445 house bank replacement
Printed From: myHanse.com
Category: Hints & Tips
Forum Name: 445/455/458
Forum Description: 445/455/458 Hints, Tips and News
URL: https://www.myhanse.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=13743
Printed Date: 27 March 2026 at 05:01
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.06 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: 445 house bank replacement
Posted By: OptiMystic
Subject: 445 house bank replacement
Date Posted: 09 November 2022 at 01:33
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I need to replace my house bank of two Victron 160 amp agm batteries. Has anyone modified the battery box to fit new batteries? My tech thinks that changing batteries to another brand would be very difficult as the box was made to house the batteries. I would like to upgrade but the space appears to be an obstacle. |
Replies:
Posted By: G8WVW
Date Posted: 09 November 2022 at 16:05
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Hi, Sure there are lots options. Guess it just depends how big your budget and ambition. Easy option of course is just to replace like-for-like but those Victron AGM batteries are not cheap! We replaced 2x 165Ah Victrons (useable capacity about have that) with 600Ah Winston Lithium (measured at 751Ah) giving 4-5 times real-world increase in capacity. It was however a VERY major upgrade. Battery box was cut out to be replaced with new very slightly larger box and lots of other upgrades required. Cheers. ------------- Andrea & Ian Aboard SV Gabrielle (H445 #164) Portishead, SW England. |
Posted By: astarte
Date Posted: 09 November 2022 at 17:29
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Hi, I am currently changing to lithium. I bought eight 3.2 V, 280 Ah cells. That will give me 560Ah when coupled together. Together they will occupy 30 x 35 cm and fit into the original battery box under the cabin seat as the old batteries did. I am doing all myself, and after some studying it doesn’t seems that complicated. Compared to buying drop-in batteries it will be less than half of the cost and I think I get a better solution. ------------- Kristoffer Hanse 370e #412 |
Posted By: Wayne's World
Date Posted: 09 November 2022 at 22:59
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It seems insurance companies are getting interested in whether Lithium installations are professionally done. It seems they are concerned about fires cause by "some" installations. Our insurance company asked the question of us - do you have a lithium battery installation and if yes, was it professionally installed. I guess their inferance is that a fire caused by a bad installation would not be covered. ------------- Wayne W Cruising, currently in the Pacific until the end of 2026. |
Posted By: G8WVW
Date Posted: 10 November 2022 at 19:03
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Having implemented many significant upgrades to our 445 over last three years, I wanted to ensure no quibbling should we make an insurance claim recognising value of additional equipment and particularly lithium battery risk so declared all in a two-page statement at last renewal expecting questions around lithium battery install and an increase in premium. The statement including lithium battery risk was accepted within terms/price. This is a UK vessel in UK waters with a UK insurer. Guess insurers in other regions may have a different approach but suggest honesty/dialogue is essential to avoid any future claim being rejected. Having seen dodgy lithium upgrades on YouTube and 'expert' advice on many forums, if I was an insurer, I'd be very cautious of insuring lithium battery systems! ------------- Andrea & Ian Aboard SV Gabrielle (H445 #164) Portishead, SW England. |
Posted By: OptiMystic
Date Posted: 16 November 2022 at 05:15
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Thanks for the comments. I decided to go lithium and selected the Victron 200 amp. We will have three installed with a new Victron monitor. It looks like they will fit in the existing box. Cheers
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Posted By: OptiMystic
Date Posted: 26 January 2023 at 21:18
| All done with the installation and it turned out beautifully. We went with full Victron components and a wakespeed external regulator and reconfigured alternator. 3 200 amp hour batteries. This is up from the 2 7 year old Victron 160 amp agm. All fit where the old system was. |
Posted By: Ian Coverdale
Date Posted: 27 January 2023 at 10:46
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We also have 600Ah aboard a 445. You will certainly notice that extra capacity! Cheers. ------------- Ian & Andrea SV Gabrielle (H445) Liveaboards - currently Montenegro. www.facebook.com/sailinggabrielle |
Posted By: Jbazwin
Date Posted: 01 March 2023 at 00:11
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Hi there, would you mind sending photos of the Victron system 3x200AH batteries? Looking at doing the same Thanks
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Posted By: 32mike
Date Posted: 01 March 2023 at 16:23
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I’d be interested in seeing pictures of that new battery install as well. I’m swapping the original batteries for new Victron AGM’s of the same size - just didn’t want to spend all the extra money on the lithium upgrade at the moment. It seemed to me, however, that the battery box, as is, didn’t have enough room for much else. It’s pretty tightly fitted for the AGM’S. ------------- Mike S/V Dulces Sueños 458 #087 Tampa, FL |
Posted By: spam
Date Posted: 01 March 2023 at 16:43
| Would love to see some pictures and details on what you installed |
Posted By: OptiMystic
Date Posted: 08 March 2023 at 21:42
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Posted By: OptiMystic
Date Posted: 09 March 2023 at 03:03
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Posted By: marsella
Date Posted: 21 March 2023 at 23:40
Victron 200Ah LFPOs fit into original compartment, but it also fits into compartment next to it, my original AGMs are still almost new but 320Ah is not a lot for power hungry inverters, so I added 3x200Ah LFPOs as a secondary bank, here is the pic |
Posted By: 32mike
Date Posted: 22 March 2023 at 00:17
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Thanks for the pictures kids. Couple questions if you have time: 1) Those are Victron Smart 200ah batteries that need a separate BMS, correct? 2) Marsella, that’s a good size battery bank(s). Are you listing to port a little? I ended up just swapping the two original factory batteries with two Victron 165ah AGM’s. It was minimal work and the least cost. I just bought a Code 0 and a furler so, cost was an issue. If anybody’s wondering, here’s a picture of the originals - Quick’s. They only lasted 3 years for me.  ------------- Mike S/V Dulces Sueños 458 #087 Tampa, FL |
Posted By: marsella
Date Posted: 22 March 2023 at 01:37
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I got victron 200Ahx3 LFPOs that are managed by Victron Lynx 500. Its pricy unit but links to Victron Cerbo which I already had with my solar so they communicate nicely. If I need to switch to AGMs I basically do nothing as long as LFPOs are happy they send this signal to BMS. But there is also a simple way to bypass BMS by shorting its IN and OUT according to the victron manual. Just need an extra victron bms cable for that. I am only concerned with my setup that VHF and bilge pump is now controlled by victron, which is NOT a good idea if you have an emergency. I will implement a bypass for this load at some point. For the weight: Marsella got 3 AC units and heavy Zen 100 watermaker on starboard so I think we are balanced now. I was also thinking to get aonther two AGMs to improve the capacity, it would be very easy solution since the compartment next to Hanse battery bank would just fit those. Unfortunately, Marsella lives in Antigua and its a major headache to ship anything there and I really neeeded a long term solution for electricity.
Here is the pic where Lynx 500 is visible between the two banks but I got some more pics on my insta here https://www.instagram.com/p/CqEqWN6uWVL/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=  |
Posted By: OptiMystic
Date Posted: 03 April 2023 at 02:16
| I used the full suite of Victron chargers,bms etc for the lithium build. Everything I read said this was best. The changes included a wakespeed alternator controller and an upgraded alternator. Essentially all the charging components were replaced. It all works great. |
Posted By: Alex75
Date Posted: 03 April 2023 at 07:24
 
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Posted By: Etre Jeune
Date Posted: 20 April 2023 at 09:06
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Yea, i would love to see the battery upgrade too, 600 amps would be awesome, I’m using 2 x 160 AGM currently with 850 watts of solar, its ok for now, but the lithium upgrade is a future Thought ------------- R Stock |