Lithium Batteries and Electrical Installation Albin Ballad 30 Refit Part 6

There are trade-offs and technical details to consider when upgrading from lead acid boat batteries such as AGM to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo or LFP). Although the energy density of LFP is less than some other lithium battery types, it has become the standard choice on boats because it is less expensive and much safer than other types. Advantages of LFP over lead acid is that they should last 2-4 times longer, can be charged faster, are half the weight, and will not self-discharge as quickly during long storage times. On the down side, good quality dependable LFP batteries cost more initially, have different charging protocols that require upgraded chargers and controllers, and you need to know how to restart them if they experience a low voltage shut down in a situation where they were overly discharged. LFP batterys have a built-in BMS (Battery Management System) that acts like a computer to regulate the current flows and safety features so there is always the remote possibility that they can be fried by a lightning strike and leave you without power. That can be mitigated by carrying a portable emergency power supply, or as is the case with most boats that have an inboard engine you can keep one AGM as the engine start battery and that will be your backup if the lithium bank fails. LFP also has the limitation of not being chargeable in below freezing conditions unless you have a way to heat the batteries or buy a self-heating type battery. But for sailors not wintering aboard up north that's not going to be an issue. Your inboard engine alternator will need protection from being damaged by a voltage spike if the LFP battery BMS disconnects for any reason. Your engine alternator needs to have the correct regulator to prevent burning out the alternator because the LFP battery accepts higher charge rate which overheats the alternator. You can either buy an expensive LFP compatible alternator regulator for the engine, or as we do here, keep the original alternator setup and protect it buy using an AGM for the engine start bank. https://www.sokbattery.com/ Epever MT50 programming for lithium batteries: Here's a link to my MT50 programming video. I don't know if Epever has fixed the software bug that I encountered when trying to program it but this is the method that worked for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43KhqCEdP3A We can be reached at atomvoyages.com or if you have a classic sailboat and want to share your experiences or have questions on fitting out, consider joining the Plastic Classic Forum at https://plasticclassicforum.com/forum/ I'm a moderator on the forum and answer questions there.