Lithium Battery Installation feedback requested

dlochner · Feb 7, 2026

smokey73 said:
1. What brand of LiFePO batteries did you install? Why did you chose this brand? How satisfied are you with those batteries?

I purchased Kilovault Batteries in spring 2022 based positive reviews on MarineHowTo.com and Panbo.com. The batteries work well and are no longer available. That wouldn't have been a problem, except when the company ceased production it took the monitoring apps out of the app stores. This was not a problem until I upgraded my phone and the apps were no longer available. If I were considering a set of LFP batteries they would likely be Victron compatible or have a non-proprietary BMS app.

smokey73 said:
2. Have you had any failures and or a need to replace your Lithium batteries? Was it an inherent problem with the batteries or an installation issue? Was it covered under warranty?

There have been no problems with the batteries, however, they did fail once because I wasn't able to monitor their SOC due to the app being removed from the iOS and Google Play stores. I was able to revive them by following the instructions in a recent video from MarineHowTo.com. I was also able to locate the android version of the app online and was able to install it on a small cheap Android tablet. Additionally I am upgrading the battery monitoring system to have a more reliable SOC meter. The Balmar SG200 does not work well with LFP batteries.

smokey73 said:
3. How many AH did you install and what is basis for your decision on size - what type of sailing do you do?

We have 3 100ah batteries in parallel. Two factors influenced this decision, experience with our daily consumption based on a load analysis and available space. The batteries were installed prior to a year long cruise along the east coast. The batteries were cycled 100 times in that year.

smokey73 said:
4. Did you upgrade your charging system for this installation? If so, what was your choice for the upgraded alternator and Battery Charger? Why

Years before installing LFP batteries a Promariner ProNautic 50a charger was installed to replace an old single stage charger. The ProNautic has a custom setting and LFP settings. A Balmar 165a alternator with a 618 regulator was installed to replace an internally regulated 80a Hitachi. An externally regulated alternator was necessary to have the alternator's output meet the batteries' charging profile. We found the 165a alternator on sale at a price lower than smaller Balmar alternators. The alternator was detuned to yield about 70a to limit the operating temperature. The larger alternator is necessary to take advantage of the higher charging rates of LPF batteries which allows for shorter run times on the diesel for charging purposes. Finally, the batteries are charged with 300w of solar. That amount was adequate most of the time, another 150w would have been nice.

The start battery is a Group27 AGM charged by an 18a Victron DC-DC charger run from the house bank.

smokey73 said:
5. If you had to do it again, what would you do differently? Different Brand, different capacity, different charging system, different location?

For the most part the system met our needs. That's the key, knowing what you need on your boat and how you use should drive your decisions. There is a tendency for people to over design their electrical system's capacity. Do a load analysis, understand what the electrical loads are for various conditions, sailing, at anchor, sailing at night or multiple days. At anchor, our system would just meet our electrical needs unless there were multiple cloudy days. It worked for us.

dLj · Feb 7, 2026

smokey73 said:
Now that there are many of my fellow sailors with Lithium batteries installed, some with years of experience in them, I am hoping to get some real-life feedback on installations. There are a lot of individual threads about Lithium Battery upgrades but they generally have a specific general line of inquiry or identification of a particular issue. In the interest of summing things up I'd appreciate your perspectives on:

I'd have to look back, I think I'm on year 3 or 4 of LFP batteries. - Ah found it- done in 2021... So almost 5 years now...

smokey73 said:
1. What brand of LiFePO batteries did you install? Why did you chose this brand? How satisfied are you with those batteries?

Battleborn - yeap the ones that there is currently a big fuss about... Battleborn was considered at the time I did the installation as one of the top 3 (IIRC) of the available Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries to be installed. That chemistry was, and is (as far as I'm aware), considered the safest lithium system available.

smokey73 said:
2. Have you had any failures and or a need to replace your Lithium batteries? Was it an inherent problem with the batteries or an installation issue? Was it covered under warranty?

I have had absolutely no problems and my system has run incredibly well.

smokey73 said:
3. How many AH did you install and what is basis for your decision on size - what type of sailing do you do?

I have 400 amp hours of house LFP. I essentially was living aboard and sailing across the Atlantic. So looking at my energy requirements, lights, bridge equipment, refrigeration, potentially adding in a watermaker (I haven't done that yet - not sure I'll ever really need to) the 400 amp hours was established. Here's the statement of purpose:

The electrical design objectives are based on the premise that a serious
cruising vessel should have a simply controlled, easily monitored electrical
system, quality equipment - for dependability and long life, and backup
capabilities for safety and comfort.

A primary objective was to rely on minimum engine hours to recharge, and
be able to live on the DC house battery bank for as long a period of time as
possible.

Key to the success of any DC electrical system is good management and
the proper use of a State Of Charge (SoC) meter. The design uses a State
of Charge Systems monitor which displays battery capacity remaining and
consumption at the present time. Monitoring the battery condition is vital to
dependability, maximum battery life, and to protect invested value.

smokey73 said:
4. Did you upgrade your charging system for this installation? If so, what was your choice for the upgraded alternator and Battery Charger? Why

I did not need to upgrade my alternators. I had twin 120 amp alternators. I did have to change them to externally controlled and added in a sterling alternator protection device on each alternator. I had a Xantrex inverter charger that is compatible with LFP charging profiles. I also had a wind generator (the most worthless piece of kit I have on the boat). I did add in a solar panel that was about 380 watts - fantastic add-on!

I did add in a lot of controls, Wakespeed 500 external controller, two Balmar Duo-charge units, one to charge my lead acid AGM start battery and one to charge my twin lead acid AGM bow thruster/windlass batteries. All charging sources go into my LFP house batteries, tehy then run all the rest of my electrical needs. Really slick system...

smokey73 said:
5. If you had to do it again, what would you do differently? Different Brand, different capacity, different charging system, different location?

There would be nothing about this design I would change. Now, given that the Battleborn LFP's are shown to have some potential issues- well time will tell. But that wasn't known at the time of installation. And I've had no problems at all so far - knock on wood.

smokey73 said:
If you have any additional thoughts that would be useful for those of us considering this change please share them with us.

The fundamental design of running all charging systems directly into your LFP house bank, use that house bank to then maintain all other electrical systems on board is simply brilliant. It's not my design, I used Bob Campbell out of Annapolis. He designed my system. He actually came to my boat, spent the better part of a day going through all my electrical bits and parts and then came up with the design specifically for how I wanted to sail and what my boat had and did not have at that time. Looking at his fundamental design philosophy - I don't think it can be improved. As I've lived and sailed this boat since it's installation all sorts of small details become clear - I wouldn't change it - no question.

Now, will I have to eventually change out those Battleborn batteries? I sure hope not, But I wouldn't change anything else about the system. Super easy to work with, totally clear in how everything is running, state of charge, etc, etc...

dj

marcham · Feb 7, 2026

smokey73 said:
Now that there are many of my fellow sailors with Lithium batteries installed, some with years of experience in them, I am hoping to get some real-life feedback on installations. There are a lot of individual threads about Lithium Battery upgrades but they generally have a specific general line of inquiry or identification of a particular issue. In the interest of summing things up I'd appreciate your perspectives on:

1. What brand of LiFePO batteries did you install? Why did you chose this brand? How satisfied are you with those batteries?

SOK. I've used them before in marine and trailer applications, good price/quality. Very.

2. Have you had any failures and or a need to replace your Lithium batteries? Was it an inherent problem with the batteries or an installation issue? Was it covered under warranty?

I had one set that had unmatched cells (first 500 units of a new model), they were returned / refunded. I got some later packs of the same model, no issue. I've installed SOK on many boats / RVs. Always with a cell heater (we're in Canada), although on the boat, the heater has never switched on (water is around 7 deg C in the winter).

3. How many AH did you install and what is basis for your decision on size - what type of sailing do you do?

I based my install so that with 20 pct cell degradation, I still get 3 days of boat usage, assuming no solar. I typically burn around 100 Ah per day. 100 x 3 = 300 Ah. Assuming discharge only down to 20% SOC, then that means 375 Ah. ....if I want 37 Ah with 20% degraded cells, that means I need 470 Ah. I got 2 x 314Ah. Having 2 packs provides a bit of redundancy.

4. Did you upgrade your charging system for this installation? If so, what was your choice for the upgraded alternator and Battery Charger? Why

Almost completely redone.

New inverter/charger, new DC distribution architecture (added an always-on dc bus bar for charge sources), new solar, new alternator regulator. New fusing everywhere. Alternator charges house bank only. Starter is charged from house via a dc-dc charger. Alternator came with boat (Balmar 100A), I wish I had 140 or 160A alternator (bigger would not fit).Full victron comms (batteries, MPPT, inverter, etc...) including using Signalk and Node-Red for automation onboard and monitoring tanks / bilge / control cooling fans, etc... I went Victron with everything I could, because of the integration, remote control (VRM) and ability to run custom routines via Node-Red and the expansion that Signalk provides (custom dashboards).CerboGX is the brain of the boats, but it's still usable if it fails (everything can also run standalone).

The windlass was moved from the start to the house bank. Probably 150-200 hrs of work including the custom signalk interfaces and the node-red development.

5. If you had to do it again, what would you do differently? Different Brand, different capacity, different charging system, different location?

No. I did it gradually over 2 years. I'd do the exact same if I bought another boat. If the alternator ever dies (it shouldn't, it runs at a constant 75 deg C), then I'll go with a 160A unit.

I can run my hot water heater (120VAC / 800 Watts) off the battery system (comes on automatically at 3pm when the house batt is over 75 pct), so we always have hot water an anchor, essentially for free). It takes 1 hr to heat the tank from cold. (about 65 Ah).

If you have any additional thoughts that would be useful for those of us considering this change please share them with us.

1. Make a diagram of your boat's electrical system, noting cable sizes (don't trust the OEM manual).
2. Buy good tools (lug crimper, terminal crimper, stripper, butane torch, etc...).
3. Have a final design in mind (electrical and physical layout) before doing anything. Otherwise you will redo work later.
4. Label cables as you install and figure stuff out.
5. Do it right the first time, when you start something, finish it, otherwise you'll never come back to it "later".
6. If you DIY, you can pay a small fee to get access to ABYC standards.
7. First thing I installed was a current shunt and LED lights throughout. I then studied my power use over 6 months before doing anything.

colemj · Feb 8, 2026

dlochner said:
I purchased Kilovault Batteries in spring 2022 based positive reviews on MarineHowTo.com and Panbo.com. The batteries work well and are no longer available. That wouldn't have been a problem, except when the company ceased production it took the monitoring apps out of the app stores. This was not a problem until I upgraded my phone and the apps were no longer available. If I were considering a set of LFP batteries they would likely be Victron compatible or have a non-proprietary BMS app.

If I remember correctly, Kilovault was a battery that allowed access to its internals. If so, then you could replace the BMS with another brand and regain access. There isn't anything particular about BMS's, other than sizing it correctly for the battery.

Mark

colemj · Feb 8, 2026

dLj said:
Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries to be installed. That chemistry was, and is (as far as I'm aware), considered the safest lithium system available.

Lithium Titanate Oxide chemistry is safer than LFP, but not as convenient for boat packaging. And LFP is safer than lead, so no real reason to chase any further on the safety scale.

Mark

dlochner · Feb 8, 2026

colemj said:
If I remember correctly, Kilovault was a battery that allowed access to its internals. If so, then you could replace the BMS with another brand and regain access. There isn't anything particular about BMS's, other than sizing it correctly for the battery.

Mark

Yes, it does allow access to the internals. I opted for a cheap Android tablet and was able to download the app. Both the iOS and Android apps are available but very hard to find. My first choice was to use the iOS app as I have an iPhone, however, Apple has made installing apps very challenging if the app is not in the App Store. A Victron Smart Shunt will be installed this spring so I have an accurate SOC that is easily accessible. In day-to-day operations the SOC is more important than individual cell voltages which can be checked with the Android app.

dLj · Feb 8, 2026

colemj said:
Lithium Titanate Oxide chemistry is safer than LFP, but not as convenient for boat packaging. And LFP is safer than lead, so no real reason to chase any further on the safety scale.

Mark

I'm not familiar with that chemistry - was it available 5 years ago? How is its energy density compared to other lithium chemistries?

dj

colemj · Feb 8, 2026

dLj said:
I'm not familiar with that chemistry - was it available 5 years ago? How is its energy density compared to other lithium chemistries?

dj

They were commercialized ~20yrs ago and mainly used in commercial rail and bus applications and large scale energy storage. They can be recharged very quickly, don't suffer cold issues, can be cycled 5-6x longer than LFP, but their energy density is not as high as LFP (which is relatively low as it is). They are the safest lithium chemistry.

Mark

dlochner · Feb 8, 2026

smokey73 said:
If they have to be placed in different locations, what are the limitations and special considerations?

The batteries should have enough ventilation to keep them from overheating.

Many of the batteries available today are built to a form factor that is consistent with LA batteries, i.e, Group 31, 27, etc. This makes them physically a drop in solution, but not an electrical drop in solution. Wherever your current batteries are located, the LFPs could probably be located in the same space.

In a parallel arrangement the most important and critical consideration is the length of the cables used too parallel them. They must be exactly the same length. This sometimes means there is lots of extra cable lying around. The closer the batteries are to each other and the DC+ bus the better and cheaper the installation will be.

What's not been mentioned earlier in this thread is the need for a good battery monitoring system. I've found the Balmar SG200 and shunt were not up to the job and gave inconsistent SOC readings. The Victron Smart Shunt and Cerbo GX are a much better solution and will be installed this spring.

The Victron Wiring Unlimited manual is an excellent resource. There is also considerable documentation on their site. Worth poking around to see what's there.

Victron Energy | Independent energy systems engineered to outlast

Energy systems for autonomy and customisation—off-grid, mobile, or stationary—built on a connected ecosystem. Trusted by professionals. Proven over 50 years.

www.victronenergy.com

Tally Ho · Feb 8, 2026

My limited experience withLFP batteries:

I was using 2) 6-volt Sam’s Club (Duracell) golf cart batteries in series for a 215 Ah bank. I also have a separate 12-volt Lead acid start battery. I mostly day-sail with an occasional few nights on the hook (no solar).

I needed new batteries last year, and planned to buy another set of Duracell golf cart batteries. But LFP has come down in price, and I saw 100Ah LFP batteries on Amazon for about the same price as the golf cart batteries. Batteries were sold by HumsiENK. I purchased 2 of them for a 200 Ah bank.

I originally liked the batteries (small footprint, light weight, BT). I was very focused on keeping these batteries balanced while wired in parallel. It was not easy to do. I used them all summer, including a 3-day, 2-night weekend on the hook. Batteries worked well, never ran out of power. However, it was hard to keep them balanced.

At the end of the season, I removed them and did a capacity test on each one. They tested at a disappointing 85 or so Ahs. I wrote to HumsiENK and gave them the capacity test data, and they refunded my $$ and took them back. No questions asked, and they sent me shipping labels to send them back at their expense.

Next up for me is a WattCycle 314AH Smart Mini. I am hoping that the fact that the battery is in 1 pack, I won’t have balancing issues like having the 2 separate batteries. I have run capacity tests on the 314 and have gotten 318 or so Ahs, so that is good. I like the fact that this battery footprint is about the same as the 2 100 Ah HumsiENK batteries, but offer an extra 114 Ah capacity. It is a little taller than the 100Ah batteries I used last year.

As it turns out, WattCycle and HumsiENK are related somehow. Perhaps HumsiENK is the low-end cousin or something.

I did make some changes to my charging system to allow the switch to LFP…

- I added a dedicated Victron Smart Charger to charge the LFP batteries. My old Guest charger did not have a profile for LFP. I now use the Victron for the LFP bank and the Guest charges the lead acid starting battery. It is only 20 amps, but it works for me on normal sails, and then on shore power/charging over night.

- I added a cutoff switch and wired the start battery right to the starter (through the switch). This now totally separates my LFP and Lead batteries.

I have not yet made adjustments to allow charging of the LFP bank from the alternator…I have stock alternator and may look at a DC-DC charger at some point….but I don’t really need it for my type of sailing.

For full disclosure, WattCycle offered me the 314Ah battery free of charge for my review. No contract and no editorial approval needed. But I did get it for free for evaluation.

I have made some videos of the HumsiENK install, and fitting the new WattCycle 314ah battery in Tally Ho.

Here is the new WattCycle 314:

The WattCycle 314 Ah Bluetooth Mini is a beast!

Evaluating the WattCycle 314 Ah BT Mini LiFeP04 battery for use on Tally Ho, my 1988 O'Day 322 sailboat.

youtu.be

WattCycle 314 Ah Mini Battery Install on Tally Ho

Would I go with LFP again….Yes. I think the battery technology is way better than Lead Acid. I don’t know if I would go with HumsiENK batteries again, but maybe if they guarantee battery capacity and solve the parallel issue (not unique to HumsiENK or WattCycle).

I am really looking forward to real-life testing of the 314 Ah WattCycle battery and using that extra 114 Ahs of capacity on my next weekend sail.

Greg

dlochner · Feb 8, 2026

smokey73 said:
I'm not sure how much ventilation is "enough". I assume we are talking passive ventilation like grates low and high and a few inches around the battery as would be described in their installation instructions?

Also I would assume they should have a hold down system sufficient to keep them from moving around and probably enough to handle a knockdown? I have found oun manufacturer that claims that at least one of their batteries is ABYC compliant. It probably has sufficient capacity for how I sail.

https://us.sokbattery.com/product-page/12v-314ah-lithium-battery-built-in-heater-bluetooth-victron-can-comms

Passive ventilation is fine. I like to leave an inch between the batteries, lots of folks have them closer. I have room and it is next to the engine room so, in my case, more is better.

The batteries need to be secured so they can not move more than 1 inch in any direction, that's the ABYC Standard for all batteries. I built a shallow tray with a piece of plywood and 1 x 1 to prevent lateral movement and a 1" nylon strap to prevent vertical movement.

I don't know enough about specific battery brands other than Victron, to render an informed opinion. On paper the SOK look good however as we are learning on paper isn't always reality. Read the posts on Battle Born batteries. MarineHowTo.com, Panbo.com, and Will Prowse's YouTube channel do tear down inspections of batteries and their opinions merit consideration.

dLj · Feb 8, 2026

dlochner said:
Passive ventilation is fine. I like to leave an inch between the batteries, lots of folks have them closer. I have room and it is next to the engine room so, in my case, more is better.

The batteries need to be secured so they can not move more than 1 inch in any direction, that's the ABYC Standard for all batteries. I built a shallow tray with a piece of plywood and 1 x 1 to prevent lateral movement and a 1" nylon strap to prevent vertical movement.

I don't know enough about specific battery brands other than Victron, to render an informed opinion. On paper the SOK look good however as we are learning on paper isn't always reality. Read the posts on Battle Born batteries. MarineHowTo.com, Panbo.com, and Will Prowse's YouTube channel do tear down inspections of batteries and their opinions merit consideration.

Good points - I can't remember how much space I have between batteries and I'm far away so can't just go look. As to the batteries moving 1 inch in any direction, I'd never heard of that. My batteries can't move - period. You can grab them and try to move them in any direction - it's won't happen. Plus the wires running to the batteries have support quite close so they won't flop around either. I woujld not be happy with 1 inch of play...

My battery compartment has passive ventilation. I've checked in the past when running how much heat there is - almost unnoticeable. I do run a temperature monitor of my battery compartment that has a read-out at my nav station so I can, at a glance, know the temperature in my battery compartment.

dj

Stu Jackson · Feb 8, 2026

marcham said:
I can run my hot water heater (120VAC / 800 Watts) off the battery system (comes on automatically at 3pm when the house batt is over 75 pct), so we always have hot water an anchor, essentially for free). It takes 1 hr to heat the tank from cold. (about 65 Ah).

7. First thing I installed was a current shunt and LED lights throughout. I then studied my power use over 6 months before doing anything.

Do not not have your water heater connected to the engine?

7. ABSOLUTELY Critical. This should be the first thing anybody who has any electrical on their boat should do, regardless of battery system. My conclusion after over 40 years of sailing, is that an ENERGY BUDGET is easy to make and is quite accurate if you're honest about the number of hours you run stuff, and don't try to reinvent the wheel all the time about basic refrigeration loads (it's 60 ah per day)/ What's harder to do is find out what goes back in. For wet cells, it was battery acceptance. For LFP there's still battery resistance and it's nice and important to have a monitor that does more than just %SOC - I want AND need to know amps and ah coming & going.

The All-Important Energy Budget:
Energy Budget

Another good Energy Budget resource [thx to Anchor Down from sbo, Jan 2026]:
A Sailor's Guide to Calculating a Sailboat's Current Draw

It would be helpful, as only one IIRC of you has done, to also tell us your daily ah draw..

Great discussion on this thread, thx.

marcham · Feb 8, 2026

dLj said:
gn of running all charging systems directly into your LFP house bank, use that house bank to then maintain all other electrical systems on board is simply brilliant. It's not my design, I used Bob Campbell out of Annapolis. He designed my system. He actually came to my boat, spent the better part of a day going through all my electrical bits and parts and then came up with the design specifically for how I wanted to sail and what my boat had and did not have at that time. Looking at his fundamental design philosophy - I don't think it can be improved. As I've lived and sailed this boat since it's installation all sorts of small details become clear - I wouldn't change it - no question.

Stu Jackson said:
Do not not have your water heater connected to the engine?

Yes... but when I'm at anchor for 7 days, we like to have hot water for showers, dishes, etc.... We never use the engine to charge or heat water.

dLj · Feb 8, 2026

marcham said:
Yes... but when I'm at anchor for 7 days, we like to have hot water for showers, dishes, etc.... We never use the engine to charge or heat water.

You need a mighty house bank to heat hot water.... I've often wondered if an instantaneous propane hot water heater might work but water needs a lot of energy to heat...

dj

dlochner · Feb 8, 2026

dLj said:
You need a mighty house bank to heat hot water.... I've often wondered if an instantaneous propane hot water heater might work but water needs a lot of energy to heat...

dj

They used to work, but they aren't installed any more too dangerous.

Our hydronic heating system can heat the HW tank using diesel.