Lithium marine batteries

The marine environment can put unique demands on a batteries. Waves and rough water pound boat hulls, delivering jarring shock waves and vibration to certain vessels, whilst others are equipped with large arrays of power hungry electronic equipment from. So what to look for in a lithium marine battery?

Marine batteries fall into two camps, starting and habitation. First and foremost, it is important to understand that a deep cycle lithium marine battery cannot be used as a starter battery. This is because a starter battery is designed to supply extremely high current loads for very short periods which is the opposite requirements of a marine habitation battery. So assuming your vessels electrical system has a separate starting battery, then there is no reason why you cannot consider the benefits of lithium marine batteries.

It is important to select a battery which is capable of meeting all of the power requirements of the vessel. Items such as spotlights, bait well pumps, trolling motors, electric down riggers, chart recorders and so on demand deep cycle batteries. The super series KS Energy lithium habitation batteries are ideal for these requirements because they are designed to provide a high current demand (up to 150 Amps) for long periods of time. This makes them ideal for power hungry items including trolling motors and electric pumps. Moreover, they continue to provide meet such demands without voltage dropping until they are nearly exhausted. Once they are exhausted, they can be recharged again at a later time with no degradation to their long life span. This is one reason why so many traditional batteries on boats have such a short life span.

Keeping the battery at ambient temperature is important for long life, cramped sealed engine compartments which can reach and exceed 50 degrees Celsius should be avoided since this adversely effects the life of the cells. Fortunately KS Energy lithium batteries lend themselves to being mounted in any orientation, (even up side down), and what's more there are no requirements for ventilation of gases or spillage of corrosive acids. In addition, larger boats with 24V electrics are catered for since our batteries can easily by connected in series to meet this requirement.

When it comes to charging lithium marine batteries, it is important to consider some factors. Systems that are designed to permanently float charge lead batteries such as shore power float chargers and solar float chargers should be avoided. It is unnecessary to float charge lithium's and permanently float charging at to higher voltage can degrade battery life. For this reason shore power chargers and solar charge controllers should be selected with a lithium setting.

Engine charging and split charging from a fixed voltage alternator is generally fine and careful selection of cable wiring can actually allow the added benefit of charging your lithium far quicker than a older style lead battery, providing you do not exceed the rating of the alternator and the recommended charge current of the battery. In instances where the vessel may be cruising constantly for several days at a time, you are effectively float charging the battery again and consideration for a better system should be made. Replacing a split charge system with a DC-DC charger (battery to battery) charger with a lithium setting should be considered.