I have a 60 amp Balmar. The Atomic 4 has a small drive pulley, so getting much past 50 amps never happens. Also lead-acid batteries of all types only charge quickly for awhile and then taper off, so it probably takes as long to get the last 25% in as it did to get the first 75%. Right now I am looking at around $500 or more for a 4D gel that is about 190 AH or $750 or so for a 200AH Lithium battery. The lithium battery should outlast the gel by at least 3-4 times or more. I could probably do even better DIYing the cells.
Thread creep – My buddy just bought an airplane and his hangar has no power. I am helping him set up a solar powered system for the hangar that will do lights, an inverter, and charge the airplane. We think we’ll be able to fit enough batteries to run a block heater, which is 300 watts, for 4-5 hours or so every now and then. Joe Della Barba Coquina From: Dreuge via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2021 2:01 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: Della Barba, Joe <joe.della.ba...@ssa.gov>; Dreuge <dre...@gmail.com> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Stus-List Re: anyone gone lithium? Joe, What is your alternator rated at? I was lucky to charge my FLA batteries at half rating, but now I easily charge at 110A. You may want to consider the Renogy DCC1212-60A or the DCC50S \(w/ MPPT). Balmer sells these alternator protectors which are basically a short wire with a Zener in the middle. You connect one end to +V alternator terminal and the other end to the alternator GND terminal. But as you pointed out, you get one life protection, but worse is figuring that out. Paul - Paul E. 1981 C&C Landfall 38 S/V Johanna Rose Fort Walton Beach, FL
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