2026 Ranger Tugs going all lithium.

[OverTime]

I understand that the new line up of Ranger Tugs will include a switch to all Lithium batteries. It got me to wondering, has anyone ever experienced any fires due to lithium batteries? Thanks.

 

[jobowker]

Lithium is a horrible description of batteries as it's ambiguous. There's a big difference between a Lithium Ion battery (like in your phone) and a Lithium Iron battery, aka LiFePO4. I'm leery of a scuba tank in the trunk of a car that's on fire, but not as worried about a scuba mask, even though both have the word scuba.

As humans we stink at assessing risk. Here is Massachusetts I had someone worried about getting eaten by a shark when he went out on my boat, even though not a single person in Massachusetts has been eaten by a great white in my lifetime. But he thought nothing of driving to the marina in his car, even though there's a higher risk of dying in a car crash.

I've only seen 2 boat fires in my life, and neither had anything to do with lithium batteries. Hope this helps.

 

[Submariner]

I understand that the new line up of Ranger Tugs will include a switch to all Lithium batteries. It got me to wondering, has anyone ever experienced any fires due to lithium batteries? Thanks.

There are many different types of lithium. Lithium Magnesium, Lithium Cobalt, and others...

On boats, LiFePo4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate, also abbreviated as LFP) is the most acceptable type. Primarily because of its high safety rating and stability. Why aren't all lithium batteries made of LiFePo4 then? Space. LiFePo4 is not the smallest, most condense form of a lithium battery. LiFePo4 batteries are physically larger per watt-hour stored than most other types. It's something like, 30% larger than other types of batteries (such as what our phones and tablets use). Fluid Motion only uses LiFePo4 (LFP) batteries in their lithium installations.

I am not aware of any LiFePo4 fires onboard a Fluid Motion boat (or any other boat, for that matter).
The ABYC E13 "Lithium ION Batteries" section documents standards to use for boat builders to maintain safe installation and operation. It's been published since July 22. (I have a copy of if anyone wants to read it. It's 13 pages long).

I converted Channel Surfing to LiFePo4, and love it. The conversion is challenging as I had to literally re-wire a lot of the boat. Better to purchase the boat new with LFP than convert one.

 

[venajeff]

On my boat I replaced three AGM batteries with one LIFEPO4. It doubled the available capacity and the single LIFEPO4 battery was 6 pounds lighter than a one of the AGMs.
If they are installed correctly they are as safe as anything that contains energy, like any battery, propane, or gasoline.

 

[OverTime]

I'm not doubting that everything is marine grade and safe, just wondering if anyone ever experienced a fire on board because of a lithium battery. I've seen reports. Thanks.

 

[croakz]

Like other have said, it's not the batteries that are more unsafe, you just want to make sure it's installed correctly. Major things are proper fusing (ABYC updated their AIC requirements), mixing battery chemistries, and connection things like how to connect to chargers and alternators.

 

[croakz]

I'm not doubting that everything is marine grade and safe, just wondering if anyone ever experienced a fire on board because of a lithium battery. I've seen reports. Thanks.

The fires I've read about often end up as bad wiring and fusing. But that's to for lead acid too.

 

[venajeff]

To the OP: you should feel very confident in getting a new boat with LIFEPO4 batteries. I don't think I would ever consider buying a new boat if it didn't come with it.

 

[CaptMhack]

Like others have said LiFePO4 is very safe fire wise, you can stick a screw driver through and it will not explode. Don't try that with LiIon. (Don't try that with any battery but you can find videos of tests).

That said, I think Ranger Tugs will keep some batteries AGM, because for the internal combustion engine you need to have a battery that is always connected, with LiFePo4 and other LI batteries BMS can disconnect the battery leaving your engine pushing current while not connected to battery spiking it and destroying alot of stuff.. There are ways to work around that but it's cheaper to use AGM for engine..

 

[mik]

Just make sure you get the ones that have IP67 protection rating. They are protected if submerged up to 1m.

 

[JZimmer]

I would be very concerned about a gasoline inboard. Very happy with LIFEPO4 and an outboard!!!. It makes boating fun. Fortunately no worries about a gas inboard with a Fluid Motion Boat.

 

[gregc]

On my boat I replaced three AGM batteries with one LIFEPO4. It doubled the available capacity and the single LIFEPO4 battery was 6 pounds lighter than a one of the AGMs.
If they are installed correctly they are as safe as anything that contains energy, like any battery, propane, or gasoline.

Wouldn't you / didn't you need to have to change all the battery chargers to do this? My understanding is that you can't swap chemistry w/o having other knock on changes.

 

[venajeff]

There are many different ways to do the change over to LIFEPO4 batteries. I just went with the simplest system I could think of, and the way I did it might not work for everyone.
I combined the house and thruster/windless into one 300ah battery with 200 amp continuous/800 amp surge rating. I removed the 2 combiners and replaced them with a dc to dc charger. Removed the stock charger (even though it supported LIFEPO4 charging, it was old technology so I wanted something newer), and replaced it with one LIFEPO4 charger and one trickle charger for the existing starter battery. On a side note I have removed any parasitic loads from the starter battery, so it basically never needs to be charged anymore. And finally I installed a new solar charge controller with 500 watts of solar.
I also installed a bus bar so that only one red and one black wire run to the new battery. So if I need to replace my LIFEPO4 it will take about 5 minutes.
The system has been working amazing. So good infact that I am able to make hot water through the inverter if the weather is sunny.
There are limitations to this setup though.

 

[NorthernFocus]

As humans we stink at assessing risk...

That's understandable. People would have to know what risk actually is(i.e. probability x consequence) before they could assess it. As a society(in the USA) we use the term "risk" to describe potential consequences. We completely ignore the other half of the risk equation which is probability. Then again we do the same thing with the lottery/gambling, i.e. ignore the probability and focus on the potential reward.