Conversion to LiFePO4???

[ph411tx]

I'm so confused. I've looked at putting Lithium batteries on the boat, but one site says "keep the batteries between 20% and 80%", the next site says that if you don't charge to 100% the cell leveling function of the BCS never kicks in. I thought the whole idea of a BCS was that IT knew how much to charge, how fast to charge, and when to stop charging. Again, I'm so confused.

Also, I'd like to use Lithium for the starter battery, but everything I read says you need a special charger for Lithium. Isn't the alternator on my motor going to charge the battery?

For my total solution, I'd like to put a 36v single battery for the trolling motor, a 16v (16.9v) battery for the Livescope and Echomaps, and a 12v starter battery, but I can't find a single source/solution.

I'm open to expertise, speculation, and SWAGS or a pointer to a vendor who can help.

 

[RippnLipz]

I run all lithium. One 100ah crank/house and two 60ah for the 24v trolling motor. Never bother to regulate charge percentages. Boat is plugged in when its not on the water. A lot of what you hear is true...but its also a bit misleading. The truth is the BMS on your battery will fail long before you get any of the benefit of running some 20-80 charge/discharge regimen. Just get good brand name battery's and fish em down and charge em up and they will serve you well. As far as a lithium starter battery, you need to be sure you buy the proper one for that. You just cant use any lithium for a starter it needs to meet ALL specs required by your motor. I run Mercury motors and Mercury actually has a recommended battery for use with SOME of their motors...not all. Make sure your motor is compatible...you dont want to burn up an alternator. You will need a charger that has a lithium charging mode. I use a NOCO genius pro 10/3, it has been a decent charger.