OPzV 2 volt gel cell batterysystem

South Pacific Familyadventure 2008
Claes Brodin
Mon 13 Feb 2023 10:21
The sercvicebatterysystem on Dora Mac is 24volt which consists of 12 pieces of OPzV 2 volt gel cell batteries connected in series with 600Ah.
This batterysystem has served extremely well and having a servicefree lifespan of 15-20 years outruns any Lithium battery alternative in terms of longevity and therefore also from an economical perspective(Mercedes got loads of suggestions to switch over to Lithium on FB,therefore the explanation).
Moreover some systems installed on Dora Mac are not compatible with Lithium batteries,for example the Sleipner bowthruster,and the whole Victron inverter/charger system is programmed for gel cell batterysystem.
Upon return to Dora Mac shore power was working (it had been out of service for unknown amount of time rectified by marinastaff) on floatcharge but when manouvering to another mooringsite in the marina the bowthruster shut down the whole system showing 7 volts on the 24volt system and all 24 volt equipment shut down !
That´s when we noticed the Balmar 140A alternator was not charging either.
When measuring the batterycells 4 cells out of 12 had bad values (below 2,0volt) and the decision was to replace all cells for new (they have 17 years on them).
Spanish Masterbattery had OPzV/600ah in stock and 12 new pieces have been ordered to a price of 249Euros/piece+VAT and delivery(400Eu to Sardinia).
In the meantime we survive on shorepower as well as generator at anchor and batteries are expected Arbatax/Sardinia March 9.
To replace them is hard fysical work since each piece has a weight of 50kg meaning over 1/2 ton for the whole batterysystem.
Well taken care of they will hopefully survive another 20 years.

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