INSTALLING THE 48 VOLT LITHIUM BATTERY

 One of the nice things about electric propulsion in a sailboat is the ability to upgrade parts of it as new technology comes along. When I made the conversion back in 2008 Lithium batteries were new and available but, were very expensive. Plus there were long wait times for delivery. So I went with the 8A4D AGM batteries. Today the prices have come down as have delivery times. My 48 volt Allied Battery 105 Amp Lithium battery arrived in two days. 

Installed the single 48 Volt Lithium battery on board. It was easy using the Nova Lift I originally installed in 2008 to lift the 120 pound AGM batteries for installation.

The new 48 volt lithium battery replaced almost 500 pounds of AGM lead acid batteries that I have been using since 2008 when I converted to Electric Propulsion.

In addition to the four AGM batteries I was also able to get rid of a lot of other jumpers, tie downs, wires, fuses, screws and battery insulators.

The best part is all maintenance is now done from inside the cabin. No more squeezing down the cockpit hatch and doing boat yoga.

A BATTERY SEA CHANGE

It was in 2008 when I converted BIANKA from having diesel auxilary power to electric propulsion. I had four heavy 8A4D AGM lead acid batteries totaling almost five hundred pounds to power the Thoosa 9000 electric propulsion system.

 

The batteries were located below the cockpit and though while accessible it wasn't really comfortable to work on them. This season they are being replaced by a single 48 volt lithium battery that weighs less than a single one of the old batteries.

Even better I will be able to access the terminals for maintenance from inside the cabin. No more squeezing down through the cockpit hatch is going to be a welcome change.

MY BATTERY REPLACEMENT CHOICE

A new set of batteries should be arriving today to replace the original eight year old 8A4D batteries on board BIANKA. Due to the failure of one of the batteries I thought it best to replace the whole lot. While the remaining batteries seemed to be in good enough shape they would only degrade the new battery.  This would require me to do another whole swap in a few years anyway. I looked into Lithium Ion replacements and the economics just did not quite make sense yet because of the increased price and other add on items I would have to buy like a new charger. I found a 48 volt 200 amp hour Lithium Ion battery for around $5000. For the same amount of money I could replace all my AGM's two times and still have a sizable chunk of cash for other boat needs. The AGM's should last me a minimum of sixteen years based on my experience with the first bank. If Lithium prices come down as they have been predicting I will revisit the issue but, for now I'm going with what has worked for me the past eight years.

TOOLS: POWER8 WORKSHOP

Here's an item that would fit right in on a cruising boat or even a landlubbers apartment:
 It's called the Power 8 Workshop:


It looks like it has just about every tool one might need to do a lot of different projects on board yet stores in a very compact space. Which is an important since space is always a concern.

• Includes 4 Power Tools; variable speed hammer drill, circular saw, jigsaw and flashlight. Each tool integrates with the workbench to become a drill press, table saw, scroll saw and table light