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e34-2 electrical upgrade/lithium

phildogginit

Member II
Hi
I'm wondering how other e34-2 owners upgraded their electrical systems including batteries. Where and what kind of batteries did you install and where did you install the various other devices. BMS, chargers, etc.

Thanks
Phil
 

AlanO

Member II
I'm working on the electrical upgrade for my 38-200: lithium house batteries, inverter/charger, ELCI, galvanic isolator, solar charger, cabling, etc.. I went with Dakota Lithium (https://dakotalithium.com/) for most of the items. They make the batteries, but they are also a vendor for Victron devices and have a couple of different bundles to choose from or buy a la carte. Other outfit I looked at was Battleborn batteries. My plan is to put most of the devices and batteries in the starboard cockpit locker. I'm not familiar with the layout of the 34-2, so no ideas from me on that front. The batteries each have a BMS built in. I ended up getting more smaller batteries (4 x 54Ah to start out) to fit the space available and provide flexibility for expanding the size of the bank because it is not desirable to mix battery sizes. I have come to the conclusion that it is just as important to think about how much daily recharge is available or needed as the size of the bank. There are essentially five sources of recharge: alternator, solar, wind generator, shore power, and/or fuel cell. Gas or diesel generators are probably not very practical for our boat sizes. Ideally, you want to recharge as much as you use in a day or over the course of a couple of days depending on how you plan to use your boat. I think of the battery bank as a load balancer between use and recharge. I will probably also need to expand solar capacity and consider a wind generator for the off-grid cruising I would like to do eventually.

I developed a conceptual plan and then hired an electrician for an electrical audit and review of my plan. He provided many ideas that I incorporated into the plan and pointed out some issues I should take care off during the refit and to put on the to do list for later. When I am close to finishing the install I plan to have him come and inspect my work.

Good luck. I'm having a great learning experience with our refit.

Alan
 

phildogginit

Member II
Thank for the info. I will probably go with victron products as I've begun down that road. The e34-2 battery box can hold 2 group-31 size batteries and is 25 cm deep. The victron 160 Ah and 200 Ah batteries are 23.7 cm deep and want 2 cm of clearance for heat dissipation... wondering if anyone has done this.
 
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