Lithium batteries purchase

[SC53]

Where did y’all buy your lithium batteries from?

[T-Billy]

The jungle. 200ah Ampere Time. 100% satisfied after two seasons.

[GaryH]

Lithium hub. Their batteries (Ionic) have been great. Their customer service is great. 

[Tennessee Boy]

battlebornbatteries.com

[gim]

5 hours ago, T-Billy said:

The jungle.

The heck is the jungle?  lol like the Amazon rain forest?

[Woody B]

Mine came from Lithium Hub.

[DogBone_384]

Dakota Lithium.

[T-Billy]

4 hours ago, gimruis said:

The heck is the jungle?  lol like the Amazon rain forest?

Exactly. 😉

[Sprocket]

I've been real happy with my Miller Tech batteries for my Garmin Force.

 

Retired grass grower

[Bankc]

"The jungle" is the right word for it!  Who knows what you're getting or who you're getting it from?  

 

That being said, that's where I got mine too.  Weize brand, 50Ah.  For the price, it was worth the gamble.  And so far, I won.  I guess I'm coming up on two years now of regular use with never a hint of a problem.  However, looking at them now online, I can see that they are now being sold in a few different plastic housings.  That could mean they're rebranding other makers batteries.  It could mean they just switched plastic housings.  Or it could mean they got bought out.  So I hesitate to fully recommend them.  

[Carolina Pines]

Both of mine came from the jungle as well lol.  

 

I have a 50ah (Power Queen) and a 24ah (DC House?).  It looks like the 24ah battery brand name has changed since I bought it. 

 

Keep in mind all lithium battery chargers are NOT created equal.  I tried to use a cheap ebay charger at first but it wouldn't charge the Power Queen.  You need a charger that is designed ONLY for Lithium batteries, not one that will supposedly charge multiple battery types (AGM, Lead acid, LiFePO4, etc).  Power Queen customer service informed me of this, I bought their charger that is designed specifically for lithium and it's been working well ever since.  It also charges my other brand lithium battery. 

 

One time I dropped a pair of pliers across both terminals of the Power Queen 50ah.  It shorted out with a big flash.  At first I thought I killed it but all it needed was to be hooked back up to the charger to "reset" it.  They have "battery management systems" with small computer chips to keep them from getting damaged. 

 

I've had zero issues with either of mine, they are much lighter and perform much better than heavy lead acid batteries.  

 

 

[SC53]

Bank & Carolina, are y’all happy with the 50 ah’s?

I’m wanting to go with a pair of the 50 ah, mainly due to cost, and curious how satisfied you are.  It’s for the 24v trolling motor only.

[Bankc]

2 hours ago, SC53 said:

Bank & Carolina, are y’all happy with the 50 ah’s?

I’m wanting to go with a pair of the 50 ah, mainly due to cost, and curious how satisfied you are.  It’s for the 24v trolling motor only.

I am.  I couldn't fit a 100Ah in the hatch of my kayak, so I opted for the 50Ah.  My reasoning was I had used a 100Ah lead acid battery (stored on the deck), and never really drained it below 50%, since you're not supposed to.  LiFePo4 batteries do okay down to about 10%, so a 50Ah effectively equaled the amount of usable power from a 100Ah lead acid.  Plus, I could in theory fit two 50Ah batteries in my hatch, equaling one 100Ah, if it turned out that the 50Ah wasn't enough.  But it's proven to be plenty for me.  That being said, my trolling motor only pulls 30 Amps at full speed.  So it's not a big motor.  Still, it's not uncommon for me to be out fishing for 8 or more hours at a time.  So I put it to work.  

 

Personally, if I were looking for a 24v lithium battery, I would buy two 100Ah 12v batteries and run them in series.  100Ah 12v seems to be the sweet spot for LiFePo4 batteries, as far as value is concerned.  HOWEVER, make sure the batteries you buy can be run in 24V.  Most, but not all can, including some of the more popular like Renogy.  Lithium batteries have a circuit in them called a BMS (Battery Management System) that may or may not allow you to run them in series, depending on which one you buy.  So do your research on that first.  Plus, if one fails prematurely, you only have to replace the one that went bad.  Unlike lead acid batteries where you don't want to mix and match old and new batteries, the BMS in these lithium batteries should allow you to do.  Balancing cells is the job of the BMS, after all.  Of course, if it's far out of balance, the BMS will just shut the whole thing down.  But the BMS will also make the whole system work as poorly as the worst cell in the system, so there's a point where it makes sense to replace both batteries if only one fails.  

 

Check out Will Prowse's YouTube channel.  He breaks down a lot of these LiFePo4 batteries and tells you what they're capable of and how well they're made.  Even though his channel is focused on solar energy storage, it's the same batteries that we use for trolling motors, so while the applications are different, all of the details and information translates over to our uses.  

[Carolina Pines]

I'm very happy with mine, it was money well spent.  It lightened up the front of my boat significantly and performs much better than my old setup, a pair of 35ah lead acid batteries. 

 

I have a 12 volt trolling motor, a MK Endura max 45 lb thrust.  It has the digital maximizer circuit.  My 50ah battery runs the trolling motor, and my 24ah battery runs my electric anchor winch and serves as a backup battery.  

 

I can fish all day long, rarely fire up the outboard, and still have plenty of life left.  I've gotten two days out of it before, but I charge it after every trip whenever possible. 

 

I'm not sure if a 24v trolling motor would run well on two 50ah batteries, you need to check the max draw of your TM to make sure they can supply enough amps.  @Bankc brought up some really good points too about making sure the BMS will allow them to be run in series.  Just do some research first, I don't know anyone who regretted the switch to lithium.  

 

[Siebert Outdoors]

I've got 4 Ionics I really like.  I've been running the T Motor on 3 50ah Ionics and all my graphs and stuff on one 125ah battery.

 

SC,  I'm not sure how you fish and your boat but I've read quite a few posts from guys that tried a 24v on 2 50ah and they ran out of juice.  Alot of it will come down to motor and how you fish.  If you dont fish current and just troll around some it would probably be fine but if you have a bigger boat and a bigger motor you might run the risk of running out of juice.  

[SC53]

Mike, my boat’s an 18’ flats boat (Action Craft) set up for bass fishing. 
Trolling motor is a MK Terrova 24V.
I don’t fish tournaments and rarely fish over 6 hours a trip. But I do fish the St. John’s river and it constantly has current.

It sounds like my best option is the 100ah batteries.

Thanks guys. 

 

[Siebert Outdoors]

3 hours ago, SC53 said:

Mike, my boat’s an 18’ flats boat (Action Craft) set up for bass fishing. 
Trolling motor is a MK Terrova 24V.
I don’t fish tournaments and rarely fish over 6 hours a trip. But I do fish the St. John’s river and it constantly has current.

It sounds like my best option is the 100ah batteries.

Thanks guys. 

 

 

Thats what I would do especially with the current.  Better to have to much then not enough.

[SC53]

Last question I hope 🤣

(1) 24v 100ah vs (2) 12v 100 ah batteries.

What’s the trade offs?

[Woody B]

I have two 50 amp hour Ionics for my trolling motor and a 125 amp hour Ionic for my electronics.  I already had an onboard lithium compatible charger.  Going 24 volt would have required an additional purchase for me.   Also, if I had a problem and was in a rush I could pick up a 12 volt battery pretty much anywhere.  (or take the one out of my truck)   

 

My boat is a Tracker Classic XL.  24 volt Motorguide Tour Pro trolling motor.   I don't fish where there's much current but fish in the wind quite often.   I fished 3 hours last Saturday, and 5 hours last Sunday, in the wind.   My 50's were at 72%.   I didn't think I needed 100 ah and Lithium Hub said I didn't need 100 ah.   I went with the 50's and decided if I needed more I'd just add two more 50's.  

[Bankc]

19 hours ago, SC53 said:

Last question I hope 🤣

(1) 24v 100ah vs (2) 12v 100 ah batteries.

What’s the trade offs?

One 24v battery will be easier to set up.  However it will be twice as large and twice as heavy as each 12v battery.  Two 12v batteries will probably be cheaper.  But you'll have to worry about compatibility with both batteries able to run in series.  And the wiring at the battery will be a bit more complicated since they're in series.  

 

You can also use a 12v charger with two 12v batteries.  But you'll probably want 2 12v chargers, or a 12v charger that can charge two batteries at once.  And you'll want to add a switch to disconnect the series connection between the batteries while you charge them, or do it manually, if you go this route.  Otherwise, a 24v charger might be best.  Just make sure whichever route you go, they're lithium (LiFePo4) compatible.  

 

But as far as performance is concerned, they're equal.  LiFePo4 batteries only put out around 3.2 volts (nominal) per cell.  So on a 12v 100Ah battery, it'll have four 3.2v - 100Ah cells.  So two of those big 12v batteries will be made up of eight 100Ah cells.  And one 24v, 100Ah battery will also come with eight 100Ah cells.  So they're pretty much the same thing on the insides.  

[Puggz]

My '23 Ranger 521r came with the "Tracker" branded lithiums, all upgraded to the "100" size. Made by ReLion. They've worked great for this season but my cranking battery died after a very long day on the water. Lithiums produce full power all the time, until they cannot and then they switch off! Ranger provided a Noco booster with the boat which I put to good use. My setup is 1x RB100-HP and 3x RB100 deep cycles. 

[Boomstick]

I went with Amped Outdoors. They're well known and legitimate and a little bit cheaper than Dakota Lithium (another very reputable brand).