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slo0079 avatar image
slo0079 asked

Please critique proposed lithium set up on vessel for 230v AC water maker

I currently have

  • 2x 245w solar panels at 30v/6a each
  • Victron Energy 100/30 mppt
  • Sterling 12v/80a charger
  • 4x 120ah AGM batteries
  • Victron Phoenix Inverter Compact 12/2000

I need 1250w continuous and 2000w peak for a 230v AC water maker every 3 days for one hour. The Phoenix spec is maxed out at 1600w (peak 3000w). I'm worried I'm going to kill it. Is this a valid concern?

The plan is to add:

  • Victron Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC Charger Isolated 12v/12v 18a
  • 2x Redodo LiFePO4 100Ah Plus Battery 12v, or 1x 200Ah 12v (150a max discharge)
  • Giandel Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter 3000w 12v

Will this work?

My worries are:

- Amp draw is too high and I need 24v system

- 200ah is not enough


I looked at the Victron Lithium batteries but the separate BMS makes a system very complicated.


Lithium BatteryPhoenix Inverterinverter current draw
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ingo21 avatar image ingo21 commented ·
is your plan to run only the watermaker from the new added things ? if so i would go 24V for the lower amp draw. and maybe 2x 200 ah lifepo in series for 24V

with 24v inverter.


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Robert avatar image
Robert answered ·

Hello, why you think an external BMS is complicated?

200Ah is not soooo much for an 3000W Inverter.

Where's the charge comming from?

Why you want add an Inverter instead of upgrade the one what you have and connect both batteriebanks (every 3 days when you need "more" amps in a short time) with an Cyrix Relais or an manual switch for example?

The charge the lithium bank the Orion is a good way.

Best regards Robert


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slo0079 avatar image
slo0079 answered ·

Hello Robert,

I like your idea of running both banks off the same charger with the Cyrix Relais. I'm slightly confused how it will work in practice.

  • I have the Solar 100/30 MPPT and 80a alternator as sources into the Sterling charger;
  1. Does the Cyrix go between charger and both battery banks?
  2. Can it be programmed to prioritise the service bank?
  3. The datasheet states the unit "disconnects when the voltage decreases below float level (indicating that one or both batteries are being discharged)." However, that prevents the battery from recharging from the motor?
  4. Does the unit work with separate battery technology? One bank is AGM and the other is Lithium.
  5. What if one bank is 12v and one is 24v?

I also like the idea of replacing the existing inverter with a beefer one. That would save some space.

I can see 300Ah would help. But the battery is huge, so would need to be 2x 200Ah to hide them.

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Dosheimer avatar image
Dosheimer answered ·

if you are using the watermaker mainly offshore (from battery) I would definitively go to a lithium battery setting. Also in case of not using a generator when running the watermaker a 12V or 24V watermaker could make sense instead of a 230V one. The 12V or 24V watermakers consume significantly less energy for models with the same fresh water output per hour. That was the reason why I finally decided for a 60L/12V watermaker on my cruising sailing yacht together with a 330Ah lithium battery (together with 800W solar and a 12V wind generator).. A BMS setup is not complicate at all.
I only would use a 230V watermaker in connection with a generator or a strong alternator (like i.e. Balmar).

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Dosheimer avatar image
Dosheimer answered ·

Enclosed my system overview just in case it could be of use for you,ARGO-schematic-energy-system-overview.pdf


argo-schematic-energy-system-overview.pdf (604.2 KiB)
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