Le 12 sept. 2021 à 17:47, Dominique Sery via groups.io <dominiquesery@...> a écrit :

Bonjour Juan,
My lead batteries need to be changed, I switched to lithium.  I took everything in Victron (cheaper than Mastervolt) and available in stores in France, although the price is still very high.  So 6 x 12.8 v 200 Ah, exactly the same capacity I had in lead.  (half in size) + Skylla 100A charger + 24V 3000 VA inverter + Ve-bms + Battery protect (65A for the 24 v alternator and 200A for the load) + BMV 712 + alarm.Everything is in bluetooth and is controlled with the  Victron-connect application.  In use, it is day and night with the previous equipment.  Why Victron?  Because the size of their batteries fit the battery compartment perfectly and I wanted everything in the same brand.  It works great, according to specs, fast charging, higher load.  No regrets (yet).
 Cordialement
Dominique
A54

Le 13 sept. 2021 à 07:50, Dominique Sery via groups.io <dominiquesery@...> a écrit :

Bonjour Juan,
it’s easy to control the Mastervolt alternator with external Alpha pro regulator using a Victron Battery-protect (the smallest), in position 7 it is used as a control relay by the Victron Ve-bms.  The consumption is 1.5 mA completely compatible with the maximum authorized current of 10 mA of the Ve-bms.  A second, ordinary relay, powered by the ignition key, will only activate it when the engine is running (+ a manual switch for security).  The bluetooth version of this Battery Protect allows you to control the charge with a smartphone (stop and start).  When I sail with the engine, as soon as the voltage of the batteries reaches 27.6 v (95-98% of charge) I stop the alternator with the smartphone so as not to keep the batteries at a high voltage for too long (the duration of  absorption of 28.5 v is 4 h with the Alpha pro).  For the other loads, if they are Victrons they can be managed by the Ve-bms otherwise either they have a remote control and another small BP will be used or there is none and a Battery protect of suitable power can be put  on the charging cables.  Note that the Ve-bms has a maximum control of 10 mA for the charge and 2 amps for the load (+ 50 mA for the pre-discharge alarm).  A bluetooth BMV with audible alarm informs as soon as the voltage is high or low (adjustable). The smartphone will check each battery cell and you can stop the charge or the load if necessary.
For the battery charger, if you are in the boat, you can drive it yourself with the  bmv and stop it as soon as the charge is finished.
Cordialement
Dominique
Irko A54#16

On Mon, Sep 13, 2021 at 0:56, Dominique Sery via groups.io

<dominiquesery@...> wrote:

Paul, why choose 12 volt batteries for a 24 volt circuit?  2 main reasons for Victron models (the same problem with Mastervolt batteries): 24 volt batteries do not fit in the battery compartment when standing, they must be laid on their side which is not recommended and  in this case we can only put 2 of 200Ah which is lower than the original capacity, on the other hand the higher weight complicates handling.
Dominique
Irko A54 #16 Kilada Greece

Le 17 sept. 2021 à 14:22, Willem Kroes <kavanga@...> a écrit :

Hi, Juan,

To add to the very useful suggestions you already received, this one: a very cheap and easy-to-install alternator protection device from Sterling (Alternator Protection Device – Sterling Power Products (sterling-power.com ).
I bought 4 x 100 Ah Iron phosphate batteries in 2017. Installed the Sterling device, bought an external Mastervolt Alpha Pro regulator programmed to meet the requirements of the batteries (also with a temperature sensor with a hose clamp fitted on the alternator casing, connected to the Alpha Pro. I also reprogrammed my Mastervolt charger 24 V 60 Amps.
Since this, I found myself in battery heaven instead of a battery hell.
Good luck!

Willem Kroes
SM #351 Kavanga

now in Licata on Sicily

On 17 Sep 2021, at 17:54, Paul Harries via groups.io <Pharries@...> wrote:

As a potential Amel buyer the complexity of some of the Li installations scares me. My question when evaluating such systems is a simple one, "could my wife handle the system on her own? As I well  recall the difficulty my wife had programming a vcr!

The limiting factor that I see at present is that companies like Victron only make their BMS available with their batteries. As a result battery prices for the likes of Victron are inflated.

The future in my opinion lies with an external BMS integrated with battery charging and power source switch over, such a system should run on it's own without the need for owner input other than programming due to system changes. Failover with integrated bms redundancy is also a consideration..

I think it is important to remember how Bill classifies boat value, with increase in complexity of electrical systems boat value drops.

In summary while I am full of admiration for those who have installed complex multi vendor diy Li systems, I would be unlikely to buy their boats.


--
Paul Harries
Prospective Amel Buyer