Starting with Lithiums?!? What you need to know, and what it means for your WARRANTY!?!

Lithium batteries are all the rage lately, and for good reason. They produce clean consistent power for seemingly endless amounts of time! Well hitting the market recently is a flood of so called "Starting Lithium Batteries"

Miller tech has done it again and produced a Starting lithium battery that is above the rest!

In todays Video i will show you that Miller Techs Starting Lithium batteries will NOT void your Mercury Warranty and ill also show you what you need to know before investing into one of these batteries.

The battery shown in todays video can be seen and purchased here :

the smaller 65 AH starting battery can be found here:

[richardmajewski]

Thanks for sharing the information on these batteries. I have a bass boat and am aware of the issues that the weight of the batteries for my trolling motors have on my ability to navigate, maneuver and running in shallow water. This is independent of the starting battery. Could easily help me in all those areas.

[fishhead]

Thank you for sharing - glad to see you back in the game! I have an older 2 stroke Mercury 225 and am planning to replace batteries this year so that was timely! TY

[BUZZDAGEN]

The best customer service is one that is never needed. 🙂

[acme]

Seems to me that many anglers / boaters are convincing themselves of what they 'want' to hear, and tuning out what they don't.
It's obvious lithium is the future, however, this newer technology is being married-up to a long-established charging system (alternators), that weren't originally developed for Lithiums.
I'm sure all the outboard manufacturers are working to integrate their charging systems to be lithium friendly moving forward.
The inherent construction of lithiums is clearly more 'delicate' in nature as apposed to lead-acid / agm's, which 'potentially' could lead to more failures, especially in more rugged environments. AKA, a pounding boat.
And while I fully understand the draw of weight savings, fast charging, and full power begining-to-end with lithiums. . . . it should be made clear that this does come at a certain level of risk(s).

[chipandkamiuhde]

Any interest in video with vhf radio. Connected to Garmin? Curious about polling other boats with vhf for fishing with a buddy communicating location with each other automatically

[extrememiami]

Lithium Iron still can't be connected directly to an alternator or stator. This gives you the starting ability but it doesn't say if it solves the other issues that LiFePo4 have. If you connect any to an alternator is pulls out the peak amps the alternator produces and it overheats the alternator over time or it fries it after 15mins if the battery level was low. I have dozens of LiFePo4 batteries and you need to lower the amount of volts that is given to the battery so a voltage regulator or what I use is a 20Amp DC to DC charger. I use either renogy or Victron 30A charger which they call their 360watt charger. Neither are waterproof, victron is more water resistant though but much more expensive.
The next downside is that all lithium Iron batteries self destruct if you use them below freezing. They started adding a heater inside the case to solve this issue. The heating pad turns on first to heat the battery above 32 before allowing usage. This doesn't mention a built in heater, so I assume not.
Next downside is that lithoum batteries do not like vibration or being banged around. A lead battery is gel or liquid and metal plates. A lithium battery looks the same but inside it looks like a computer. There's little battery cells like C batteries then tons of wires, connections, clamps, and the BMS which is a circuit board. Not ideal for putting in a boat that smashes around.
Next is the added danger. I'm a member of a battery forum and we have an entire section just for melt downs and mistakes. Just because a manufacturer says they are safe doesn't change what they are. The batteries are usually 3 seperate banks combined. Each bank can discharge 100Amps if it fails. Technically if all 3 banks failed it could open 300 amps into your system or boat. That's highly unlikely BUT I read about single bank failures the time. That's why we add fuses and thick ga wire. Your alternator should have 2ga tinned copper wire. But what about a fuse? You'd need a 150amp fuse or breaker, yet starting wires are not fused wires because cranking amps can be high or have spikes in power. So now you have wither an unfused fire Hazzard or fused breaker that may keep tripping. If you do actually do this battery, please for the love of God add on direct terminal fuses. Every single wire that battery touches better have a fuse on it that's on or very very close to that battery!
My solution: Instead of a $1, 000 lithium starting battery, have a dedicated AGM or lead acid, then add a lithium house battery, a 100Ah Weize LiFePo4 is $329 connect the lithium to to lead battery by way of a DC-DC charger. A 20-40 amp is plenty, as outboard alternators put out far less than standard car alternators, 35A is a common size but some may be bigger.
Bottom line is Lithium batteries DO fail and when they do they shoot 100amps into any wire attached, in most cases this melts the wire which fuses to any other wires nearby, then the fire comes. Fuses cost a little before or a lot if you forget it's your choice.

[Lrayx]

Very important to remember if you have an older 2 stroke with a stator charging system you should only use lead acid batteries with those. Not an AGM or lithium, I have seen them catch on fire from using the wrong battery.

[TheYankmchain]

Just like buying an off the shelf battery charger, the charging SOURCE must be compliant with lithium battery chemistry. That bulletin does not state that Mercury's charging circuitry is LITHIUM COMPLIANT which it MUST BE.

[rickss]

BMS is the problem with alternators. If BMS shuts down the battery for any reason the alternator will spike and kill itself.

[patricklindahl]

What happens to the alternator when the lithium battery is fully charged and suddenly just switch it all off? The alternator has suddenly no load and will probably burn, unless you have a smart alternator, but they are not the common one.

[jeremymullins]

You failed to read the last part of right after will not void your warranty. I’ve had now two cases where mercury has denied warranty repairs because of lithium battery. So yes they won’t void your warranty but they can and still might deny warranty repairs because of lithium batteries. Mercury dealer owner here.

[OWK]

Interesting that that piece of paper said "lithium ion" batteries on it, not lithium iron phosphate (LifePO4). Weird, right? In any case, I would be more worried about the alternator over-charging and ruining the lithium battery, than the lithium ruining the engine. Well, I guess overcharging could actually trigger a fire, and that could ruin an engine, but LiFePO4 is less flammable than lithium ion. In any case, lithium hates being over charged: it is deadly to lithium, so that is really something the engineers of alternator charging systems are going to have to work out. There are going to have to be aftermarket solutions. It shouldn't be that hard to maintain a minimum of 12.6 volts to start the engine with, though, since lithium will hold a little higher volts than lead acid.

[DoubleTFishing]

Great video, would the voltage read out on my sonar be accurate enough for determining the alternator output at higher RPM? Does the BMS on those batteries limit charging current so it doesn’t overheat the alternator or would the external current limiter? Again thanks for sharing.

[larrybrown]

First off, love all of your videos! Second, didn't know you have a Lund :-) I have an Impact 1775 and love it. Any future video(s) on options for Lithium battery setup with Garmin Electronics? I have a full Garmin setup on my Lund and adding Livescope. thanks!

[jamestarpey]

All of this is great information, however this is my question or dilemma, if we agree that many of us in the boating community are excited about all the benefits of Lithium, and are very interested in spending several $100's or even $1000's in some cases. How come marine engine manufactures are not publicly posted specification, data and their official statements regarding the use of Lithium batteries with their engines. Considering the ongoing growing interests of the boating community engine manufactures that are able to support the use of Lithium would aggressively marketing this to the public as a strong selling point. Besides a hard copy, or secondhand Service Bulletin from engine manufactures there seems to be zero information out there.

[RealMitchRapp]

wanted your thoughts on 16V 19AH vs. 14.8VNMC 20AH vs. my current 12V 20AH, should I be chasing those higher voltage products because the give “sharper images”? … I run 93SV and LVS34/GLS10. Thanks, MG

[scarcheer]

Great video. New sub. Question, I have an onboard charger for my existing lead acid batteries. Is there a specific charger for lithium batteries, or do they use the same type charger?

[ronnilsen]

Do you have any tips for having a battery dedicated to run both of my Garmin 93sv on the console and how to wire them?

[danwagoner]

Ref; 4.6V Threshold ~ It seems logical to me that I could check the voltage being fed to my present starting battery before switching to MTECH Lithium. Am I correct in this assumption? Thanks

[shed]

Great videos, just got my 93vs. How do I show side image just on one side of the boat? Thanks