Private Boat Owners
Lithium Battery Safety for Private Boats
Practical fire safety for e-foils, drones, house banks, and the other lithium packs that live on a pleasure craft. How to store them, how to charge them, and what to do if one goes bad at sea.
Why Private Boat Owners Need To Think About This
Ten years ago the only lithium on a day boat was a phone. Today, the average 8 to 15 metre pleasure craft in Malta is carrying an e-foil pack, a drone or two, a portable power bank, and often a LiFePO4 house battery swapped in during the last refit. That adds up fast, and it sits in places you don't want a fire.
This page is for you if you own the boat. It isn't a compliance plan. It's a practical run-through of what to look out for, where to put your batteries, and what the Raclan Box actually does when things go wrong.
- E-foil and jetboard packs are typically 1 to 3 kWh each, more than enough energy to ignite a cockpit locker
- Drone batteries are small, but owners usually carry three to six of them in one case, so the total energy is significant
- LiFePO4 house banks are safer chemistry than NMC, but the chargers, BMS, and wiring around them still fail
- Most recreational lithium fires start while charging unattended, overnight, or during a crossing
Common Lithium on a Day Boat
If any of these live on your boat, they're worth thinking about. The Raclan Box is sized for the single-pack items, up to 877 Wh each and 1,754 Wh total across the inside of the box.
E-Foil Battery
Your biggest single risk. Most e-foil packs sit between 1.5 and 3 kWh. Charge it in the Raclan Box, or in the Raclan Square if it's above 877 Wh.
Drone Batteries
Small individually, but often stacked together. Store them in the Box between flights, especially in summer heat.
Portable Power Bank
The 20,000 mAh bricks in the galley drawer are fine in normal use, but any pack that's been dropped or swollen belongs in the Box.
Fish Finder Battery
Portable LiFePO4 packs for fish finders and trolling are low-risk chemistry, but still need somewhere safe to charge.
Jumpstarter
Lithium jumpstarters are a smart bit of kit, but they're also a lithium pack sitting near your engine. Store them inside.
Cordless Hand Tools
Drill, impact driver, rechargeable vacuum. Old packs that have taken a knock are worth quarantining in the Box.
What Happens When a Lithium Battery Fails
The word you'll hear is thermal runaway. It's a chain reaction inside the cell, and once it starts, it's self-sustaining. Here's what that actually means on a boat.
- Heat builds inside the cell. A damaged separator, a manufacturing defect, or overcharging pushes temperature up faster than the pack can shed it.
- The cell vents. It swells, then releases hot, flammable gas. Hydrogen fluoride (HF) is part of that gas, and it's toxic to breathe.
- It ignites. The gas finds a spark or the cell itself flashes over. Neighbour cells heat up and follow.
- It won't go out with water. You can't suffocate a lithium fire the way you'd handle a galley fire. It's producing its own oxygen from the chemistry inside.
- It keeps going. Until every cell in the pack has discharged its energy. On a boat that means burn-through of nearby composite and wiring in minutes.
That's the scenario the Raclan Box is built for. It doesn't prevent the pack from failing, no one can. It contains the event so the boat is still floating afterwards.
How the Raclan Box Works
A four-stage automated response: detect, alarm, cut charger, suppress. All while the door stays locked and your boat stays intact.
Detect
Sensors inside the Box watch temperature continuously. If a pack starts to climb, the Box sees it before smoke reaches your nose.
Alarm & Cut
An acoustic and visual alarm fires. The Box cuts charging power automatically, so no more energy goes into the failing pack.
Suppress
TRIDENT coolant (5.5 litres on board) releases into the sealed interior. The release can be time-delayed to match the event.
Cooldown
The Box holds the fire inside while the pack finishes its energy. You call a qualified technician before opening it again.
The Physical Numbers
External dimensions 580 x 380 x 380 mm, weight 24.7 kg, total weight that one person can carry. Internal usable space 540 x 340 x 200 mm, enough for most e-foil packs and a stack of drone batteries. Coolant is TRIDENT with a 10-year shelf life, 5.5 litres inside the unit. Runs on 100 to 230V / 50 to 60 Hz from shore, with a 12V internal LiFePO4 backup so the monitoring stays live when you disconnect shore power. Ambient range is minus 5 to plus 45 degrees Celsius, protect from direct sun.
Where To Put the Box on Your Boat
The Raclan Box is indoor-rated. That sounds limiting on a boat, but it isn't. A few good options:
- Tender garage or lazarette. Dry, ventilated, separated from the saloon. Ideal spot for an e-foil pack.
- Cockpit locker that stays dry. Fine if it doesn't take water in chop. The Box needs to stay out of standing water.
- Aft stowage. Keeps the unit away from berths and the galley. If a pack fails, you want it at the back of the boat.
- Saloon or engine room. Only if ventilation is adequate and nothing flammable lives alongside.
Rule of thumb: as far from where people sleep as you can manage, as close to ventilation as possible, and somewhere the 24.7 kg weight sits flat on a reinforced surface. The Box stacks, so if you end up with two, they fit neatly together.
If your stowage is outside or exposed to spray, skip the Raclan Box and look at the Raclan Square Box II, which is rated for indoor and outdoor use.
Day-to-Day Use
The Box is built for routine charging, not just emergencies. A few habits make it work well.
- Keep the door fully locked whenever a battery is inside, charging or storing. The Box is only rated when closed.
- Plug chargers inside the Box, not outside. Several chargers can run at the same time as long as total capacity stays at or below 1,754 Wh.
- Don't store aerosols, petrol, or any flammable near the Box. The manufacturer is specific about keeping flammables out of the immediate vicinity.
- Use it in well-ventilated spaces. The internal exhaust deals with the worst of a failure, but fresh air still matters.
- If a pack has been dropped, looks swollen, or is suspect, put it straight in the Box and keep it there. That's exactly the quarantine use case.
- Stick to the stated battery limits: 877 Wh per single pack, 1,754 Wh total. Don't push past that number, because the suppression system is sized for it.
When To Upgrade to the Raclan Square
The Raclan Box handles most private-boat setups. Some owners need more. Move up to the Raclan Square Box II if any of the below is true.
Raclan Box
Capacity: 1.754 kWh total, 877 Wh per pack.
Weight: 24.7 kg.
External: 580 x 380 x 380 mm.
Internal: 540 x 340 x 200 mm.
Use: indoor only, dry stowage.
Best for: single e-foil pack plus drone batteries, or a small lithium inventory you want to manage properly.
Raclan Square Box II
Capacity: 3.5 kWh single pack or total.
Weight: 45 kg (including cooling fluid).
External: 580 x 580 x 380 mm.
Internal: 540 x 540 x 235 mm.
Use: indoor and outdoor, ambient range minus 5 to plus 55 degrees Celsius.
Best for: larger e-foil packs, multiple packs at once, or on-deck mounting where spray is possible. DMT TÜV Nord certified.
Maintenance Basics
The Raclan Box is low-maintenance by design, but it's not zero-maintenance. A few things to keep on your spring-prep checklist.
- Annual functional check. The manufacturer requires one function test of the cooling system per year. The label on the back of the Box explains it.
- TRIDENT shelf life. 10 years. That's the coolant inside the unit. You don't need to top it up in normal use.
- Clean inside and out with warm water. No aggressive chemicals, no solvents.
- Internal backup battery. The 12V LiFePO4 is rechargeable and keeps monitoring alive when shore power is off. Check the charge on the in-box display.
- After a deployment. If TRIDENT has released, the Box is not to be reused until a qualified technician inspects and refills it.
Buy the Raclan Box from Ritz Marine
Ritz Marine is the exclusive Raclan dealer for Malta, Sicily, and Greece. Buy online for home delivery, or collect from the Marsaskala showroom. We'll show you the unit before you buy and talk through fit for your boat.
Buy Raclan Box at Ritz Marine Dealer Info