Trolling motor batteries

[gb1234]

What batteries are you using and do you like them?

Background: The lead acid batteries that came with my used boat wouldn't hold a charge so I replaced them with a pair of 100 Ah LiFePO4 batteries. One is from Ampere Time and the other is from Li Time, which as far as I can tell is the same company.

They worked great for a year but now the Ampere Time is malfunctioning. My NOCO charger starts to charge it, but after a minute, it goes dark as if it isn't even connected to a battery. Then it goes back to charging for another minute. Back and forth. Eventually it shows a full charge. The NOCO charges the other battery steadily with no disruption.

Switching batteries to the other NOCO circuit shows the problem is in the battery, not the charger.

With the batteries wired in series, I get 24 volts to power the Minn Kota and it works fine for a few hours. But then the Minn Kota dies and won't come back on until I recharge. When the batteries were new, they ran the Minn Kota for 12+ hours. Judging by the charging time of the good one - the Li Time - I think the bad one - Ampere Time - is just shutting off before it is depleted.

The older of the two batteries is less than 3 years old with maybe 50 charges in its life. Still supposed to be covered by the warranty. Emails to Ampere Time Support have gone unanswered so it looks like the warranty will not be honored. So I'm looking for a better brand and will appreciate your input.

[Ole fisherman]

I went with the TimeUSB LifeP04 140 ah battery because alk the reviews were great especially for after the sale help. My MK is a 12v unit so the one 140ah runs my motor for an easy 8 hrs. I have a dedicated factory charger for my battery and it also has the monitoring system that works off my phone thru bluetooth. Tells me everything, whether it is charging correctly, how long until done, current draw while in use and how long it will still run etc. Would not buy another battery without this system ! Had some difficulty getting connected at the beginning but TimeUSB was very helpfull, called me everyday to make sure things were working properly. From others I have talked to they do honor their warranties....no complaints, would gladly buy again. 140ah same size as a group 31 lead acid and lasts longer than two new group 31 batteries. This battery was the same cost as buying two new lead acid batteries but lasts almost twice as long. I ordered directly from TimeUSB at same cost as you could get anywhere. So far great people.
It is recommended that both batteries be the same type and age when wiring together ! Batteries need to be balanced together when first connected together ! Lipo type batteries are great, but need to be handled properly without exception or serious consequencies can happen including instant white hot fires !

[ErieEye]

I bought 2 Dakota lithium 12 volt 100 amp hour batteries a couple years ago. Love em so far. This spring I had an issue with one of my batteries not taking a charge. Basically I ran the batteries until they shut down. I got back to the camper and charged one battery with no problem. However the second battery wouldn't charge. It was as if the charger didn't even know it was hooked up. I called Dakota lithium customer support and talked to the guy. Described to him what was going on. After a short conversation he asked for my name and address and sent me a new battery at no charge. However the next day I decided to try charging that battery again and this time it charged right up. Haven't had a problem since. Haven't even installed my new battery yet. I was pleasantly surprised by Dakotas customer service.

[West Basin]

Two years ago I did a lot of research into Lithium Deep cycle marine batteries. I wanted to know all I could about them, and find the best and most affordable brand(s). Not nearly enough room here to tell you all that I learned.

Miller Tech in Middlefield, Ohio. You can't beat them.
Home - Millertech

Great customer service and their batteries are actually real grade "A" batteries. I talked with them, and went to their facility to see their operation. They taught me a lot, including showing me a battery with the case removed, and how it's important how the individual cells are connected. If I remember correctly, you want a battery that uses bolts to join the cells, not welds. Welds can come loose over time through vibration and use. There are also other design factors and the type of cells that are used. I also talked with several other people who are in the business and knew a lot about these batteries.

All these Lithium batteries are made in China. The few companies here in the USA that make them are about double the cost. It's very important to have your batteries made by a reputable Chinese company, and consistently do quality inspections to insure your specs are being met. Miller Tech does that.

There are a lot of companies selling these batteries. Some are reputable, many are not. Beware any Lithium battery that is significantly less expensive than other brands. They are not nearly as good quality. It is so true with Lithium batteries that "you get what your pay for", meaning the less expensive batteries are almost never the same quality as the more (and not that much more) expensive brands. The less expensive ones work, and can last nearly as long as the more expensive ones, but you take the chance of an early malfunction and poor customer service if you need it. If you really want a long lasting quality Lithium marine battery, get a reputable brand at the (sometimes slightly) higher cost.

Also, as with anything, you need to take proper care of these batteries. The higher quality brands are fairly tough, since they are made for marine conditions. But abuse can lead to early wear out, and damage. If you follow the recommended use and maintenance, these batteries can last 15+ years or longer, depending on the amount of yearly use and how you treat them, as well as the conditions they are used in. Plus you get a much longer charge out of them compared to a lead acid battery, and they are a lot lighter in weight.

WB

[Ole fisherman]

My TimeUSB battery is warranted for 5000 charge cycles, who cares which cells it has, how many folks will still even have their same boat before 5K charge cycles are used. The charge cycles are monitored by the BMS so there is no cheating. Service after the sale means everything !!

[BCW]

I had trouble, a while back with one of my lipo batteries. It was the bms box that went bad. You can get online and find out how to open the battery up and how to test the cells with a multi meter. The manufacture sent me a new one from China, but I got one delivered from Amazon the next day for $35. I am still running the Amazon bms, but I have the new up graded one from China sitting in the drawer, just in case.

[R.E.D]

Two years ago I replaced both my lead acid trolling motor batteries with Dakota Lithium 12 V 100Ah. I have a 24v minkota Terrova 80lb thrust. I use the Minkota to steer my boat while trolling with a 9.9hp kicker and I can get at least 8hours of use at about 60% thrust. (based upon the charge time I think I had about 40-50% battery left)
In addition I decided to install a Dakota Lithium 12v 54Ah battery to run just my fish finder as I wanted pure clean power for the best sonar images.
This setup has been super !
The only issue I have had was with the 4 bank Dakota Lithium charger. It gets really hot when charging the three batteries I have. I have had to replace the charger three times due to one of the charging ports failing.
The charger and batteries are still on warranty and they replaced my charger all three times at no cost.
The support has been good each time I talked to them.

Hope this helps.
Andy

[Squatch]

I haven't jumped on the lithium bandwagon yet. I have one for my garmin fish finders, but still use lead acid for my trolling and cranking batteries. People might not believe me but I have had great luck with the Walmart brand marine batteries. The last ones I had were 7 years old by the time they died. I can buy 2 if not 3 batteries for the price of one lithium. Right now they have worked great for me so not ready to spend the extra money. Guess I'm either old fashion or a cheap scape, but as long as they keep working as good as they have, see no reason to change.

[gb1234]

Thanks for all the replies.
I found out Li Time handles the warranty for Ampere Time. So they are supposed to ship me a new battery once they receive mine. And I'll ship mine once they mail me the label. They're mailing that now after several emails - which took 18 hours between replies.
I'll be off the water for maybe a couple weeks but at least it won't cost me anything. At least that's the plan. We'll see how it turns out. Meanwhile, I will probably never know what happened to my battery or if I could have prevented it. Should I not have laid it on its side? Should I have disconnected them from their series connection while charging? It remains a mystery.
While waiting for Support to reply, I looked up the brands mentioned here, plus a few others. These are all 100 Ah. I tried to compare apples to apples but some brands don't make them without Bluetooth or without heaters. Others won't tell you if they have a waterproof rating. One of these is actually "not in stock" at the moment.

It's amazing how much the prices vary. Maybe some are built better but you wouldn't know it by their web sites. Maybe some have better service, but they mostly look the same on paper.
Studying LiFePO4 more these past few days, I'm shocked that the individual cells inside can so easily become unbalanced, preventing full charge and full usage. I think that's what happened to my Ampere Time. One of the brands above includes a balancing circuit. However, it doesn't say whether it is passive or active. In general, you would have to use a heat gun to open the battery case, and use balancing circuits and a special charger to rebalance cells. It takes hours and leaves your battery less waterproof and certainly out of warranty.
LiFePO4 provides much more power than lead - and I use it all when I troll - but there's a lot to be said for the simplicity of lead. Hopefully the internal circuitry of LiFePO4 will improve. Certainly, if I had to do it all over again, I would get a model with Bluetooth monitoring. Then at least I would know for sure if the cells are out of balance, not that there is anything I could do about it.

[Ole fisherman]

Prices have recently changed do to all the Tarrif crap. I see my battery has gone up almost 50 bucks from what I paid 6 months back.