POWER UPGRADE! Installing Battle Born LITHIUM Batteries on Our Sailboat
Вставка
- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- We UPGRADED Our Power! 🚀 Installing Battle Born LITHIUM Batteries on Our Sailboat
🔗 Check Out Battle Born Batteries: battlebornbatt...
Living off-grid on a sailboat means reliable power is EVERYTHING! ⚡️ In this episode, we replace our old battery setup with an epic Battle Born Lithium Battery upgrade-bringing better efficiency, longer life, and more freedom on the water.
From installation to real-life testing, we take you behind the scenes of this major upgrade. Is lithium worth it? Watch to find out!
🔋 Why We Chose Battle Born Lithium Batteries:
✅ Lighter and more efficient than lead-acid
✅ Faster charging, longer lifespan and greater capacity
✅ Perfect for off-grid, liveaboard sailing
🎥 More Sailing with Six Videos:
▶ Our Latest Adventure: • First Taste Of ASIA | ...
▶ A Day In The Life On A Sailboat: • Floating Family - A Da...
▶ Our Most Scary Sailing Moment: • OUR SCARIEST MOMENT AT...
🌏 Follow Our Journey:
• Instagram: / sailingwithsix
• Facebook: / sailingwithsix
• Patreon: / sailingwithsix
⚓ Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to LIKE & SUBSCRIBE! 🚀
Thanks, guys. That was a great video for me to get almost as happy as y'all when it came to the upgraded systems. We are really happy for y'all and can't wait for all of the updates. Y'all make a great team. We've gotten very fond of you, We really appreciate y'all sharing your adventures with us. Stay safe. We love y'all. 👍🏻💕🐾
Thank you so much, we love sharing our journey with you. 😊
Thank you for the share!
Thanks for watching!
Congrats on the new battery system. I love your videos! Finn's voice dropped all of a sudden. Your kids are the best! So is your family! Thanks for taking us to your adventures!
Thank you! It's always fun to share our adventures!
Great ep guys! I love how engaged Finn is with any of the engineering projects 👍. Keep up the great work.
Travel safe & looking foward to more of your adventures 😊
He is definitely a budding engineer, thanks for watching! 😊
Congrats on your energy emancipation! We feel like you guys are weirdly in sync with us. We also have an L46, and just this week, finished upgrading our AGMs to Lithium as well. We can now make ICE and HOT WATER off batteries, lol. We don't have anywhere near as much solar as you guys ... that will be the next exciting upgrade!
It’s so great to hear from fellow L46 owners! Lithium is a game changer, isn’t it? Let us know how you go with the solar upgrade. 😀
All of your kids are gems in their own unique way. Each is so competent it reminds me of bygone era. Thanks for sharing the process with us as each of their personalities emerge and blend into the wholesome entertainment experience that is Sailing with Six.
It's true that each of them bring something special to the mix!
We just updated RIMA from Mastervolt to a Victron system, however we did not use Victron batteries. We are using Epoch batteries. They are fantastic and take up less space and weight. We have 4 - 460ah for at total of 1840.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing your setup. It’s definitely great saving the extra weight and space.
This is so inspiring! Were refitting our 65' power catamaran too, and its so exciting to see others doing such big projects. It feels great to be part of this community!
So cool that you are refitting your power cat! What are you upgrading?
@sailingwithsix Thank you so much! We are rebuilding everything hahaaa! Thank you so much for following our journey ❤️🔥❤️
I love how excited you all are with the new power. It is nice to see how helpful all the kids are. Ted helps dad with the heavy lifting, and I'm sure he picked up many bits of knowledge also.
We are all excited about the new batteries 😊 and Ted loves this stuff so his school for the week was learning all the ins and out of our system
That was excellent 👏
Thanks ☺️
Fascinating. Love the way you all work together. Such a happy mob you are. Cut and run 😅 much love NN Jude xx
Thanks for the love! 🥰
Oh, guys, the new battery array seems special, but please don't call it, " the backbone of what drives" your cat. The backbone of your adventure is you six and your faith and love of one another. These are what make following in your wake so thoroughly enjoyable.
Ah… you make a good point 😃
Thank you.
You're welcome!
Cheers and love a good battery upgrade video! Did you look at other lithium options and compare?
We considered another brand but we hadn’t heard enough feedback or recommendations so went with Battle Born who we felt more confident with 😀
Great learning experiences for all. You have a very balanced family.
Yes, thank you
Top episode guys...very interesting!!
Thank you ☺️
I know squat about electricity (On the level you guys have to do all of this on the boat) but this was all fascinating to watch, and learn about. On a side note, do the kids realize how much they have become "World Travelers" at this point in their young lives??? They have ALREADY seen and experienced SO MUCH MORE than the vast majority of people around the world. I know mum and dad keep them "Grounded", I just hope that they are soaking all of the experiences and adventures in that they are getting to do and live. 😀😀😀
They definitely are experiencing a lot! And know so much about other parts of the world that us as adults are only just learning. Hopefully this will put them in an amazing position to springboard into their adult lives 😀
Like the guy on Apollo 13 said, "Power is everything". Looks like a good system and you'll be able to do more of everything now.
Yes it’s an important and essential part of our boat. Prepared now for even more adventures 😀
My dad's favorite saying was "you don't know what you don't know until you know it! Often times knowing it is too late! Always try to learn about everything in your daily life. Be it your car, computer, plumbing, everything!"..
Wise words! It's good to stay curious and informed 😄
I winder where Battleborn gets its lithium from and how us it harvested? Interesting look into their practises. I wish you all the best though!
We studied this process with the kids when learning about energy and turns out there’s no such thing as ‘clean energy’ regardless of how it’s packaged and marketed there’s compromise with every source unfortunately 😌
Lithium Batteries do not charge when it's below freezing. Yes, you may still use what's left in the batteries. I suggest using a Diesel Heater in your Battery/Generator room. (Maybe two, having one as a backup. The GlowPlugs go out at the most worst times)! During the Pandemic, people were forced into Marina's in the Cold Weather to wait it out. Be prepared! You can't always go where it's warm! Cool setup you have! (Hello from Tulsa, Oklahoma). "Waves". James in Tulsa.
Electric heating pads that wrap the battery container is usually good enough. That boat is not winterized enough to handle below freezing temps for too long. And the batteries are already well isolated.
Thanks for the advice James! We currently have no desire to take this vessel to below freezing environments so hopefully won’t need to tackle that obstacle.
You never know.... I hope you're right! Nice Solar and Battery set up.
I know you guys are happy campers! Very nice setup. Congrats on the installation.
Thank you 🤩
Interesting episode, thanks. Honest question, the Wynns once mentioned that Jackline Ins refused to insure them due to the fact that their boat had lithium on board. Do you require approval for these additions from your insurance company prior to making the modifications? Does having them affect your premiums?
We got approval from our insurance as long as we had professionals do the install. And no it didn’t change our premium.
Great video! It looks like the Orion dcdc chargers were 24/12V versions. Is the new system 24V or do you have 24V alternators?
Ted is a rockstar!!!
Yes he is 😃
Holy Cow. . . .you guys are at Rebak Marina, aren't you? We are working with Usman for the lithium/solar panel upgrade on our boat that is there. Where did you ship the batteries from, and source the Victron components? Ah ha. . . got farther into the video. . .
Batteries and Victron components from USA and any other peripheral items Usman was able to source. Good luck with your upgrade 😀
@@sailingwithsix I would have thought that shipping from the U.S. would be prohibitive. Did you use a freight forwarder or did Battle Born and Victron ship direct?
Sounds like a decent upgrade as a so called internet expert can I at least suggest a couple of things first buy half a dozen wooden paint stick stirrers insert them between your batteries to increase the cooling gap a couple of millimetres snap each one flush with the top and the wooden splinters will form a natural 90 degree bend.
The second suggestion is high output alternators very expensive but can be funded by the sale of your now redundant generator. giving you more space less weight maintenance and fuel.
Lastly as a weight reduction measure you can also add lithium starter batteries
Excellent suggestions! Thank you 🤩
Your boat is always neat and tiddy. The mess and chaos of it all must have drove you crazy.
It was a bit of a challenge but we managed to get everything back in place. 😂
If you have any hope of keeping your Northern Lights generator alive, you have to use it! Follow NL's recommended 'exercising' recommendations at a minimum! Better yet use it under a load regularly. The generator head NEEDS to be loaded to remove moisture from the generator internals!!!
We will keep that in mind! We still need it for cloudy days and plan to run it once a week to keep it in good working order. Too much of an important tool to completely ignore it 👍
The new bifacial Solar panels are so more efficient I would recommend swapping out every solar panel you have and higher wattage with the same footprint
Yes we have friends with these and it is on the ‘upgrades wish list’ but one step at a time 😉
Those old AGMs were so freakin heavy. Cost of the AGMs was 1/10 the cost of Lithium in Greece 7 years ago. Maybe next give the genny the boot as well. :) FYI, if the main traveler starts leaking, it leaks down into the port are you installed the servo controller, then down to the led lights on the ceiling. Cheers from California!
Yes we’ve replaced the AGMs twice now since owning the boat and got rather familiar with the weight.
Thankfully the traveller hasn’t leaked in that compartment but the ‘eyebrow’ did and so we also dealt with water on the ceiling panel and led lights too 😞
When did you do the upgrade? Now in Sri Lanka or earlier before?
We did the upgrade in Malaysia a couple of months ago 😊
Have you considered installing a soft start on your water maker?
Very interesting.
Thanks for watching!
wow US made battleborns, not the economy option. i live in the California desert in winter and have made the lithium switch. my trailer is essentially an off grid cottage with every luxury. our system is a lot smaller 800w solar 400ah battery with single controller and 3000w inverter charger. i'm glad we don't have to power up a water maker but air conditioning at the beginning and end of the season keeps things cool at the end of a 40c day. i love staring at the app as power comes in and goes out. I love the idea of a solar/generator power catamaran with just a single headsail to muck around with.
Mr Trump has organised for water to be sent from up north down into California, he waved all the red tape federally, if your not aware he visited three days after his inauguration and spent time in L.A. at the scenes of the fire catastrophe, he then held a round table discussion with many good educated people, all the while listening to their views, suggestions etc. Rick Grunnel is his point of contact in California, his setting up a system for ease of rebuilding, supporting fire fighters and more. Trump wants to send construction workers in asap to begin building peoples homes. Be safe, you now have a water supply to tap into and use now. I know the media isn’t across all of this information as yet!
Cheers from Australia.
Thanks for sharing your setup and the details about your off-grid cottage! It’s really impressive. I think this is what we would aim for if we chose to live on land again 👍
Sweet!
Thanks!
I was told by a Victron installer that Battleborn isn't advisable/certified for sailboat since they don't have internal battery monitors. They can easily be overcharged. True/false?
These newer ones do have an internal BMS so it’s our understanding that they are safe and our installer Usman has installed these on other boats too with no issues.
Teddy knows ... "A/C"
Yeah he’s got it sorted 😂
❤️⚡⚡⚡
Yes ⚡️
Swap it to 48v way better less voltage loss
There is a big learning curve managing LI batteries. Did you know you had excess power generation capabilities to top off those bad boys?
Only way I could do battleborn is with a partnership with them too.
Do the “temperature control” aspects of Lithium batteries concern you? Has all your cooling work mitigated any issues?
It does concern us a little as overheating can shorten the life of the batteries but we believe the fans we installed will be enough.
All I could think of watching this video was price tag because I know it's not cheap
Cheaper now than 5 years ago. 😀
Yes, a big investment in to our boat but believing that this upgrade will last much longer than having to replace the agm batteries every couple of years, plus all the benefits of extra capacity.
❤❤❤
❤️
Why was my SUPERSTAR Pippa so quit during this episode. Don't you dare hide her from us. I love your family, you are all awesome but I am sure that she has crept deep into the hearts of your viewers.
😜 She’s not staying hidden for long. Just not super interested in the battery install ☺️
Lit
👍
Is it me or did Big Red turn into Big Purple?
Good spotting… episode about that coming up soon 😉
I found this video extremely interesting. ua-cam.com/video/jCZfa2r-QMY/v-deo.htmlsi=rrAfcDsLY0-JDK-l He installs a thermal switch in the alternator to cut the exciter coil as an inexpensive way to protect and also get maximum charge to his lithium bank. I have added a lithium bank to our Motorcoach. I let the engine idle for 2 hours while charging the bank from half charge with no heat issues with the alternator. It only pulled around 40 amps which the alternator could easily handle without overheating. I bought the thermal switches to install if needed but in my case they were not. There's a 150A relay between my Lead Acid Start bank and house bank as part of the factory install that prevents the possibility of accidently depleting both. I've been using this setup for sometime now without issues.
Thanks for transporting me away to follow along on your adventures each week!
Super interesting- we will have a look, thanks ☺️
No way would I put any lithium batteries on my boat.
Interesting… what is your reasoning?
@@sailingwithsix I did a lot of research. and a couple from BC Canada last year died when they put lithium batteries in their boat. They didn't have time to get in their dinghy or life raft.
when a lithium battery goes it is an explosion and there is no way to put it out. They emit poisonous gas, and they don't like salt water. Lithium battery fires are being covered up in the news. Please do diligent research on lithium fires and don't trust mainstream news.
Not very interesting today sorry fast forwarded to the end
We appreciate your feedback, hopefully our next video is more exciting for you!
you are consciousness sui generis & priceless
we enjoy & admire your inspiring & insightful videos
your channel deserves far more subscribers
if all powerful benevolent god is the true creator of every thing not the satans ruling you human slaves then *
why would god want & need to create evil in the first place and appoint the ruling satans to be incharge of this prison world ? *
why would god want & need to create evil in the first place and create system of life which benefit the ruling satans only ? *
why would god want & need to create you human slaves to suffer hunger & thirst while create famines & droughts ? *
why would god want & need to create you human slaves to convert food into faeces & drinks into urine filling this prison world with faeces & urine ? *
why would god want & need to create you human slaves to keep growing hair & nails but not fingers toes teeth limbs eyes organs if you lose or damage them ? *