Upgraded to Victron, Cerbo and Lifeline Batteries

[Haifisch]

Batteries were nearing their end of life (5+ Years). Changed all 6 along with the charger & Inverter. Big thanks to @Gin for her help and paving the way forward. Goal is to be able to get 3 full days at anchor in the summer without running the engine or a generator. Also wanted to see what is going on with solar, engine and shore power when hooked up.

Boat is a 2014 R31S that had:
6 Universal Power group 110A Batteries (deep cycle 4x house, 1x thruster, 1x starter)
Promariner 2500 Inverter/charger, Xantrex battery monitor. (This stuff all works fine,, just wanted better visibility)
370 W Rec Solar panel with Victron MPPT 100/30 solar controller.

Now I have:
4 Lifeline 125A Deep cycle AGM House Bank, 2 X Lifeline starter batteries for thruster & engine. This will give me a bit more amps over the UPG batteries.
Victron Multiplus II 3000 inverter charger
Cerbo with 5" display
Solar, engine and inverter charger all on the integrated display.

A few things I learned.
-I am a DYI guy, but Hiring an ABYC electrician was well worth cost. He found a few things that were improved:
---There were no fuses between the starter/Thruster batteries and the ACRs. He remedied that.
---The boat was wired to run the hot water from the inverter (I was under the assumption it was on not, would love to hear from others on that.)
---Some AC wire runs on the ProMariner were too long and there were way too many cables on the batteries. He added busses on both sides.
---He provided training and advice on how to use everything including programming the Victron.
---If something doesn't work, it is his problem to fix.
---Added an AC outlet in the port Las to plug in my Pali Bilge Heater.

I am always curious what things cost, so for all that: 2 days labor and all parts $8K. Cody Johnson of Revolt Marine in Bremerton WA.

Thanks again Gini for showing me what you did when were in Kingson last year!

 

[freedomvango]

Nice!
Yeah, there's a number of things that can be improved for sure when it comes to the wiring on the rangers. You will love the Cerbo setup as well, especially if you have starlink or internet connection. Being able to see what my system is doing anytime is awesome!

 

[Cutwater28GG]

at $8k, did you consider a switch to lithium? if so, why didn't you choose that route?

 

[Haifisch]

at $8k, did you consider a switch to lithium? if so, why didn't you choose that route?

I was close to doing that, but still wanted AGM for the starter and thruster batteries. This would involve adding a DC to DC charger or a second alternator on the engine. Between that and the additional cost of LifePO on the house bank, it would have pushed it well above the $8K. I have heard great things about Lifeline so went that route. We will see in a couple of years if I should have done LifePo. Fortunately, the Victron is ready to roll with that should I want to replace just the house bank.

 

[Diatom]

I went Victron/Cerbo on older C26, happy with result but for space issue - electrician replaced starboard ProMariner with port-side Victron, added to the natural list-to-port. Hot water: have never turned it on (electrically), rely on diesel cooling loop. Bilge heater - I just switched from Caframo Pali to Twin Hornet, ran the cord to the spare behind-microwave plug beneath the galley countertop.
/Diatom

 

[freedomvango]

at $8k, did you consider a switch to lithium? if so, why didn't you choose that route?

It would be another 3-5k to do lithium ish with reputable batteries and the supporting parts. not insignificant.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

Looks like a good install that has lots of upgrade room with the victron gear, but I guess I don't really understand the value of the lifeline batteries at $2000 for the house for a usable 200-250 Ah especially as you got 5+ years from the universals?

 

[freedomvango]

Looks like a good install that has lots of upgrade room with the victron gear, but I guess I don't really understand the value of the lifeline batteries at $2000 for the house for a usable 200-250 Ah especially as you got 5+ years from the universals?

he may live in the cold. Lithium isn't for every application.
Plus if he went that long on his old batteries, maybe his consumption just is okay with that?

 

[Haifisch]

Looks like a good install that has lots of upgrade room with the victron gear, but I guess I don't really understand the value of the lifeline batteries at $2000 for the house for a usable 200-250 Ah especially as you got 5+ years from the universals?

Thanks, the UPGs were getting a little sketchy last summer, so likely more like 4 years. Did a fair amount of reading about Lifeline. I’m no battery expert, but they allegedly charge faster especially with solar and have the lowest self discharge rate in the AGM realm. The electrician charged me no more than the going rate for the batteries. He’s also a boater and this is exactly the same system he put on his boat. The biggest line item on the invoice was the labor and WA state sales tax, both which made me cringe, (16 hours of labor and 10% to the governor) so a few hundred more for a high reputation battery didn’t bother me that much.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

thanks for sharing.