I had been planning to wait for the price of lithium to come down as these things always do after the first flush of invention. Unfortunately, that doesn’t look likely as the demand for lithium (life-po4) for the motor industry means that availability and prices elsewhere remain high.
However, the technology is definitely the way to go with charge rates high, weight low and usable capacity high too. This is also not the technology that are an explosion or fire risk which seems to be a common concern.
Our hand was forced somewhat since we bought new victron gel batteries in 2019. Being liveaboards with an inverter, we felt fortunate that we didn’t have to constantly go outside to reset a trip if we inadvertently put the kettle on with an electric fire and went over the power limit. The inverter charger would kick in, top up the power required from the batteries and then recharge them when we needed less power. However, there was a price to this convenience. Within fifteen months, our batteries were dead! Firstly we checked that everything was wired correctly and fortunately we have an all victron boat fitted to their standards. We kept investigating and victron agreed to replace our batteries under warranty which was a relief. We all thought we had just been unlucky.
However, nine months later, the same thing happened. We were on passage and a few hours after dark the boat went dark as the batteries died. Fortunately we could run the generator to provide our power requirements. Clearly something must be wrong but we were still at a loss.
Victron again offered to replace our Gel batteries like-for-like but also suggested an alternative. They felt that there must be something going on and that we couldn’t be so unlucky as to have two dud battery sets. They suggested that we upgrade to their lithium batteries which required less capacity to provide more usable power and they felt that we would hopefully not break the lithium! To sweeten the pill, they deducted the cost of the replacement batteries they would have provided and gave us some other incentives in price and some free equipment. It was still an eye watering amount but victron’s charity with replacement batteries wouldn’t last for ever.
However, we still needed to understand what was causing the problem. My current theory is that whenever we used more than the 16 amps coming from the shore power, the inverter pulled from the batteries and then replaced it later, which is effectively a small cycle of the battery. All batteries have a limited number of cycles and every time we used the kettle or marina her hairdryer in the winter it was a cycle, so potentially a number per day. The Gels would have had a few thousand cycles life but these could be being burned up at 10 a day. So in addition to the change of battery type, we also upgraded our shore power cables to provide 32amp power when available to reduce the cycling. That may have worked on its own but traditional mariadz belt and braces we did both!
Unfortunately, moving to lithium isn’t exactly plug and play from lead acid batteries and there are a number of factors to consider. Possibly most importantly is the alternator on the engine. Lithium like to take a charge, all you can give generally. Older technology alternators would just keep trying to give and would burn our very quickly from overheating. The changes we were making were coincide with the change of engine and so I cancelled the standard alternator being supplied and sourced a Balmar alternator with heat sensors from Oliver Ballham at Seapower. This alternator keeps going until it gets too warm and then shuts down. This isn’t too much of a problem for us since we have a lot of solar which can continue to top up the batteries if necessary.
Another area that needs work is the battery monitoring. On our initial test of the lithium we went away for a weekend and by the beginning of the third day had no domestic power at all! That’s just like the old batteries….. what we found were that the configuration variables of our charging systems were not accurate and so they stopped charging the lithium at too low a voltage meaning they weren’t fully charged, but the systems thought they were. We have since adjusted the variables across solar and battery monitoring so hopefully we have these right but there does seem to be an element of tuning. It was disconcerting though since the intelligent lithium batteries have clever electronics, and Bluetooth built in, which means that as soon as they get to a low state, they completely switch off. When this happened we went to our trusty generator which also didn’t start, a battery isolator switch that we never switch off had been flicked over. Still our engine started as always and put enough charge in for us to get going again. We then located the battery isolator problem and were back in business.
We know the engine alternator and the generator pump a lot of power into the lithium very quickly but we have yet to really see if there is any difference in the so,arc performance. In the UK, on a good summers day we were getting 5kwh, or half our battery capacity, from our 720W of solar. This would very much depend on the batteries though since they stopped pulling in too much power as they got fully charged. This often meant that we would switch on the water heater which uses 30A so that we had hot water and continued to maximise the solar. It will be interesting to see if these figures are different with lithium. Although our consumption will be the same, I am hoping that the batteries will take more charge before saying they are full. I will update this blog as we find out more…
In conclusion, we went from 10kwh of gel battery capacity (8 x 110Ah @ 12v) to a little less lithium (2 x 200Ah @ 24v). However, only about 50% of the gel batteries is usable energy whereas the lithium can be discharged safely to 80% so probably 50% more usable capacity in our new setup. These batteries are also half the size and probably half the weight so a lot easier to find them a home. We have yet to use these in anger on a proper crossing but feel more confident we now have a sustainable solution for ourselves,
Maria got some top quality advice on how to do this by cleaning up using 
which soak up the spills really well. Don’t tell Bonnie and Clyde that they are puppy pads. These allowed me to clean up most of the mess. That makes it sound easy. The difficulty is that although Mariadz has some room around the engine, it is not ideal and to dry the floor under the engine, you have to jam yourself between the door and the alternator and try and reach under the front of the engine. Being a short-arse with short arms and not as thin as a rake doesn’t really help. It means I am dabbing down the pads using a straightened out hanger but it seems to work. Having dried out the engine room I then threw some detergent and a little water in to remove any residual grease. This just feels wrong after you have spent ages drying it out! 
Not least of all because of the alternator shaped imprint on your chest from having to lean on it for so long stretching to dry off the bilge. Interestingly, the mess looked worse than it was with the oil mixed with water. Not so bad an oil problem but the water is another problem we need to resolve. After quite some time, the bilge is squeaky clean which is also a shame because I know it will get messy again. To make sure I know where the leak is coming from I lay down two puppy pads face up under the engine which will hopefully catch the oil and give a view as to where it is coming from. The running of the engine is for another day though since we want to make sure that we don’t have a leak when the engine is cold. So next up is cleaning out the bilges of any water. This could be from condensation, rainwater seeping in around the mast or from a problem with the deck drains or a problem with a through hull or pipe. All will need checking out. 
Maria has bought a cheap 
, she likes to shop does Maria! But it is very good and a little quicker than the manual hand pump that I have used in the past so I have begrudging admiration for her purchase.
We also have some water down by the keel bolts and this is soon gone. Finally, Maria decides that the grey water box is going to be spotless! First clean out the dirty water and then clean the box which looks amazing. Just fill it with water to make sure that switch is working well and….. nothing… no pumping at all. Maria starts to apologise for cleaning our new switch and breaking it but it can’t be that. I check the connectors and everything seems fine, give them a little wiggle and the pump jumps to live. Right so a loose connection, quickly traced to the live wire. Firstly, I try to reuse the existing connector by bending it back using the new crimping tool, why do we try to botch these jobs? Eventually, common sense prevails and I decide to put a new connector on it. 
Unfortunately the small box of connectors I have is in the toolkit in the motorhome. I ask Maria to pass me the keys without being clear and neither of us check, it is only after I have walked a couple of hundred metres to the far car park that I glance into my hands to find the keys for the land cruiser. Ok, all the way back, ask for the right set of keys, both of us check it and I return to the motorhome. Pull out the old crimper, you can’t have too many, and the small box of electrical terminators. It is only as I return to the pontoon clutching these that I recall that I bought a big box of terminators which is in one of the spares areas on the boat and I already have a much better crimper on the boat! So that is 30 minutes of my life I will never get back. On my return, Maria says she thought it was strange that I wasn’t using the ones on the boat…. bless her for not mentioning it! New terminator and industrial crimper later and we have a positive connection that looks good. Quick pull on the wires to check and the negative comes off in my hands. Seconds later that one is done too and everything is working as it should.
On this occasion, lifting the floorboard and the metal lifter comes off in our hands! This was obviously after Clyde had woken up! Right, longer screws required which is where my reputation as a hoarder comes in well. I have a box of assorted screws, bolts, nuts and washers collected over time. Of course the one I am looking for takes some searching but it was never in doubt that I would be able to find one that sorted this latest problem out.
Towards the end of the afternoon, the inspiration of using the karaoke setup means that a microphone is available for a few short speeches by the branch captain, Giles, and then by Maria herself…. You can imagine. With a microphone in her hand, Maria kicks off with a couple of lines of “i’m coming out” and then settles into a short thank you speech, remembering to invite everyone over the next morning at 11am for cakes etc. Fortunately, she keeps the speech quite short. As the afternoon drifts on, the group start to head back to their boats but a hard core are still drinking and chatting. A number of these are relatively new members, and with respect to all involved, young members too. Previously we have attended Cruising Association events where we have been younger than most people’s children and although the Moody age range isn’t that extreme, it is nice to have people of similar ages, or at least as old as we think we are in our heads. This also includes our friends Sarah and Russ who own a Westerley but have come up for the weekend to see us. Having cleared up, it’s nearly 11pm when we finish but at least the place is mostly tidy as we head back with a few stragglers to Mariadz. The wine and beer are flowing and we agree that Rene should not drive home and also that nobody else should drive him to Fox’s either. This means setting up our bunk room, since we already have guests in the fore peak. This will be a first but it doesn’t take long to setup the top bunk and convert this room from being a storage area to somewhere someone could sleep. The night doesn’t end there with a few more drinks and eventually it is 1am when we fall in to bed. In fact, Rene decides that rather than sleep in the bunk, he will sleep up in the cockpit, fortunately we are on the quiet side of the dock at Ipswich!
After some time, Maria whips out the two Victoria sponges and a carrot cake that she spent all Friday baking, she starts to cut large doorstops of cake whilst cutting off huge chunks for people to take home. The cakes, made by Maria’s fair hand, are lovely and very popular…..just like her……. Last year, I must have been too polite since, despite my sweet tooth, I didn’t get any cake and none was saved for me – I was going to fall for that again and I am straight in this time.
A few stern words between Maria and I don’t last very long, which I guess is lucky in a boat where you can’t really get away from each other, and we are relaxed as we watch a spectacular sunset.
They must be really tasty…..OMG, Nooooooooooooo. Russ, Sarah and Maria all try the Royal Canine cat biscuits. These are apparently quite nice but you wouldn’t catch me trying them, not least of all because I couldn’t deny the cats! These greasy “yummy” treats are washed down with a little more port before Sarah informs us that she was “Cleaning my teeth with my tongue and a tiny bit of cat treat came out….”, yum, yum. It’s clearly getting later and we are starting to run out of port so it’s time for a great nights sleep, nicely sheltered from the wind. Well it can’t be later than 9pm, 10pm, 11pm, not 1:30am! Oh dear.
This is quite difficult since getting the head sail around the stay sail takes time and effort. It does give a photo opportunity as our friends Christian and Elizabeth are on a buoy down the river and see us tacking so that’s good. You don’t get too many pictures of your own boat under sail.
This was Vanessa, who had done some work for some friends of ours, which had been good quality. However, she is busy which could be a good sign but will m ana delay. Maria spoke to her and described what she wanted. It did take longer than we expected but we are really happy with the results, which exactly match our cockpit cushions since James had kindly told us the material and colours. The simple design works really well the fold means that we can expose the hatch for the aft cabin, allowing more air in or as a food or drinks table when you are on the sunbed. Flipping it the other gives a standing area which is often where I am when steering via the autopilot because the visibility is so good.
We had Freddie the falcon but he flew off. Our favourite was always Ollie the owl. Our first one of these was well loved and was outside in all weathers. This didn’t help his wings which gradually fell apart and eventually we had t send him to the big nest in the sky, a sad day. We tried many others without luck until I saw one of our neighbours had a new Ollie. 
Another search on the internet and we found him again! Now Maria is happy that the boat is protected by her scary-eyed owl!
The wiring had melted. We had this once before in the aft cabin where the wiring for the davits came into the boat. On this occasion it was some corrosion within the wiring that had caused the problem.
There was also quite a bit of surface rust of the bow thruster too which in an area that is mostly dry seemed strange – maybe reinforcing our theory about the fire.
We are big fans of Thai up at the Quay, it’s a family run business which is normally quite busy, to the extent that probably 50% of the time we can’t get in last minute like this. Today we are in luck. We take some recommendations for food, the staff always know what’s best, and our faith in them is justified as the food is excellent. The service is excellent too, with the son being our main person today and being both efficient and friendly.
a lovely fish platter but without oysters this time, not sure she really enjoyed them last time. We have some drink with us too so we can toast Chris and Natalie and before long we are in the taxi to Dovercourt. We spend the afternoon with Jean and have a great time although I am asked to demonstrate my IT skills by fixing her computer and setting up a new video player on the computer, no rest for the wicked! Also, they probably don’t know that there are loads of people who do this where I work so I don’t get my hands dirty normally.
It means that Maria’s source of water is an old washing up bowl rapidly filled from a leaking bucket. I also need to ask Alexa to add a bucket to the shopping list. I guess it is just all part of the constant refresh cycle on a sailing boat, nothing ever stays fixed for long.
Still Maria is happy and that improves further after I shuck some oysters for lunch, that also explains why Jean didn’t get any!
We invite him on for a drink and I suggest to Maria that she lower the swim platform for him. Now we haven’t used this since last year, and having told Maria which switch to use, we are both confused as the swim platform doesn’t move. That is until we see that Maria is happily switching the lights on and off…. of course, the swim platform is controlled from the steering binnacle not the stern of the boat. When pressing the correct button, the platform goes down easily which is a relief. Over a cup of Tea, which is very refined for us, John gives us the benefit of his local knowledge by explaining where a channel is in the Bay that would allow us to come in closer to shore. Definitely one to be explored next time we are down.
We have remembered to take down the anchor ball up in the rigging and proceed down the river to the gentle buzzing of the anchor alarm telling us we are dragging our anchor at six knots…. why do I always forget to switch that off? This can be seen perfectly on the anchor track in the picture.
) which works an absolute treat and is very low cost (especially for anything that can be used in a marina setting!). 
We bought a filter and have the option of fitting this in line with the outlet from our water tank. Instead we have decided to make sure that the water is clean going into the tank by buying hose attachments (quite posh ones). Having emptied the tanks before refilling with the new filter, it took two flushes of the tank but the difference is unbelievable with no smell of chlorine.
I open up the grey water box expecting to see the switch stuck in the up position and jammed with the white soapy scum. It’s a little dirty but not too bad and the switch is down. Hmmm. Now to check if this is a problem in the switch or the pump. It doesn’t take long to determine that the float switch is the problem since it seems to be powering the pump irrespective of its position, although interestingly more power when the switch is activated. Our friend Mark pops over and is also keen to understand the problem. Using a multimeter we can see that there is some power even when the switch is meant to be off. It’s a sealed unit, and relatively inexpensive so we decide that we will replace it. Maria will be shopping at Fox’s chandlery tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we can use it as long as we do it manually at the wall, not ideal.
The next day and Maria has bought two 
,we like a spare! On my return from work, I settle down to the “ten minute job” of replacing the switch. An initial test outside of the box proves that we have made the right decision so now it is getting the wiring in the box and fixing the float switch to its holding bracket. Running the wires is easy enough. The wiring on the boat is actually well done, although in places we have water damage from early in the boat’s life. This area is perfect and I just need a couple of spade connectors to connect up the switch. But first recheck it is working by jamming the wires in. All works well. But I can’t find my spade connectors and crimper anywhere. They are not where they should be. Now, Maria is famous for tidying up things and putting them out of sight rather than where they should be. It is a source of some frustration because there are so many nooks and crannies on a boat that the search takes ages. Anyway, no one can accuse Maria on this count so I am hung by my own petard! Anyway, I wanted a different crimper and there weren’t a lot of connectors so I will buy loads and that will sort it. Next day delivery on amazon prime, jobs a good ‘un. I tell Maria it’s fine to use in the meantime too, and that was my first mistake. Having washed up, I empty a bowl of greasy water down the sink and wait for the inevitable whoosh whoosh of the pump. And I’m waiting, I’m waiting…..I’M WAITING! Nothing 😦 so it’s carpet back, floor boards up and look at the low capacity grey water box surrounded by a pool of water in the bilge. Great! And I can also see the gleaming wires of my new switch nicely hanging away from the pump wires. Reconnecting these and the pump works as it should. Right, in true Basil Faulty style I am going to sort this out. Some industrial tape will do this and then they won’t come out. Second mistake, since when I return the next day to do the crimping, the tape is really difficult to get off and is a mucky job! Anyway, spade connectors crimped onto switch wires and plugged in and we have a permanent fix – now to clean the bilge that should never have needed it!
Mariadz 