Modernizing our 44 Year Old Boat's House Battery System w/ Lithium

In this video Billy works on the boat's house battery bank and charging system. We are HUGE believers in Lithium batteries (with LiFePo chemistry) on our boats. There are SO many benefits even if we don't necessarily need weight savings on our heavy displacement trawler. In order to make sure our 600ah of Dakota Lithium are properly charged and maintained we also install some
high end charging components and wire everything together. Check out all of the components we used available from bit.ly/dakota_...
x3 200ah 12v Dakota Lithium Batteries
Victron Multiplus Compact charger/inverter
x2 Victron Orion Dc-Dc chargers
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[@michaelphilip3919]

As a heavy industrial electrician for over 45 years I am really impressed to see the neatness of your installation. Nice job

[@viltfjall]

Battery hooked up! First Sierra zooms out then just looks in love :)

[@BMcD79959]

There appears to be no limit to your talents and abilities Billy! Well done!

[@bos6782]

I become more and more impressed with your ingenuity each time I watch your videos. Your parents must be so proud..

[@2010willyz]

There is something very satisfying about doing electrical projects

[@rock.doctor]

Hay! Awesome to see Juho on the channel. Was kinda disappointed to not see you guys and/or Juho/ Sohvi on Ruth/Garrett channel. You guys were all at the same yard at the same time...

[@btrent9244]

Great job Billy & Sierra. Your trawler restoration is coming along nicely. Love seeing her come back to life. 👍👍👍

[@Stephan_01]

I’m impressed of all you have done up till now ❤❤🥰🥰

[@thebillbaker4793]

Damn! you are my hero. You make this project look easy and neat. Thanks for the good work and showing us how to do it right. Stay thirsty my friend

[@christip20]

That was great, I knew I recognized that voice! Alluring Artic is one of my favorites with him and Sophie having their adventures in the Snow & Ice. It’s really great how small the sailing world is now becoming & how much you connect besides helping each other in emergencies. I just wish both of you would put out more videos! LOL!❤

[@RiverWoods111]

It's a time issue. Editing takes a huge amount of time on top of building a boat or sailing a boat. I have edited videos before, and I can tell you it is a huge time investment. It is a full-time job on its own. I know we would all enjoy more videos, but I can't imagine filming, editing, and even uploading more than one a week. I know a few channels that manage too, but I also know they sacrifice sleep to do it. I mean as in staying up working till 3 am just to be able to get the videos out.

[@stevenclarue7802]

@@RiverWoods111 Understood. Which is why some channels hire outside people to edit. (Big example would be Nerea who edits for Zingaro) And having one of the best videographers in the biz like Jordan gives SV Delos a leg up with their content. Expedition Drenched really tanked content wise when she left the boat. Sierra is so vibrant and original especially with her instagram posts. The camera just loves her. She and Billy are such a strong couple. It really comes across in their episodes. Can’t wait to see them start sailing again.

[@RiverWoods111]

@@stevenclarue7802 I totally get what you're saying but remember that editors can be expensive! I realize I am also an animator, but even if I wasn't it would cost quite a bit for a channel to hire me. Oh, I hope Jordan stays with Delos! You are right about expedition drenched too. She is so good at what she does, and Delos can sure use an extra hand on board with Sierra. Delos has a few people who help with editing. I want to start a channel myself, and even though I am good in the editing department, I would want to hire someone, so I don't have to be a work-aholic! LOL! I am sure that the reason these two have not hired someone yet is because they are refitting a boat and making payments for a brand-new boat. I didn't realize before this that the payments start when they make the deposit or at least they do with some manufactures! Talk about so unfortunate to have a pandemic hit. Now because of the delays it may have delayed some payments starting till the boat could start. I can't wait till they get their new boat either. I love the boat work, but it will be cool to see them leave the dock. I am glad that they bought this boat though because they are a boat channel.

[@t00lshack]

Wow cross over with Alluring Artic!!

[@MegaTriumph1]

You were really going at the end talking about 120 amp alternators always enjoy your solar expertise.

[@nena4215]

Wow, Alluring Artic, talk about an athlete, he’s on another level, I think the only channel that does what he does, amazing!!!!

[@mandmmilling3716]

When you parallel batteries, its better to hook every battery up to a busbar using equal length battery cables to each battery. Running different length battery cables changes the resistance and discharges the batteries at different speeds. Basically, the battery with least resistance will be forced to carry more of the load first. The okellys sailing channel did a good video on this subject.

[@stevenclarue7802]

The bus bar is a good idea Billy. Dan from Sailing Uma set his lit batteries just that way. I know the boat is gone but maybe you can pass it along to the new owners.

[@kyleinman8017]

Looks so good. Love that Sierra is down there checking out your work and appreciates what you accomplished.

[@tedboender]

Well done! One thing. I highly highly highly recommend a T Class Fuse in place of that ANL fuse. With lithium you’ll need quicker interrupt abilities. 👍🏻

[@appsfamilyadventures238]

When connecting batteries in parallel you should make sure positive and negative cables don’t cross each other for the risk of sorting out and causing a fire

[@UnyieldingSeraph]

I was thinking the same thing

[@qno-oj3py]

Yes indeed. Just put them on the other side. No need to change the length or anything. Also the pickup point to the busbar would be better if you used the battery the closest to the busbar. Shorter length=less resistance= less losses in the cable 😜.

[@3bikesfly]

I love the guest appearance. So cool to see you guys helping each other out.

[@theabsolutetruth2024]

This was a fantastic video! Very educational. Thanks for sharing!

[@flyskinnyfly]

Alluring Artic Sailing, thought I Recognized them

[@80884bpresley]

Great job guys!!! She's looking so good!

[@joelw2023]

Looking good Bill.

[@davidgriffin14]

I can't believe y'all met him. I watch his videos too.

[@assassinlexx1993]

When you get a chance. Apply Penetrox to all the battery connections. This will stop corrosion from salt air etc. This stuff is great for crimped connections . As salt water can't get in to rot of the wire. Last as you well know label everything. Make a master wiring plan. Great job for both of you.

[@bdphourde]

These are all nicely done sub-projects! Not too much longer before we get go trawlering with you! Can't wait to see you try to negotiate the Deception Pass at a max flooding tide!

[@1960livvy]

Hi there - I'm no expert either but I wouldn't have crossed the red & black wires on the batteries, I would probably have routed them outside of the batteries at the back to prevent any chaffing / shorting out over time - Great videos and keep them coming

[@cinfulrn]

I'm so impressed with the trawler transformation. Love your work and your way of life!

[@BoatingJourney]

We still can't believe you arrived to the PNW as we left for Florida! What an amazing job you did giving her some much need TLC! We're so glad you got to explore our favorite cruising grounds. HOpefully our paths will cross soon. Cheers!

[@jeffreyvanderklip6769]

Just a word of caution, please install some extra insulation where the positive and negative wires touch the angle iron. The vibration could cut the insulation and short out the wires resulting in a fire.

[@Cturnerwrite]

Never ceases to amaze me! This has to be my favorite series that you have shared. The others have been fabulous, and I have been following you for years, but this is so unique and spectacular. All the best to you!!! Cheers

[@ianmcinnes9398]

Gr8 job on the install of the batteries and the vessel is looking good. The only thing I would have done differently (because it's how I was taught) would be to use busbars to connect the batteries to each other. This reduces the problem of multiple connectors (lugs) attached to the poles. Multiple lugs can cause what us sparkies call Hot Spots which raise the resistance and can lead to reduced life span.

[@bradleyrupska4988]

I agree with you Ian! Also, if connected like that, I would use equal length cables to the bus bars! I would also use nolox on each connection!!!

[@steinjohansen3142]

Nice to see Juho from Alluring Arctic in your vlog. He and Sohvi are real Vikings! ;-)

[@Charlus75]

You can tell your friend that, as he did mesure 45 feet the length of it's Garcia, then it is a Garcia 46 ! All french manufacturer use (and used) to add one foot to the real length of there boat inorder to name them (it's a marketing thing they say). So without a doubt "Garcia 46" ! 😆

[@chrisshields1775]

Great to see your visitor! I foolow then too From the UK They have beautiful films on their previous boat well worth looking at.

[@michaelwharton5382]

Well done

[@darkerbrother1]

Billy let your friend know that the reason we dont use tin boats on the East Coast is because of Hurricane Season. As a general rule from the MidAtlantic south. We have lightning storms almost everyday. Not alot of fun in a tin boat.

[@stevenclarue7802]

18:03 Cool jazz

[@williamkhatchell620]

Looks really good, I would have added a couple 400w solar cells to help when traveling but may not need it. Guess that is something you could add later if needed. Great job you two!

[@chuckmaurice3646]

Both of you have updated this boat to what it is today, Great job.

[@jimbranch7312]

This still seems past me. I can only claim senior moment. I do enjoy watching you two on this trawler. It has come so far. Great work.

[@Rugsadventures]

Absolutely amazing job 👌

[@Rodrifuuu]

Oh, special guest! Haven't seen them since they filmed their new boat! I am sure you guys get along! You should see their ski videos!

[@dinghyride]

Looking good guys! Fun project!

[@noelmcgarry456]

Great feedback and installation with exposure to all that sunlight you'll need some solar panels even fold out type as a back up

[@michaelbrown81]

I'm doing that project ..You did gr8. Captain billy..🥇

[@stevesolo1512]

You two are good at what you do. I'm sure Billy has to put the disclaimer out there just to cover himself. I for one would have zero hesitation doing my stuff just like Billy did and I'm a licensed Journeyman.

[@roydenvickers]

Great episode.

[@Natsmodels56]

Fantastic I follow you both on KZbin xx 😀

[@michaelcanto6175]

Huge leap in to High Level Independence and Redundancy! Congrats!!

[@GlennHolden]

Good job Billy. One quick comment on your wiring. With 3 batteries in parallel, you should connect your positive and negative lines to the center battery. As you have it now, one battery is the farthest from the main wire, which means current has to traverse two jumpers before reaching that wire. The center battery will have to supply current through one jumper. Every jumper has resistance loss, so the battery farthest from the main connection will see more loss than the battery in the middle, which sees more loss than the battery with the main connection. The easy fix is to move your main positive & negative leads to the center battery. This will best minimize the resistivity losses, which may seem nominal, but can amount to a significant imbalance at very high current loads.

[@waterboy8999]

And would you use tef gel on the connectors rather than dry?

[@GlennHolden]

@@waterboy8999 The tef gel would certainly help prevent corrosion.

[@dinghyride]

I believe he wired the negative to the closest battery and the positive to the furthest battery. That is the correct procedure. Each battery is the same number of connections away from the supply and return wire. That is the right way according to ABYC as far as I am aware.

[@chrissummers2689]

I would have reversed the negative cable curves to avoid running them under the positive cables on the batteries. Minimize wearing through the insulation. Nice work.

[@Mars_Life_and_Beings]

Great tunes.

[@Brycereeves]

Your wiring and setup turned out great!

[@jonathanconaway9487]

I have a bunch of Victron gear, works great on Mac. They have iOS and MacOS versions of everything they make. Hit me up if you have questions, I am 100% off grid with my cabin and RV with all Victron gear. Your setup looks great, don’t expect it to be like those crazy fancy setups that people pay a TON of money for people to make

[@dcallan812]

They spent a long time in Iceland with some beautiful videos in the snow

[@edgarmuller6652]

Good to see you both working together.

[@FunsongsMusicByPeterRahill]

29th desktop shipmate LIKE and 49th view... 22:50 - all tidy'd up, the space looks much more 'ship-shape'. Looking forward to seeing y'all back out on the water.

[@davebrown4293]

you can do some configuration with the cerbo - but not the deeper level programming you need the MK3 for. Great video guys - boat is looking awesome! nice install Billy.

[@jasongrinnell1986]

Lol, I can explain everything to my wife as you did and she would say…… So what you are saying is you can get it to work. You did great job on the installation Billy.

[@CarlBryant-kn5jd]

Excellent choice with the Victron you will love it. Don't forget you need to separate any of the AC neutrals being ran by the inverter. Otherwise when you get to a dock with GFCI breakers they will trip right away and have zero shore power. Your other choice is installing an isolating transformer. Most docks in the PNW are switching over to GFCI breakers by code. It's a PITA but, it needs to be done, trust me been there done that.

[@bigwallyhdfb]

Boat is awesome your work is great on the whole boat

[@jamesrhodes6462]

Great Job.

[@youknowme8578]

Great job kid, you did it! Also smart of you making a cover for the batteries.👍

[@45searay]

Good Job !

[@P4ddyC4ke]

My only comment would be to label both ends of the wires as you put things in for the next owner to know what goes where. In my AV systems I use a format of a split label and I give what the wire connects to "here" on top, and then where it came from on the bottom using a label maker.

[@William_Hada]

Great job on this installation!

[@JohnSmith-gb5vg]

That’s a cool-setup😊

[@TheMorganMonroeShow]

Epic dude.

[@davidsteben5953]

You guys are great unbelievable job

[@ryanaaker1013]

Awesome! Very informative. Thanks

[@tailher1]

Dielectric grease. Look it up. Could save u a ton of headaches down the road.

[@VonBluesman]

As long as it is taking to build your new catamaran, I wonder if when you take delivery if you could list it yourself before you title it and make $100,000 - $150,000 profit off of some rich impatient buyer that has more money than time.

[@johnbailey2039]

I love how on the other boating channels I see them bust out the expensive hydraulic crimpers. Billy, just a hammer.

[@christip20]

Look closely…..

[@waterboy8999]

They are not expensive and are much more precise than the hammer tool

[@hnt4fsh]

I have no advice just love the 2 of you and your vids....keep on living your best life!👊

[@bobjones8864]

Good job Billy. What you made look fairly easy would have made my head explode. Let’s get motoring.

[@yardarm5]

❤ the Vice grip garage legal rip 😂

[@meandmybuddy964]

Alluring arctic they are going to fix that sailboat and sail through the northwest passage back home

[@stinker43]

Sounds very similar to mine, except I have only one Ford Lehman, and I pulled the diesel generator when it seized up after ~40 years. Now I get charge from solar and shore power. You ought to come to Stockton Sailing Club before you leave the Bay Area.

[@martinkrooshof8844]

Hi Heads up, your next gen generator has a two pole 3600 rpm generator head. It might throw a hissy fit with your charger inverter. Love watching you two.

[@martinkrooshof8844]

Forgot to tell you why. Two pole generators like yours have a real dirty sine wave unlike a 1800 rpm 4 pole generator

[@Tulasendlesssummer]

Aaah yes we did run into that. We had to change a setting in the victron program to allow for the “dirty” energy coming in. I think we sacrifice a few charging amps but everything still works great

[@egreens8512]

Kewl, you got good neighbors from the North in marina, Juho is bad ass, skiing and kiting in arctic from boat, excellent video he produces, very excited for all of yooz, yee haw!

[@bobbates7343]

I would install an automatic fire extinguisher or at least one that can be set off from outside the room . Perhaps from a couple different place on the boat

[@billyrusk5645]

Its so cool that 2 of the channels I watch hooked up !!! LOVE IT

[@todddunn945]

Nice set up. I would have done one thing differently. That is parallel the batteries by wiring then to a busbar taking care to make all the cables from the batteries to the bus bar the same length. Then making all other connections at the busbar. That method has two advantages. One it guarantees that all the batteries charge/discharge equally and (two) it means you only have one wire connected to each battery terminal. The downside is that it does take a bit more expensive wire.

[@stephenoshaughnessy2279]

I believe Mac has the capacity to run a virtual machine. It's typically a built-in feature. If not built-in, you can download the software. Virtual machines allow you to run a different operating system (or computer) on your primary computer.

[@toneyhays6970]

Nice work on the system. With the costs of diesel and electricity costs getting higher almost every day, you might want to consider adding solar sooner rather than later.

[@glaerup]

The two of you should try to visit Norway in the summertime, sailing along our beautiful coastline. Experiencing the midnight sun and the incredible nature. Its truly a remarkable experience. Full of admiration for the jobs you have started and finished while renowating the boat. Love your vlog

[@pammager7135]

Billy , you have so much knowledge about electrical repair! Didn't understand anything you were taking about? Your boat is looking better and better! Are you and Sierra ever going back to Florida and sailing south? Best Wishes you three!

[@swimmingbird243]

Well damn dude that room is looking so great!

[@galegregory341]

Wow you might have not done yourself this time the engine room looks superb it is clean it is bright if you drop a pin I'm sure you can find it in there good luck with the new batteries I'm definitely thinking about doing my own batteries have a great day guys

[@thomaszehe8504]

Didn’t know that you guys staying next to each other. Great project - would love finding an similar boat like the Garcia - the both are doing. Your trawler is for sure a sweet living a board too but … until your next sail beauty will be ready. 😉

[@TracyGolden]

I have been using yellow on the boat for the - negative wires on DC . As with 120 AC has a Black and can have negative consequence . Nice job .

[@donhappel9566]

That is the current standard but you will still find lots of black DC negative even OEM equipment.

[@ThoughtfulWander]

Nice job, Billy and Team Tula! Keep rolling along! 👍👍

[@shanecoite3292]

I like the rope for the chair rail trim on the walls. Nice touch boat is outstanding. Keep up the great work.

[@leztog]

Very clean setup!

[@ChasB2010]

Good job!

[@wadeshore]

Nice work. What a surprise to see Juho , so many of my favorite KZbins in the Napa area.

[@markscott358]

It's nice to impress your partner. Dude keep on going. 😂

[@kenminkoff3855]

As usual, nice work you trio. I wish we could have crossed paths when you were up in the Gulf island area. Because you inspired me back when you were getting started together, I am now on a former vendee globe boat in Fiji helping the skipper/ owners get her ready to sail either to Hong Kong or New Zealand.

[@MaMa-st2eg]

You did a great job!!!!! I agree 100 percent with your reasoning on the design of the system....If you need you can always add components. So impressed with your work so far......Beautiful boat, just needed some live and attention.

[@donnakawana]

It's looking great!! Man you sis a great job setting this up. I mean I watch Captain Rick on sophisticated lady. He really has taught me much on this subject.. that room looks so great.. Everything you've both don is brilliant... Oh it was great to see my favorite cold water sailors .. small world... Never judge yourself by what others show.. a picture is but a picture.. your grit an brilliance shines on. .