T-Pain Is On A Boat: Re: [Electric Boats] LIFEpo4 house bank

Monday, July 20, 2009

Re: [Electric Boats] LIFEpo4 house bank

liFePo4 have an extremely low self discharge rate in fact much better
then lead. They also don't develop memory so you can keep them at any
state of charge (inside there safe range) with out harm, so they
should make great house packs. As they have only been in common use
for about two years, No one can really honestly answer your other
question. But Lab test show they should easily last ten years. Your
biggest challenge with them will be keeping the pack balanced, A good
(I.E. not cheap) charger one that has multiple cycles is the best way
to do this.

On Jul 20, 2009, at 9:55 AM, Chris Witzgall wrote:

> Hi all;
>
> Does anyone on the group know enough about LIFEPO4 cells to comment
> on their
> suitability to replace traditional house batteries on boats? The two
> characteristics I am concerned about are lifespan in years, ie how
> long will
> they last in years if properly maintained, and the ability to
> withstand
> being partially discharged. If on a cruise, a house bank may be
> charged up
> to 100% only occasionally. Maybe the bank is drawn slowly towards 80%
> discharge over a week, and then charged up when motoring. Could they
> be
> stored for a long time at 50%, for instance?
>
> Chris
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

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