4 year old Lifeline and dead?

[Arthurc]

Very very helpful, thank you!
I must have misread the ABYC standards, I thought they wanted a disconnect/isolation capability on any bank greater than 800ah not 800cca, I’ll need to look at my thruster banks as well to make sure they are installed per standards.
Is there specific rules around how chargers are attached? Meaning can a charger be connected directly to the positive terminal versus after the main fuse and disconnect? I noticed my start battery and bow thruster bank have multiple connections to the + side of the batteries making monitoring true draw/charge with a Maretron sensor impossible.

I’ll get to work buying that equipment.
AC

 

[DDW]

Charger should be connected through a fuse near the battery. The charger is a current limited source, but the cable attached to the battery is not.

Doesn't the Maretron allow connecting the shunt on the negative side? That is pretty normal.

 

[Arthurc]

Unfortunately Maretron used the loop style that goes on the + side

 

[CarlF]

I don’t think AGM’s, including Lifeline, are good for a house bank on a cruising boat. Fine for start banks or a boat that is always plugged in at a dock or running an engine. My two boats with Lifelines never lasted more than 3 years despite doing the procedures in the manual (which take a day to do when you could be enjoying the boat). And once they start to fail they can fail completely very quickly. I wouldn’t go on an extended cruise with them even if you appear to get some capacity back.

One option would be to replace with flooded batteries. Doesn’t cost much. Drop-in replacement. With a bank your size there are few drawbacks. They’ll do fine until you switch to Lithium.

 

[Barking Sands]

And once they start to fail they can fail completely very quickly.

They’ll do fine until you switch to Lithium.

This is the main reason I dont like AGMs as well. I have had and seen so many AGMS fail miserably and spectacularly at the first instance of adversity. Very sensitive. I really dislike the Optima Spiral cells. IMO very susceptible to failure.

My boat came with the Optima blue tops and the bank of 2 starting batts in series are still kicking. But they have lived a sheltered life. The bank of 2 for the house died last year. And I also agree wit you on Lithiums. I converted my golf cart about 2 years ago and I am now totally sold on them for everything except starting.

I will swap over to lithiums at next batter trouble.

 

[DDW]

Most AGMs don't die of natural causes, they are murdered by their owners. For me they last 10+ years with no equalization cycles at all. The main way they get murdered is by chronic undercharging. If you are going to murder them though, flooded cells are cheaper to murder.

On the Maretron, if this is a Hall effect loop through which the wire runs, it is very odd that you cannot put it on the ground side. It has no connection to the wire, just senses the magnetic flux surrounding the wire. This will be the same on the positive or negative cable (though you'd have to mount it turned around to get the sign right). I'd ping Maretron about that. I've never heard of or seen a Hall effect sensor that worked differently.

 

[Barking Sands]

Most AGMs don't die of natural causes, they are murdered by their owners. .

HAHA...true 99% of the time. But there are some on the market that will die at their owners hand from looking at them the wrong way. I consider the Optima spiral cells like that. I have been working around and servicing the 24 volt version of the lifeline batteries in aviation for a very long time. Any premature failures of these excellent batteries has to be something like 99.95% attributable to murder by the operator/pilot (or Mx crews) by leaving the aircraft with the battery in the on position. Then an arguement breaks out on who is replacing the $3950 battery..lol. If it lands on the Mx department we take it back to the battery shop and try everything in the book to save it. Problem is its always discovered prior to departure and we never have time to take all the reconditioning steps. So 9/10 we end up eating it and replacing it.

 

[guy with a boat]

Lifelines are more tolerant of minor abuse than most other lead acid batteries. They do require that you follow correct charging protocols in order to get the full life out of them.

We are just starting year 8 on our full set of Lifelines. The starts are getting tired and the house bank (eight 8Ds) has some reduction in capacity but they are still very usable. We will replace this spring but we have no concerns about failure in the meantime.

To get the full long life out of them (or any deep cycle batts) you need to have good 3-stage chargers that are set exactly right, and charge the batts fully on a regular basis.