blackrose

Yes, that's exactly what I do. Mind you, I used to do the same thing with my old Trojan lead/acid batteries, even when they were down as low as 12.3v. Never had any problem starting the Webasto Thermotop C. As I've said before, I think the whole "vehicle spec diesel heaters shouldn't be on boats" mantra may be a bit overblown. Since you shouldn't be taking LA batteries below 12.2v anyway, is keeping them above 12.3v such a great difficulty?

Yes, there are many benefits to LFPs over LAs including the longer cyclic lifespan and enduring capacity as you've said. I'm sure if you work it out over say a 10 year lifespan, lithium batteries will be cheaper than the equivalent LAs, even with the extras for installation. The other benefits: Charging itself is more or less linear, so no drop in amps accepted by the batteries as they charge. For the user there's no need to charge to 100% SOC which is always such a bane of LA battery charging because of the reduced current going into the batteries as they get charged and which accounts for a lot of fuel wastage if stationary charging in winter with an engine or generator. At the other end you don't need to start charging at 50% SOC and can safely discharge until 20%. And because the LiFePo4 voltage range is higher, even at 20% SOC battery voltage will be around 12.8v so all your 12v onboard equipment just works better.

Yes, me too. Once I moved to a new mooring without shore power Lithium made perfect sense. For off-grid liveaboards lithium batteries are a no-er.

That was my original thought too, but then I thought perhaps lithium batteries aren't suitable for everyone in all situations, and even though LiFePo4 batteries can now be bought as cheaply (or even cheaper) than the equivalent lead/acid batteries, the installation is more complicated and expensive. Have you seen the latest Fogstar Drift deals? 12V 628Ah Lithium Leisure Battery | Fogstar Drift £1.27/Ah is cheaper than a lot of lead/acid or AGM batteries

So what did you do with the 3 lithium batteries you bought?

1.69 kWh generated today with 910w of panels. These sunny winter days might not happen that often, but they happen often enough to make being able to angle one's panels worthwhile.

Agreed. It's each individual's choice whether to stay or go. Plenty of people have left the forum over the years and never returned while many new members have joined. That's the natural circle of life, so you'll never see me pleading for anyone to stay. It sounds like the political forum might have left some residual bitterness, but again getting involved in those arguments is an individual choice, opinions are diverse and it always takes two (or more!) to tango. Anyway, take care at sea!

Alan is however correct in his response to this point. Even the most positive & optimistic surveyor would never include the thickness of the original steel which has been overplated. It was too thin in the first place which is why it was overplated, so only the new plating is measured and quoted. The remaining original steel behind shouldn't count in anyone's estimation.

I don't understand this either. Surely the job of the set screw isn't to conduct the current path, it simply clamps the ring terminals to the the battery terminal. Ok I see. I'll be fine with slightly longer bolts. There are no hex terminals on my batteries Yes, correct. I will use the recommended torque settings I use a spring washer under the bolt head and a flat washer under the spring washer.

10cm? Diameter? What sort of ship is this? I think the long copper pipe from my tank to filter is 6mm copper (OD). Then I used 5mm (ID) flexible fuelhose to the pump and heater because that was the smallest dia I could find. It works fine. As long as the final hose or pipe to the heater is small bore I don't see why upstream pipe diameter would matter. I'd also be looking at how you got diesel bug in your tank in the first place? I'd have thought white diesel from a garage was less likely to be contaminated than red but I might be wrong.

Sounds like a case of BAAAAD seamanship!

I can't quite picture it Julian, but surely washers don't make the connection to a terminal or bus bar, the connection is made by the ring terminal itself and the washer and nut above just apply the pressure? I guess I haven't understood what you mean.

Yes I have a couple of extra connections on two of the battery posts, not enough to warrant another bus bar when it should be easy enough to use longer M8 bolts and a couple of washers.