Tried Out New Li Battery

[wdp]

Big shout out to @MN Fisher and @casts_by_fly for the great advice on Li deep cycle batteries and the Noco genius chargers. Took an annual fishing trip this past weekend to southern GA with some old college buddies. Got to put the new LiFePO4 battery thru some real testing with a 12 hr day of fishing on Saturday and another half day on Sunday. Man, did that battery perform. Can’t believe I didn’t invest sooner. 
 

Windy days and even after 12 hrs of fishing, I don’t think the battery was close to being depleted. And you gotta understand, my 30 lb minn kota is my only motor in my 12 ft jon boat. So I’m on the minn kota heavy throughout the day.  It was fully charged in 2 hrs after I got back to hotel that night. Trolling at full speed was still going at end of day, even after so much use on a kinda windy day. 
 

And best part was unloading it after a long day on water & being fully exhausted. It’s so lightweight at only 24 lbs. The charger works great too. 
 

Appreciate all the advice & instruction about my purchase. If this thing keeps performing like this for next 5+ yrs, I will be a happy camper. And last but not least, we caught 65+ bass over weekend with plenty in the 4-7 lb range. ?

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, wdp said:

Appreciate all the advice & instruction about my purchase.

Glad things worked out for you so well....that's what we're all here for - to help each other.

[casts_by_fly]

Glad it worked out.  If you only charged for 2 hours after then that’s 20 ah (I think you went 10 am genius).  You barely touched your battery. You’ve got two days minimum if you need. Enjoy!

[Pat Brown]

What is the make and model of the battery you got to try?

 

Definitely ready to stop using lead acid batteries and you have peaked my interest.

 

Thanks!

 

-Pat

[wdp]

10 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

Glad it worked out.  If you only charged for 2 hours after then that’s 20 ah (I think you went 10 am genius).  You barely touched your battery. You’ve got two days minimum if you need. Enjoy!

Yeah, I bought the Genius 10 charger. Def think I could used battery again all day Sunday without having charged it night before. 

5 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

What is the make and model of the battery you got to try?

 

Definitely ready to stop using lead acid batteries and you have peaked my interest.

 

Thanks!

 

-Pat

I ended up buying a Li Time battery on Amazon for $300. It’s 100 AH and 12V. Also bought a Noco Genius 10 amp charger that was around $100. I had some Amazon gift cards from Christmas, so I was only out a couple hundred bucks from my own pocket.

 

I was in an Academy Sports in Montgomery, AL Sunday night and noticed they had quite a few of the Noco genius chargers. So they may be carrying them now. 
 

Looks they they’ve gone up in price a little. 
https://www.amazon.com/LiFePO4-Battery-Perfect-Applications-Warranty/dp/B084DB36KW/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=T1BWGET5YNSI&keywords=li+time+lifepo4+100ah&qid=1678973729&sprefix=Li+Time+life%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-3

 

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GENIUS10-Fully-Automatic-Temperature-Compensation/dp/B07W3QT226/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=3UD0BMRJX51BU&keywords=noco+genius+10&qid=1678973825&sprefix=noco+ge%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-3

[Bankc]

Yeah.  I too was surprised at the difference.  

 

One thing I didn't anticipate was how much faster my kayak went with the LiFePo4 battery.  Not only did I lose some weight (about 50lbs), but I got a higher nominal voltage just by the nature of the chemistry.  So I gained over 0.5mph in top speed, which doesn't sound like a lot, but going from 3.1 to 3.7mph is pretty significant.  And being able to use 90%, instead of just 50% of the battery's capacity means I can drop down to a half-sized battery and not lose any range.  Or keep the same size and double the range!  

 

And the weight at the end of the day!  You don't realize how priceless that is until you've experienced it firsthand!  

 

Those Noco Genius chargers are pretty nice.  If anyone thinks they might be in the market for a lithium battery sometime in the not-too-distant future, I suggest you keep your eyes peeled for a suitable Noco Genius charger.  They go on sale from time to time, and they work really well for lead acid and AGM batteries as well.  So you can buy one and use it now, and keep on using it when you do make that eventual upgrade.  

[jhoffman]

Lithiums are awesome but you really gotta watch them especially when you have a bunch of stuff running. If you dont size properly you are out thousands to find out  you had a problem in something like a 36v system.

Lithiums dont gradually die, thats their benefit and a weakness at the same time. The voltage remains much more stable based on capacity. However when they drop, theyre DONE. If you have something like an ultrex you will go from is this slowing down to now youre stuck in minutes. Saw it happen in my buddies boat in a tournament twice last year.

Run lithiums but size right and for goodness sakes turn on the alarms. If you dont have a voltage alarm in your trolling motor bank buy one. Theyre cheap.

[casts_by_fly]

6 minutes ago, Bankc said:

Those Noco Genius chargers are pretty nice.  If anyone thinks they might be in the market for a lithium battery sometime in the not-too-distant future, I suggest you keep your eyes peeled for a suitable Noco Genius charger.  They go on sale from time to time, and they work really well for lead acid and AGM batteries as well.  So you can buy one and use it now, and keep on using it when you do make that eventual upgrade.  

 

I agree on this.  They are also much smaller than a lot of other chargers.

 

On my autopilot I have an 80 ah main battery and a 30 ah accessory battery.  I picked the 5A to be able to charge both.  On each battery I added a set of ends which stay in the boat with the batteries.  The charger sits at home.  When I get home, I plug one in, let it charge, then plug in the other later.  Just plug the ends and never open the battery box.

 

3 minutes ago, jhoffman said:

Lithiums are awesome but you really gotta watch them especially when you have a bunch of stuff running. If you dont size properly you are out thousands to find out  you had a problem in something like a 36v system.

Lithiums dont gradually die, thats their benefit and a weakness at the same time. The voltage remains much more stable based on capacity. However when they drop, theyre DONE. If you have something like an ultrex you will go from is this slowing down to now youre stuck in minutes. Saw it happen in my buddies boat in a tournament twice last year.

Run lithiums but size right and for goodness sakes turn on the alarms. If you dont have a voltage alarm in your trolling motor bank buy one. Theyre cheap.

 

The best course with lithiums is to have a meter.  A regular battery meter won't work since it measures voltage.  You need a battery with a built in meter or add a shunt style meter.  Then you have good information on your status.

[jhoffman]

8 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

The best course with lithiums is to have a meter.  A regular battery meter won't work since it measures voltage.  You need a battery with a built in meter or add a shunt style meter.  Then you have good information on your status.

I dont have lithium's in my current boat but I hand built racing drones for a few years. The last thing you want is that dropping out of the sky at 70mph. The voltage in a lithium can bounce. Once second the alarm will go off and if you let up it will turn the alarm back off. Gives people who arent used to managing lithium's a false sense of security. Let off the pedal on a trolling motor and a few mins later its like the alarm never went off. When a lithium voltage alarm sounds, its time to take action immediately. Not only that you do not want to run a lithium below its voltage, thats highly discouraged against when it comes to capacity and longevity.

Youre correct, If you put them in something like a trail camera that wasnt built for a lithium the camera will read 99% full until it quits working. 

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

On my autopilot I have an 80 ah main battery and a 30 ah accessory battery.  I picked the 5A to be able to charge both.  On each battery I added a set of ends which stay in the boat with the batteries.  The charger sits at home.  When I get home, I plug one in, let it charge, then plug in the other later.  Just plug the ends and never open the battery box.

I just mounted the Genius 5x2 charger in the boat with the NOCO external plug. Both the 100ah and the 35ah are connected...one plug in with an extension cord and it's good.

[casts_by_fly]

16 minutes ago, jhoffman said:

I dont have lithium's in my current boat but I hand built racing drones for a few years. The last thing you want is that dropping out of the sky at 70mph. The voltage in a lithium can bounce. Once second the alarm will go off and if you let up it will turn the alarm back off. Gives people who arent used to managing lithium's a false sense of security. Let off the pedal on a trolling motor and a few mins later its like the alarm never went off. When a lithium voltage alarm sounds, its time to take action immediately. Not only that you do not want to run a lithium below its voltage, thats highly discouraged against when it comes to capacity and longevity.

Youre correct, If you put them in something like a trail camera that wasnt built for a lithium the camera will read 99% full until it quits working. 

 

The BMS in a decent LiFePo is important.  That is what protects you against cutoff voltages and also overheating due to current draw.  Lots of youtube teardown videos showing the quality of wiring and BMS to help guide users into good ones.

 

 

10 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I just mounted the Genius 5x2 charger in the boat with the NOCO external plug. Both the 100ah and the 35ah are connected...one plug in with an extension cord and it's good.

 

For inside a boat that is definitely the way to go.  I considered it for the autopilot, but with only a single bank charger I'd have to swap it anyway.  And everything in a kayak gets wet and I didn't want that.