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hi  jeff cote here with pacific outsystems  we've got a question from a fellow  boater for our ask pys series  hi jeff are you able to talk about  lithium batteries for boats  okay so lithium is definitely a choice  when you're considering a battery  chemistry for your boat right for the  most part you know we're talking about  lead acid batteries either flooded  agm foam core agm which is firefly  and then the other big player and  there's other ones is lithium  so lithium is i think ideal for boaters  that  have that are looking for the following  one weight is an issue  if your boat has considerations for  weight and you are for whatever reason  you want to be lighter you're having  issues where the batteries are for  listing  and you want to have more energy density  per given weight  lithium is definitely a strong contender  second the other thing is also space  right some boat owners do not have as  much  place to mount batteries as they would  like and they're  limited in that location and they want  more  usable amp power capacity in a given  location  if that's a really big requirement then  yeah you're going to have to or you're  going to strongly be considering a  lithium battery bank  because again lightweight you're going  to have more energy density  for lithium than a conventional lead  acid battery either being flooded  agm or foam based origin so  those are two issues now the  consideration  is also cost lithium is going to come at  a much higher price point and there are  merits to that because  they provide deeper or more usable  battery capacity from pretty much 100  to 20 percent of capacity so that's 80  percent of the battery  is readily usable versus 35 for flooded  about 50 for agm and 65  for firefly so more usable battery  capacity for lithium  now all these things are win win win why  does not everyone go with lithium  two reasons one cost  be ready to break the bank lithium  batteries are  going to be multiples of a conventional  flooded lead acid battery  but remember you're getting a lot more  so it's okay to pay more for that  battery  but realistically the second limitation  is probably the biggest one  and it is that actually putting lithium  on a boat  means that there's certain applications  about  related to the bms which is the battery  monitor system that's  on the battery or external to the  battery so that you don't have  situations of over  charging and that you don't have a  situation where the battery disconnects  itself  from the boat high-end manufacturers  of fire of basically lithium batteries  are going to have both  load and charging circuits on that  battery  so they'll be able to disconnect the  charging circuit but still have the  loads connected those bms's cost more  money  they're they're better but more  complicated and  people that are putting in drop-in  replacement for lithium  simply have one positive post on that  battery that means that if ever the  battery needs to protect  itself from overcharging an alternator  charging the battery at too high of a  voltage  what's going to happen is you're  actually going to lose the whole battery  meaning not only you're going to lose  its ability to charge but you're also  going to lose its ability to run loads  and i've had that happen on a few  instances this summer where boaters had  lithium batteries installed on their  boats  and literally while sailing because they  had a overcharging of the battery  they lost the whole battery bank so  drop-in replacement for lithium  have nice price points but they also  come with considerations  so do your homework lithium is not for  everyone  but it's certainly a very good choice  for the people that really require  a weight space or energy density  and also the number of cycles if you're  going to go out and you're going to be  using your boat every day and you're off  shore cruising for the next five or ten  years then certainly the benefits of  lithium are worth  exploring but like remember nothing is  easy on a boat  and do your homework with fluffy  thanks for watching this video if you've  got further questions that we didn't  answer please ask them below or go on  our website  and fill up one of the forms and we'll  get a chance to do so  support us to keep this channel ad free  by  donating via paypal or buying one of  these lovely hats  the links are below and lastly if you  haven't subscribed to  our channel please do so that way you'll  get the regular content  and in closing thanks for watching  you