substitute for Todd battery chargers [RE-wrenches]

Mon Apr 23 17:16:21 PDT 2001

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Hi Bob,

Thanks for your input.  This system was bought and installed before we got 
called in to "make it work."  It is a monster, for sure.  I wish we had 
input in the beginning, as "small is beautiful" as far as I am concerned, 
especially when it comes to battery banks.

When we went to investigate hooking up the generator we discovered that not 
only was it a three phase unit, but its control box was cooked.  It is a 
used 25/30 KW Kohler with low hours, but is decades old.  He got it for $5K.

This is another case of a person saving a few bucks initially by not 
getting help with the design, and suffering later.  He probably got a very 
good deal on the equipment.

The system is in a block building, far away from the site of the future 
house.  The batteries are on very sturdy wooden shelves.  They seem 
stable.  The owner is an architect, so hopefully they are designed carry 
the weight.  The system was set up by another electrical contracting 
outfit, and approved by inspectors before we saw it.

A third inverter might be the way to go.  May be a better plan would be for 
the owner to sell off some of the batteries and the 3 phase generator and 
buy a single phase gen-set.  We are on time to help get the loads to the 
house, as of yet unbuilt, suitable for an off grid system.

Thanks for the food for thought.

Drake

At 07:18 PM 04/23/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Drake,
>
>Have I got this correct? 9 Strings of L-16's? Did you put this monster
>together and how do you ever get it to charge it evenly?
>I sure hope it is on a concrete floor, at 4428# + connectors ( probably at
>least a 100 # of connectors) it would be hell on most wood floors!
>
>I have added 2nd inverters just to have the charging capacity in the past,
>have you thought about just adding a third to help balance the third leg?
>But you are putting a ton of strain on your major + and - terminals. Hook
>them up at diagonally opposite corners and figure out how to handle the
>shunt.
>Instead of a bunch of other chargers just get another inverter strictly as a
>charger. I have used Hearts in the past to do this job with success.
>A Heart 2524 would probably cost you under a grand or so, I can't help but
>think the other chargers would be more than that. It also gives you an
>emergency inverter if the you know what hits the fan.
>
>Just my opinion, and you know what they say about those....
>
>Bob
>
>
>
>RE. Ellison
>Supplier of;
>Diesel Generators &
>Alternative Energy Systems & Supplies
>34642 Countryman Road
>Theresa, NY. USA
>                               13691-2076
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From:   Drake Chamberlin - Electrical Energy [mailto:solar at eagle-access.net]
>Sent:   Monday, April 23, 2001 3:44 PM
>To:     RE-wrenches at topica.com
>Subject:        Re: substitute for Todd battery chargers [RE-wrenches]
>
>Hi Allan,
>
>Thanks for your input.  This is a giant battery bank consisting of 36 L-16
>batteries.   I calculate 3330 amp hours in the bank.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Drake
>
>At 10:22 AM 04/23/2001 -0600, you wrote:
> >Drake, Just a note, with 2 SW4024s and 5 Iota chargers, is your total C/
> >rate within capacity for the batteries you are using? You will have about
> >300A input @24V. At about a C/8 max, that takes 2500 Ahrs of battery.
> >Allan @+E
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Drake Chamberlin - Electrical Energy" <solar at eagle-access.net>
> >To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
> >Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2001 3:34 PM
> >Subject: Re: substitute for Todd battery chargers [RE-wrenches]
> >
> >
> > > Hi Wrenches and Doug,
> > >
> > > The 24 volt Iota chargers look like they might also be a possible
>option.
> > >
> > > Can you run the Iota battery chargers in parallel?  We would probably
>run
> > > 5, 25 amp, 24 volt chargers in parallel.  They would also be in parallel
> > > with 2 Trace SW 4024 inverters.  We would be using the Iota chargers to
> > > balance the windings of the three phase generator.
> > >
> >
> >
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