Lithium Power Station

Pauly":2wwz4ss4 said:
dbsea":2wwz4ss4 said:
I got an ecoflow Delta Max 1600 with the 220w solar panel last year to supplement the power on my C30-CB. It has worked great, and mostly I use it to plug my shore power cable into and get my batteries charged up both in the morning and evening, sort of like a generator. I plug it in first thing in the morning, get the voltage up on my house bank (approx. 1hr), and then I recharge the Delta Max with the solar panel during the day. I've since replaced my house bank two months ago with brand new Lifeline AGM's which seem to hold their voltage exponentially longer than the Universal's did, so I find I'm not needing the ecoflow as much, but it's good to have it for peace of mind.
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Was it just a simple swap out since they are both AGM? Was it just an issue with quality in the original batteries or are there other tech improvements to the Lifeline AGM's that give you the boost?

Pauly
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it was a simple swap, yes, although the old UBGs have blade terminals (vertical) vs the Lifeline's have Posts (horizontal), so it did involve a little bit of manhandling of 2/0 or 3/0 battery cables which isn't fun. The original 4 batteries were only 2.5 years old but installed by the boat's previous owner and I don't know how they were treated. In theory I should have 220ah of usable capacity out of those 4 batteries, but I was getting major voltage drops after only 55ah of usage. I had several mornings of waking up to low voltage alarms sub 11 volts and I got tired of it. Having the victron smart shunt was a real blessing to see how many aH I was using. I am getting the true 210ah usable out of the new Lifeline's, and never get any voltage drops.
 
Martin610":3dduzihj said:
On the Firefly carbon foam batteries, I heard the importer wouldn't carry them anymore due to quality control problems.

I have never seen a marine specification for one of these power stations. It doesn't seem as if they are using LiFePO4. Eco-flow for example specifies Lithium ion on their web site. I didn't see a reference calling out if they were tested to UL or IEC standards. Actually, I'm not sure who the governing body for marine use would be.

Gives me pause.

-martin610
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I've decided on the Bluetti AC200Max, it's LiFePo4 and I can use it camping too since it won't produce noise in the woods. Truck camping obviously, I'm not backpacking a 50lb battery into the woods. LOL
 
Pauly":28971xqb said:
Cutwater28GG":28971xqb said:
Just a word of caution

A boat caught fire and sank in seattle due to a poorly made lithium power bank. Be wise on use and supplier.
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Sobering advice. Any idea about the make/model power bank? Unfortunately, there are fire dangers with every solution, including small portable generators like the Honda EU2200i.
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This is the advantage of LiFEPo4. It's the only battery chemistry that doesn't catch fire. (It doesn't give off oxygen as other Lithium chemistries do).

Also, lets not forget, FLA batteries have exploded on boats many times in the past. (they vent hydrogen, when their water level gets low the plates become exposed, eventually warp, and when they touch, a spark is generated that ignites the hydrogen).

Stick with reputable manufacturers who have a reputation to uphold is sound advice for all things electrical on a boat.
 
Pauly":1p9i847o said:
I know most folks aren't interested in this level of "nerd" but it's an interesting read if you are curious about Lithium battery safety and the future of this type of energy storage.

https://news.mit.edu/2022/controlling-d ... eries-1118
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I admit it; I'm a techie nerd. I read the whole article and found it fascinating. Thanks for the link.
As more and more of us are switching to LiFePo4, it will be interesting to see what comes next. Until then, we are loving our Lithium!
 
Just finishing my install of lithium for the house battery. Waiting on some 2/0 lugs, to make final connections. Have a 300 amp battery with Bluetooth, and heaters for cold weather. Total cost of upgrade, just under $2200. Will use a dc-dc charger, already installed to keep it topped up while running, also already had 300 watts of solar. For now have retained the factory 20 amp shore power charger. I am going to experiment with having the engine and thruster battery paralleled. I had this arrangement on last boat with 3 Grp 31’s paralleled, providing power for two thrusters and engine, worked fine for several years. We shall see. Dan 2021 R27
 
Our marina does not have shore power, and we use an EcoFlo power station to heat up the water and chill down the fridge before we venture out for an overnight trip. It works great. We use a pigtail adaptor and plug the EcoFlow into “shore power”. It easily runs the battery charger and hot water tank with no issue. We’ve also taken it with us, and run the electric grill with no issue. These new power stations are really something!
 
kjpower":esyrvi1l said:
Our marina does not have shore power, and we use an EcoFlo power station to heat up the water and chill down the fridge before we venture out for an overnight trip. It works great. We use a pigtail adaptor and plug the EcoFlow into “shore power”. It easily runs the battery charger and hot water tank with no issue. We’ve also taken it with us, and run the electric grill with no issue. These new power stations are really something!
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Which model of EcoFlo do you have? Thanks.
 
Pauly":1lxu623n said:
Submariner, looks like you didn't stay on the Firefly batteries for very long before moving to the Lithium. Did they die or just not perform to your needs?

Pauly
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All three of my Firefly batteries failed. Getting them covered under "warranty" would have required $200 per battery for shipping for batteries they didn't have to ship.

What I was told via Rod Collins who runs Marine how to dot com, the batteries used to be manufactured in North America. Manufacturing was moved to India and quality control went downhill. With so many warranty claims the US importer of Firefly batteries stopped importing them. When they worked, they were fantastic! When they didn't work... I was struggling between anger, frustration, the expense, and wondering what the heck I was gonna do with the upcoming boating season.

Rather than spend $600 waiting on a shipment of replacement batteries that didn't exist, I switched to LFP instead.

Hopefully one-day they bring back manufacturing to North America. They are a great stop-gap between AGM and LFP. But today, I wouldn't recommend Firefly.

I tell the story of Firefly's to LFP in the very beginning of this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Z1lVW-t-Q
 
Hello, I just wanted to re-visit this to see if anyone has had any new/recent experience using one of these as mobile "shore power".
 
I have done this several times. I have the ecoflow delta max 1600. I have used it to charge my batteries several times, and then just recharge it with the solar panel that came with it. Now that I have two solar panels for the house bank, I may end up doing this less but have it on board just in case....
 
I built my own using two Dakota Lithium 54AH batteries and a 2000W Renogy inverter. I'm able to get 99AH out of the system at an 800W draw. I would have bought a pre-made setup but already had the lithium batteries for other uses.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 
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