21 months Relion lithium report

[Tico]

Yes but the cost advantage needs time to play out. If you are gonna trade the boat in 3 years you are going to take a beating. Duel pro can program their chargers to specs for lithium. Minn Kota PC chargers set at AGM parameter are good for Lithium. The charger needs to be OK'd by your battery maker and you are good to go. It is a big chunk of money up front. I am sure it is over most young guy's budgets. I was there for many years. I think prices will steadily get more reasonable through competition. If you can afford them and are gonna keep your ride long enough it is a good investment. My replacement warranty is 3 years and the next 2 are prorated. I hope to get 8 to 10 out of mine. Lord willing I last that long. Bob

Put the lithiums in your new/next boat

[NY29T]

How long they saying they last? And do you take them out for the winter ? Do they have the best warranty in terms of years?

[Rangerdawg]

See my comments in the lithium performance thread that’s on this page

[Champ2005]

I'm running 3 RB100s. 2 on the trolling motor and 1 on the crankin side. Never had a problem and I can run for 2-3 days without charging. However, I do not run rivers with heavy current, as much as I do natural lakes up north. I have run rivers like the Mississippi and gotten 2 days, but usually I charge at the hotel when I'm able to do so.

are you running a regular rb100 for cranking or a hp?

[rolopayne]

I'm running 3 RB100s. 2 on the trolling motor and 1 on the crankin side. Never had a problem and I can run for 2-3 days without charging. However, I do not run rivers with heavy current, as much as I do natural lakes up north. I have run rivers like the Mississippi and gotten 2 days, but usually I charge at the hotel when I'm able to do so.

Good info, thanks brother. I just bought 3 rb-100's and was hoping didn't need to switch to HP for cranking, now just trying to find out if my MK 315D charger will work with them

[Champ2005]

FYI, when I purchased my batteries I also purchased a Dual Pro charger with a lithium profile for my batteries. I messaged Don (Merc forum) and he told me the RB100 is plenty to crank my Merc 225. It has always started immediately, no hesitation. I'm running Humminbird 12" graphs front and helm, along with all the other typical electronic stuff bass fishermen "think" they need...lol. PS, I also keep my charger out of the boat and just take it with me when I travel. I don't need it in the boat just adding weight when it's not in use.

Good info, thanks brother. I just bought 3 rb-100's and was hoping didn't need to switch to HP for cranking, now just trying to find out if my MK 315D charger will work with them

[rolopayne]

FYI, when I purchased my batteries I also purchased a Dual Pro charger with a lithium profile for my batteries. I messaged Don (Merc forum) and he told me the RB100 is plenty to crank my Merc 225. It has always started immediately, no hesitation. I'm running Humminbird 12" graphs front and helm, along with all the other typical electronic stuff bass fishermen "think" they need...lol. PS, I also keep my charger out of the boat and just take it with me when I travel. I don't need it in the boat just adding weight when it's not in use.

Thanks for the real world info. I tried to see about an exchange but was going to be a bit of a hassle so just gonna run with the 3 I got. ordered a MK PC charger last night so I think I am good to go. Cant wait to finish this offshore hitch and get everything installed. The back of my boat was getting a little low with the big batteries, talons and brackets

[tmelson]

I have 3 rb-50's and a rb100hp. Bpought them new in January. The starting battery has been flawless and I can run my 2 solix 15"s all day without any problems. The rb-50's are a different story. I have currently waiting to send back my fourth one. 2 arrived with the seams spilt or cracked which were replaced no problems then in August I had one fail which was replaced but it took about 2 weeks. Then this last weekend had another one fail. I have never ran them down or put them through any extreme use. Not real happy with them at the moment. I have spoke with a gentleman at Relion about my situation and hopefully will be getting another battery from them soon. It seems that they must have gotten some water that ran down from either driving or fishing in the rain or taking a wave or two on St. Clair. Either way they are not waterproof as I was told. It's not like the boat was sunk or any water was ever high enough in the bilge area to get to the batteries. Other than an expensive marine battery not being able to withstand a little splashing on they have performed great. I'm just glad I kept my old AGM batteries so I am still able to go fishing while I wait.

[rolopayne]

Good information, hopefully I wont have the issues. At least they seem to be taking care of you, as they should. These batteries are not cheap

[Tico]

I have 3 rb-50's and a rb100hp. Bpought them new in January. The starting battery has been flawless and I can run my 2 solix 15"s all day without any problems. The rb-50's are a different story. I have currently waiting to send back my fourth one. 2 arrived with the seams spilt or cracked which were replaced no problems then in August I had one fail which was replaced but it took about 2 weeks. Then this last weekend had another one fail. I have never ran them down or put them through any extreme use. Not real happy with them at the moment. I have spoke with a gentleman at Relion about my situation and hopefully will be getting another battery from them soon. It seems that they must have gotten some water that ran down from either driving or fishing in the rain or taking a wave or two on St. Clair. Either way they are not waterproof as I was told. It's not like the boat was sunk or any water was ever high enough in the bilge area to get to the batteries. Other than an expensive marine battery not being able to withstand a little splashing on they have performed great. I'm just glad I kept my old AGM batteries so I am still able to go fishing while I wait.

Thank you for sharing the information!

[Rick McFaul]

I've had a few issues over the years with my RELiONS but I'm pretty sure they were my fault. The BMS system in each battery is designed for safety and battery protection. You can very easily do something inadvertently that puts the battery in sleep mode. Understanding how to wake them up is crucial. Fortunately RELiON has some good customer service that has helped me over the years. Now that I understand things better, I have a set up that is less likely to have issues and if I do I can "wake up" the battery easily. A couple things... When you done fishing for the day, hit the breaker on both the cranking battery and trolling batteries. If something is left on for an extended period of time the BMS will go into a low voltage shut down mode. If this happens, often the on board charger won't pick up the battery. The solution is to disconnect the battery and use a quality stand alone charger on the manual setting. A few hours of a manual charge is often enough to wake the battery up to where it can be hooked back up to the boat charger and charge as normal. On the trolling batteries...loose connections or "sparking" a wrench can shut a battery down. Usually disconnecting the battery completely and then hooking it back will solve this problem. I hope this info is correct.... if I'm wrong feel free to chime in!

[rockmike]

I have four Relions and I’ve been pretty satisfied overall. Had some charging problems with the Dualpro, but switched to a MK460 and haven’t had other problems. Starts my 225 Opti without problems and runs a pretty good load of electronics.

[rolopayne]

I have four Relions and I’ve been pretty satisfied overall. Had some charging problems with the Dualpro, but switched to a MK460 and haven’t had other problems. Starts my 225 Opti without problems and runs a pretty good load of electronics.

What battery ae you using for cranking?

[Hunter689 / Get Outdoors]

What battery ae you using for cranking?

Rb-100hp is the recommended battery for cranking.

[e-tec]

Dual pro professional series 15 amp 4 bank...reprogrammed by Dual Pro for the Relion Charging profile. It charges to full voltage flawlessly.

Its my opinion that proper charging is essential for full performance from these batteries. I was intially using a minn kota precision 460 and it did not charge the batteries to a full charge (AGM setting)

What did Dual Pro charge for the conversion?

[rockmike]

I have the RB100 Relion for starting.

What battery ae you using for cranking?

[rolopayne]

I have the RB100 Relion for starting.

HP or regular?

[jusmangrum]

What did Dual Pro charge for the conversion?

Its 15 dollars per bank

[rockmike]

Regular.

HP or regular?

[rolopayne]

Regular.

Thank for the info, I came across a great deal so gonna use them. 2 for trolling one for cranking, I did order a tournament saver just I case.