Why so Many Skilled Cruisers Switching to Lithium Batteries

Some cruisers put money into the newest electronics, engine, sails, communications gear however when it comes time to put money into new batteries, typically select the now 100-year-old know-how of lead acid batteries or the latest enchancment to guide acid know-how (40 years previous) that are AGM batteries, which have virtually the identical negatives as the unique lead acid battery. Lithium batteries have solely lately develop into out there for marine use however they’re rapidly changing into the popular selection for skilled cruisers and racers worldwide. Why? As a result of the batteries are some of the necessary items of kit you’ll be able to have onboard. Think about what would occur in case your batteries stopped working at sea or in a international port. The opposite inconvenience is the method of buying, transporting and changing the batteries in a international port which may be costly when you should keep in a marina and have the batteries shipped.

Lead acid batteries have a mean life span of 6 months to four years however 70% do not make it previous the third 12 months. Relying on the kind of utilization, the final 1/three of the lead acid life span may be disappointing in its efficiency because it takes longer to cost the batteries and so they drop voltage a lot faster particularly at larger hundreds. Lithium has a better preliminary funding however as we’ll present you in a number of illustrations, they’ve a decrease price of possession and are extra dependable. Lithium batteries present on common four occasions the quantity of cost and discharge cycles when put next with Lead Acid /AGM batteries which vastly reduces the quantity of occasions you may want to exchange them. Lithium batteries proceed to supply constant efficiency and voltage all through their lifecycle which (as talked about beforehand) within the case of Lead Acid/AGM batteries diminishes considerably throughout their final 1/three of life. To precisely examine the 2 applied sciences let’s take your estimated every day consumption onboard and look at what measurement batteries you would want with every kind. If in case you have an estimated every day consumption onboard of 150 Ah, the rule of thumb is you’re taking that quantity and multiply it by four within the case of lead acid as it’s extremely advisable that so as to get probably the most out of the batteries you shouldn’t discharge greater than 25% to 30%. That signifies that within the case of lead acid/ AGM you would want 600 Ah in your own home financial institution plus a beginning battery. As a result of Lithium batteries can go as a lot as 90% discharge with none injury to the battery you may get away with a lot much less amp hours, utilizing the instance above, you might think about a 200 AH Lithium battery which might offer you all of your every day consumption plus greater than a 30% security web for beginning capabilities, (may be set to close down at 20% cost) eliminating the necessity for a separate beginning battery. The outcome is a big discount in weight on the boat and a rise in efficiency. Growing the present draw (because the graphs beneath present) can have an effect on the useable vitality out there and battery voltage. This efficient shrinkage within the ranking is called Peukert’s impact. With lead acid, the upper the load, the extra you want to improve the Ah capability of your battery to assist alleviate this. With Lithium, nevertheless a load of even 10 occasions better at 0.5C can nonetheless have a terminal voltage of 24V at 80% DOD/20% SOC, with out going up on the Ah ranking of the battery. That is what makes Lithium notably appropriate for prime hundreds. Observe: Within the graphs beneath Discharge Capability vs Terminal Voltage is proven. Often you will note AGM graphs as Discharge Time vs Terminal Voltage. The explanation we plot Discharge Capability (as a substitute of Discharge Time) is that Lithium has a better and extra secure terminal voltage than AGM, so plotting the curves with Discharge Capability in thoughts provides a extra correct comparability of the chemistries, exhibiting that Lithium will increase useable vitality at larger hundreds resulting from larger and extra secure terminal voltages. It’s in all probability the one true strategy to examine the applied sciences. Lithium – Discharge Capability vs Terminal Voltage Lead Acid/AGM – Discharge Capability vs Terminal Voltage

(Discover the super drop in voltage when larger present draw is utilized on the lead acid/ AGM batteries ) The comparability of the 2 graphs clearly illustrates how Lithium maintains its voltage and useable vitality even on the larger present attracts. Skilled cruisers know that the price of changing your batteries is a recurring price. By investing in Lithium batteries that preliminary price is unfold out over a for much longer interval. You’ll scale back your precise price of possession, improve your efficiency, scale back cost occasions by 75%, scale back engine/generator put on and tear, save on gas prices with much less weight and cost occasions, scale back noise, scale back upkeep, scale back alternative prices and hassles.