"Power Bank" to replace Pb battery?

[Anyone can uk]

We’ve been using a caddy lithium battery comes with its own charger, 12v native voltage, 20A delivered power, water safe t-bar electrical connection and it’s tiny.  All in with the connector, charger and neoprene case I think it was £160.

[Graham W]

We’ve been using a caddy lithium battery comes with its own charger, 12v native voltage, 20A delivered power, water safe t-bar electrical connection and it’s tiny.  All in with the connector, charger and neoprene case I think it was £160.

That sounds like a Tracer battery, in which case you must have bought it several years ago - the 12V 24Ah model with all the features that you describe currently retails for a whopping £355.  This is a big increase on five years ago when it sold for about £250.  The increase is despite the price of lithium cells falling as more and more lithium gigafactories are opened up.

However, it seems that you get what you pay for.  My Tracer battery has been going strong for seven years now in pretty damp and sometimes very wet conditions.  Its neoprene sleeve rotted away because of the conditions but was replaced free of charge.  By contrast, I also had a much cheaper Ultramax lithium battery of similar capacity.  It couldn’t cope with being under my foredeck and its integrated battery manager packed up after only 12 months, making it a useless and potentially toxic brick.

[Sea Simon]

Is this a  "caddy battery" in terms of power for golf trollies/buggies?

Like this?

https://www.planetgolfuk.co.uk/golfstream-caddy-cell-lithium-battery.html

[Graham W]

I’m flabbergasted to receive a ‘Black Friday’ offer of the Tracer 12V 24Ah LiFePO4 battery that I bought for about £280 nine years ago (and still going strong).  The offer, which says it is at 10% off, is for a princely £469.  And I thought that lithium cells were supposed to be getting cheaper!

[Sea Simon]

Lithium batteries in "conventional  form factor" arrangements (as opposed to "power pack" type units), particularly the "non-smart" type do seem to be getting cheaper, imho?

I recently obtained  from Sterling Power (whom I consider to be a reliable UK based dealer, and designers/manufacturers of electrical power products with a good long-term reputation) a 100 AH LIFEPO4 battery for £340. Obviously manufactured in China, as are many of their other products, but SP have been around for years, and are still something of a family firm; excellent to deal with. 5 year warrantee.
This will replace my 100AH ""Rolls" brand AGM lead acid house battery. No idea how old this is, but should still be OK for another season. However the peltier type "picnic box" fridge/heater really hammers it (also spoils your breakfast if you unwittingly press the red "heat" button, rather than the blue"chill" button! 

LIFEPO4 only a little smaller, but approaching twice the useable power, at half the weight.
I didn't want want/need a Bluetooth  battery monitoring system (I have a Victron BT mains supply/charger, and while the BT is interesting,  it's a bit of unnecessary faff, imho). Note also that SPs Blue Tooth BMSs are not covered by the warranty...
I have a hard wired BMS, and a SP 12v 25A Battery-to-Battery charger that cross-couples the start (lead acid) and house batteries, charging the house (now Lithium) from the engine, and the starter (conventional Lead acid) from the solar if/when the power is available from each source. The Victron couples any shore mains to the Lithium, and is continuously rated at 15A.

Not sure that the above setup is appropriate for open boats, but should suit cabin boats?
Suspect any LIFE04 weight savings will be absorbed by the BMS, B2B charger and shore power charger (luckily all in the same relatively central, low down locker)! However, the master plan is that I won't need to so-closely manage Mrs SSs use of the fridge etc!

I'll keep you posted as to how it goes...

What does Swallow fit to a 26 these days?

[Llafurio]

While the powerbank which started this thread did not offer enough Amps to power a fixed VHF,
there are now devices which offer plenty of that - Jump Starters.
Like this one here. An agreeable capacity of around 300 Wh, and comes with USB ports. Only € 88.00, where I live.
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0BD36YJVK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
C.

[Llafurio]

The above mentioned car jump starter has a few drawbacks. The peak power supply of 5,000 Amps comes from a capacitator which is charged fairly slowly. Good for power boost, but possibly not good enough for a prolonged 25 W VHF transmission.

But I think I have now found another power bank better suitable, and not much dearer, at € 120.00. https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B089VKVYGC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 .

At that price / performance level, these new LiFePo batteries are definitely the  way to go.
C.

[Sea Simon]

We seem to be straying towards this earlier thread, which remains useful I think?

https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/?page_id=17&URL=https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php?topic=1819

Update on my power banks...the "trad" Ring lead acid long since scrapped. The Jaber brand power pack off Amazon didn't  last two winters...It died, rather inconveniently, mid start of my car.
I stripped the unit down (unfixable, obviously!..and I survived, see below... ) and like Llafurio, came to now better understand that it's capabilities derive not primarily from a battery, but some sort of boosting capacitor (luckily, capacitor was recognised due to my experiences, as an Engineer- spectator, with VS Power drives at work). Hence Jaber pack probably not much use in my boat (then a BRex) for powering electronics long term? However, I stand to be corrected; no doubt they have evolved/improved meanwhile.

I later set up a 4AH (18v) cordless tool battery to run a NASA sounder (proprietary  adapter shoes are available for most brands) Whilst I had problems, they were not with the battery (but with hull fire-thru), this seemed more successful than the jump start, and gave a steady 12v output as well as a USB socket.  I see you can now get 20AH batteries in some brands (but not 12v). My guess would be that it would be this shoe type adapter/voltage "step down transformer" that would be the new weak point?

[Llafurio]

I have now moved to a 299Wh LiFePO Power Station with several in- and outlets, especially one 12V DC @ 60W, and one 220V AC @ 300W. The thing is well built, small, and has a carrying handle, very convenient.
For € 101.00, delivered .
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CR6GBTXD?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

[Justin_G]

a friend with a Cape Cutter .... No space on deck to fit solar panels for recharging

Slightly off topic, but as I have a Cape Cutter I can confirm that at 50W solar panel fits nicely between the forehatch and samson post. I have fitted this one:
https://www.photonicuniverse.com/index.php/en/catalog/full/509-50W-Reinforced-narrow-semi-flexible-solar-panel-with-a-durable-ETFE-coating.html

[Graham W]

I think that the 288Wh Tracer lithium battery that I bought years ago has become ludicrously expensive compared to the competition (£534 delivered) because Tracer products are now used as standard by the film industry, police, special forces etc.  Think of a number and treble it.