2009 Rinker 260 EC - Battery Configuration

Jonathon

Hello, 

Looking for some help with battery configuration for a new to me 2009 260EC which I can't access the engine compartment currently. 

Specifically I'm looking to increase the house battery so hoping someone can help me understand what size holder is likely in there. I am thinking about going to a LiFePO4 but not sure which group size should fit easily.

As I will likely go to a ~100Ah battery I suspect I will want to increase the charger size from the 20amp (for mobile generator use) and also look at the isolator to make sure the alternator will push the as much as possible when running. I do have a small solar setup coming to help when on the hook.

Any suggestions/feedback would be great.

LaRea

Hey, welcome to the forum.  Nice boat, you're gonna love it!

I've been giving this advice a lot lately:  consider a digitally controlled isolator such as the ProIsoCharge.  It will give you almost the full charging voltage (unlike diode isolators, which lose about 0.7 volts coming across the diode).  

I don't think anybody here has moved to lithium batteries yet.  I'd love for you to try them and report back!  

Dream_Inn

I know of someone that has a catamaran with lithium batteries.  They went all out and absolutely love it.  It is a HUGE investment though.  They did the whole sell everything and move onto boat and head to Caribbean.  They came back last summer in the Chesapeake.  Was really great hearing all their stories.  What I found interesting is they had 1 or 2 of their air conditioners be able to run off the lithium batteries, and do it very efficiently.  They also had enough solar panels, that the AC did not wear the batteries down.  I wanted to get in their boat and see it, but of course covid prevented all that.

Handymans342

Don’t know what kind of AC units they had but to run AC off of batteries takes a lot of storage especially at night with no sun. Solar is getting very big in RVs now. For example, I could install 8 panels on my RV roof at about 150 watts each and 10 lithium batteries in the basement along with the controllers and inverters. Probably 15G installed or more. 

Dream_Inn

I believe they spent close to $40k between the lithium and solar panels.  I'm hoping I'll get a chance to talk more with them this year again to get more details.

Cableguy Greg

The boat probably came with Group 24 batteries. I would change the trays and install Group 31’s. 

Jonathon

Thanks everyone for your input. In the RV world the whole Air conditioning battery thing is happening as well. Park in the sun and you can have "free" AC all night. My understanding with the new DC air conditioning it is even more feasible for smaller spaces and solar is so much better per dollar that it was even recently.

To add some more details to those thinking about this, my original thought was what Greg suggested.

Basically move from the current single house to a Wet Group 31 or a pair of Wet Group 31s. 

The basic math was:

2 x Group 31 Wet/AGM for ~100Ah which you basically only get 50% usage
OR 
1 x Group 31 Lithium for ~100 Ah which you can use most of

Total price was more but not double depending on the brand (Enerwatt Group 31 110Ah at CAD$879). If the "drop-in" lithiums work as pitched then I could use the current (non lithium)  20amp charger and should just work (tho charging from generator will be slow at max 20amp but won't matter from shore when on the dock).

However I am currently leaning towards just trying a one or a pair of Wetcell 31s but the following is what I am working on learning incase I decide I need more juice or need a hobby...

The questions I am not sure about and waiting on some feedback:

1 - Can I use the current isolator/setup between the starter battery and alternator with the lithium or should/must I replace it with a proper DC-to-DC charger. 
2 - Does this make sense to do without replacing the charger to a 60amp.
3 - Where is the charger on the boat? Assuming it is in the engine compartment getting an inverter/charger that is ignition protected is more challenging so then I am just buying a single use charger and would have to buy a seperate inverter if I wanted one as well.
4 - If I do go to an inverter do I connect it to the "Generator In" on the AC panel since I don't have a hardwired generator which would make the boat "just operate"

A local Solar vendor I have been pricing a few options with:
https://www.solacity.com/product-category/batteries/lithium-ion/



 

Handymans342

Battle Born 100 amp batteries on their website for $899

Dream_Inn

I have two Northstar TPPL AGM group 31 batteries that you can take down a lot further than 50%.  They charge back up 4 times quicker than a regular AGM.  Absolutely amazing batteries!

Jonathon

@Handymans342 exactly or 2 x Odyssey/Northstar at ~$350-450 which is what triggered by digging. Of course also one battery vs two and much lighter.

@Dream_Inn Do you have a link to which model has worked well? Looks like Odyssey is the "transportation" brand for Northstar these days tho they carry both. Odyssey suggests "up to 400 cycles at 80% depth of discharge" but I have been suggested that isn't great. What voltage do you normally run down to?

LaRea

I was told that Northstar batteries are currently out of production because the company has been acquired.  

Dream_Inn

I believe this is what I have (two of them) as my house batteries.

ODDYSSEY Utra High Performance Group 31 Thin Plate Pure Lead AGM Battery | West Marine

It does state currently not available, as LaRea stated.

My charger gets them generally topped off around 13.8V.  I will run them down to 12.2-12.4 ish and them charge them back up.  It takes about 1.5 hours to get them back up to full charge running my generator.  I do that at most twice a day when I'm anchored, so 3 hours of generator.  Now, there may be times I have the genny running for something else, but not typically very often.  I run both fridges, my radio, and other misc things without any concerns.  

Jonathon

To keep everyone updated - the current plan is looking like:

2 x Deep Cycle Lead Acid Group 31s (~130Ah each) which likely last 2 years max if worked hard
Replacing 20amp factory charger with a Victron Centaur 12/60amp (3) charger
Adding a Victron smart shunt for system management/reporting. 

Notes:
1- Staying away from lithium avoids some other costs/complexities and battery cost down. If I was planning to keep the boat for 5+ years I would go lithium for sure.

2- The only ignition protected charger/inverters I could find were Promariner Combi units which start around $1200 and seem a bit dated for that price. Again if I was doing a long term setup I would make another change which would be to move the charger/inverter out of the engine room. On the 260 I'm not sure where this would go and have easy access to the batteries.

Appreciate any suggestions or worries about this. The weight of the batts is significant which is keeping me from trying to jam a 3rd one in. 

Jonathon

One request if anyone has a good source - I would love a picture of the 260EC engine compartment. Especially around the batteries. I can't get to mine with the snow but worried about the size of the charger.

YYZRC

I have the victron smart shunt and it’s pretty cool. 

Jonathon

Thought I would update my progress, have most of the equipment ready to go so next post will be the install once I can easily access the boat.

2 x 100Ah LiFePO4 Batteries
1 x Victron Centaur Charger (60Ah - ignition protected)
1 x Victron Orion 12/12 30Ah DC-to-DC non-isolated Charger
1 x Victron Smart Shunt
1 x Victron 15Ah MPPT Solar Controller
2 x SunPower Soft Panels for Bimini

Hoping I will have lots of power...