2018 521c. Lithium battery question

[lobsterman0476]

I guess my question is I’m thinking about switching to lithium batteries what is everybody doing are they going with 3-12 volt or do we go at 1-36 volt. Can we still use the Ranger battery charger and anybody who has done this to they see much of an increase in speed with the weight difference

[jc2bg]

I recently installed three 12-volt lithiums myself in my Z519. Have run it only once, with no opportunity to test top speed, but the major difference most see is in planing speed. I have a friend who ran lithiums in his Ranger last year and claimed to get another 2 mph top speed. But with a change in front-to-back balance in the boat, it might take some tweaking to gain mph. To answer your other questions, the consensus is that it is smart to use 3 trolling batteries rather than 1, because if 1 battery goes bad in a 3-battery system, it can quickly be replaced with another 12-volt battery, which can be lithium, wet cell, or AGM. The Dual Pro charger which is [probably] original equipment in your boat won’t fully charge most lithiums, and partial charges eventually will shorten the life of the battery, as well as not giving you as much run time. Some chargers can be reconfigured by sending them in to the manufacturer, or you can buy a new MinnKota charger—which fully charges lithiums—or you can remove your original charger [which is heavy!] and purchase a lightweight, portable charger specifically for lithiums. I took the latter route, saving space in my bilge area and 33 additional pounds. The portable lithium charger also was not expensive, and selling my onboard charger put me into the black on that trade.

[jtracc]

I swapped my 24v set up to 2x12v lithium batteries. The dual pro charger won't work as per the manufacturer and they suggested the minn kota pc charger on agm setting so that's what did. It works perfect charges batteries to 100%. Most guys that run a single 36v lithium set up use 2 36v batteries at around 45ah each. I'd go 2x36v batteries or 3x12v batteries.

[Whiteboat]

Added three Relion 12v lithium TM batteries to my Z520c. Overall performance improved and speed increased by 2 MPH.

I use the Minn Kota MK-460PC (4 Bank) Precision On-Board Charger on AGM setting. You may be able to have the Dual Pro reprogrammed for lithiums. Follow manufacturers advice on charger,

[Ranger519VS]

I installed 3- 54 amp-hour Dakota lithiums for my Ghost this past summer. They fit in the same area where 2 group 31 AGMs were on the port side. In my first season on the water with them I never came close to running them down. They included an 18 amp-36 volt charger with the batteries and I use that as an external battery charger.
I removed the 4 bank Minnkota charger I had and sold it.\
I have a 100 amp hour Relion battery for the starting and house use and charge it with an external 15 amp 12 volt Victronics lithium charger.

Over all I saved over 200# of weight in the back of the boat. It really handles differently now, I am still working out the right set up of prop and jackplate to take advantage of the reduced weight.