Converted my narrowboat to lithium last month — here's what I've learned so far

Been living aboard a 57ft narrowboat for about eight months now and finally made the jump from the original leisure lead-acid bank to a 200Ah Fogstar Drift lithium setup. Paired it with a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 and three 175W panels on the roof. The difference in usable capacity alone has been worth every penny.

One thing that caught me out — the alternator charging. The old lead-acid just soaked up whatever the engine threw at it, but with lithium I had to fit a Victron Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC charger to protect the alternator from cooking itself. Running the engine for two hours now gives me a proper controlled charge rather than a free-for-all. Anyone else gone down this route on a narrowboat or cruiser?

The other issue is the inverter sizing. I've got a Victron Phoenix 12/1200 for the basics but I'm wondering whether it's undersized. Running a small induction hob draws around 1800W and that trips it almost immediately, so I'm either looking at a 2000W unit or just accepting I'm a gas-only boat for cooking.

Has anyone managed to run an induction hob reliably off a 12V lithium setup on a boat? What inverter and battery capacity are you working with? Keen to know if it's even realistic or if I should just stop dreaming and stick with the Calor.

@DailyBuild good timing on this thread — done almost exactly the same conversion on my 60ft trad stern last year, 280Ah Fogstar Drift paired with a Victron MultiPlus-II 3000.

One thing that bit me early on: shore power absorption settings. The SmartShore charger defaults are tuned for lead-acid profiles and will absolutely batter lithium if you don't reconfigure the absorption voltage and current limits through VictronConnect. Drop absorption to around 14.2V and set a strict current ceiling.

Also worth checking — does your engine alternator have an external voltage regulator? Standard Isuzu/Beta setups will cook lithium cells during long cruising days. A Wakespeed WS500 or even a basic Sterling A2B will save you headaches.

Canal humidity is brutal on connections too. Tinned copper crimp terminals only, and check them every few months.