I'm going Lithium!

[mattfish11]

Just made my decision to go lithium. Can't believe it, but right now - I think they proved themselves worth it for me.

I'm going with BattleBorn (Thanks for the help/info Buck456!)!
I'm going with 2x 100ah batteries for my 24v Ultrex. It's some serious power and serious capacity.

I've saved about 50lbs of weight for much more capacity. I had Optima batteries for many years and have been very pleased. Have had a couple long windy days where I've basically killed them even when they were 1-2 years old. Hoping that will never happen again.

These batteries are advertised as 3000 - 5000 cycles! Wow! Incredible specs! I will likely own and be happy with these batteries for 15 years.

10 year warranty... 10 years!

I'm excited to see if they live up to the hype. I certainly hope so!!!

Anyway - just reading up on the charging procedures, maintenance (basically none) and storage... Relatively simple stuff...

Just though I'd share! I'll keep ya guys updated on my experience with these puppies.

[Fishysam]

[croix-man]

Cool. What are you going to run for a cranker and battery charger ? Will one charger do both the lit batteries and the cranker ?

[bshort]

Just made my decision to go lithium. Can't believe it, but right now - I think they proved themselves worth it for me.

I'm going with BattleBorn (Thanks for the help/info Buck456!)!
I'm going with 2x 100ah batteries for my 24v Ultrex. It's some serious power and serious capacity.

I've saved about 50lbs of weight for much more capacity. I had Optima batteries for many years and have been very pleased. Have had a couple long windy days where I've basically killed them even when they were 1-2 years old. Hoping that will never happen again.

These batteries are advertised as 3000 - 5000 cycles! Wow! Incredible specs! I will likely own and be happy with these batteries for 15 years.

10 year warranty... 10 years!

I'm excited to see if they live up to the hype. I certainly hope so!!!

Anyway - just reading up on the charging procedures, maintenance (basically none) and storage... Relatively simple stuff...

Just though I'd share! I'll keep ya guys updated on my experience with these puppies.

Could probably buy a lot of regular batteries for less than $2K.

[Steelman73]

What do they cost. 24v tm and cranking battery?

[mattfish11]

Cool. What are you going to run for a cranker and battery charger ? Will one charger do both the lit batteries and the cranker ?

I'll be charging with my MinnKota 315D - they will charge the 3 batteries independently (2 lithium trolling + 1 AGM cranker)... These charge batteries utilizing independent banks so they can charge all 3. I've confirmed with BattleBorn that this charger charges well within the specs required for their batteries.

[mattfish11]

Could probably buy a lot of regular batteries for less than $2K.

I could buy 6 of the Optima Blue tops for what I paid for the lithiums... Optimas are great batteries - but will lose power through a long day and the lithium will stay steady through the day.

[mattfish11]

What do they cost. 24v tm and cranking battery?

I paid about $1,800 for 2 of the 12v 100ah batteries for my trolling motor setup.

[croix-man]

Thanks for sharing the info. Keep us updated on what you think.

[Steelman73]

I paid about $1,800 for 2 of the 12v 100ah batteries for my trolling motor setup.

Not horrible, but is pricey. I saw a 31 size battery at Bass Pro last weekend was $429.

[krr6581]

There are single 24V Lithium batteries available. Did you check on any of them? It probably would have been cheaper to buy one single 24V battery compared to buying two.

[Steelman73]

Not sure if this is a good brand, but here is a 24V for $2199.

https://lithiumoutlet.com/shop?olsPa...olling-battery

[mattfish11]

There are single 24V Lithium batteries available. Did you check on any of them? It probably would have been cheaper to buy one single 24V battery compared to buying two.

Battleborn offers a 24v battery for $1,000. But it's only 50ah and I really wanted more capacity than 50ah.

[slonezp]

but will lose power through a long day and the lithium will stay steady through the day.

And this is my problem with lithium batteries. They work until they don't work. No warning that they are low on juice. They just stop.

[Casslaw]

Yes lithium batteries work until they don’t but I see that as a positive. How often do you run your Tm batteries down to nothing during a day of fishing? Lithium’s stay at 100% power until they stop, it’s the battery management protection. I use them in my r/c stuff and they run stronger, longer than any other type of battery.

Op, keep us updated! I hope they work out great for you.

[slonezp]

How often do you run your Tm batteries down to nothing during a day of fishing?

I've done it once. 3-1/2 hours in 25 mph winds on Lake Michigan. I bought a bigger motor and added a battery after that.

[mattfish11]

I've done it once. 3-1/2 hours in 25 mph winds on Lake Michigan. I bought a bigger motor and added a battery after that.

I've done it too with pretty powerful optimas. These optimas had 66ah... These lithiums are 100ah - I shouldn't ever run out of juice.

[Team Colibri]

And this is my problem with lithium batteries. They work until they don't work. No warning that they are low on juice. They just stop.

This problem is pretty easy to work around.

If you like things easy-peasy, buy a battery with Bluetooth from its BMS so you can monitor it from your mobile phone. I have this on one of my lithiums that I use for my mobile setup (icefishing, rental boats etc) and it is quite handy. These screenshots are from that battery, a Topband, but many brands have this feature with just slightly different interfaces in their app.

Easy to see State of Charge:


Easy to see the temp, current Ah suplied (or used) and number of cycles:


The second way around this is by using external battery managment/ battery monitoring. I would STRONGLY recommend doing so on any batterybank for a TM anyway, especially one made up of lead-based batteries. Once those batteries show a low voltage, the damage might already have been done and the sulfation has begun. Using voltage as a means of SOC is an educated guess, but still a guess.

Personally I use Simarine PICO, but I have previously used Victron bmw and even though it might look less classy the Victron does its job just the same for a lower cost.

[Casslaw]

That’s very cool, never seen that!

[mattfish11]

That’s very cool, never seen that!

Agreed!!