah (approx) one. It's to run the electronics in my inflatable, but I can't decide what charger to buy.

 

[trevskoda]

Why a battery in a rubber duck,all the ones i sell run on pullstart donkeys.

 

[groyne]

Fishfinder and Tablet for charts, I use a 7ah lead acid at the moment, but it runs out of juice if I'm out for a full day.

All fish where eaten.

 

[QFour]

Something like this

Would charge you battery pack. One of the biggest problems with boat electronics they do seem to use lots of power. The SatNav we had on our boat was something like 4.5A @ 12v. Ok with the engine running.

 

[Ed on Toast]

Sounds logical, thank you

 

[trevskoda]

Why does your engine not have a charging sys,if not which i doubt seeing its a merc a easy sort,coil & rectifier.

 

[Ed on Toast]

Who? Me ?

 

[landoboguy]

Who? Me ?

he means Groyne.
he has a Mercury engine in the pic above on his RIB

 

[QFour]

Looks like you are over the EU fishing quota you naughty boy.

 

[groyne]

It was between 2 of us, my mate caught the Mackerel.

 

[Nabsim]

Ed you probably know this but really you need to work out how many amps you expect to use and what space you have for battery’s. Once you know your daily use you can then see if a sealed Bosch/Varta does the job or work through the many different possible solutions up to Lifepo4.

one thing is for sure, what works for one person doesn’t mean it will for someone else

 

[bartman]

It'll be Bosch/Varta powerframe for me next time. The pair of Banners I have are still serving me well but it's a real nuisance to keep having to check the levels (they're not sealed batteries).
As I'm now qualified for a bus pass, it doesn't take a brain the size of a planet to realise that the ridiculously expensive lithium ion batteries are not going to make economic sense for me.