just my small contribution to the endless battery discussion:

after 10 months we came back to Soleil Bleu in September and all batteries were completely dead. None of them had more than 7 volts. Although the years before our 800 watt solar panels always kept them fresh. But after 7 years these lead acid boxes were obviously at the end. May be our marina people have been manoeuvring too much with the bow thruster in spring to steer the boat into the travel lift for servicing. Without power supply.

Then I asked Amel, they recommended a replacement with AGM 110 Ah, preferably from Victron, also they match perfectly into the batt compartment and with the installed setup.

We then immediately ordered 12 Victron AGMs from our marina, at a very fair price and not more expensive than from Germany and by freight forwarder. The batteries were there after 3 days by ship from Athens. No tinkering and experiments necessary.

The MasterVolt charger was adjusted accordingly and everything works perfectly. We are now back in Germany until spring, in the meantime the batteries are supplied by the solar panels. I am also considering whether to install one or two additional battery balancers. I follow Nick and Dean. I will ask Victron / TransWatt here in Germany for expertise.

Lithium batteries were not an issue for us at the moment, the boat was completely without power and the marina people were kind enough to help us with spare batteries for a few days. Lithium is only interesting for us in the next generation.

Cheers and stay safe and well.

Ulrich

„Soleil Bleu“ A54#88

Leros Marina / GR

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