battery watering systems [RE-wrenches]

Jay Peltz, Peltz Power jay at asis.com
Thu Oct 23 19:09:13 PDT 2003


HI Matt,

Thats why I call them semi-automatic.  You have to turn on the water flow
manually when  you need to water., and then turn if off when the batteries
are full of water. This assures that should there be a sticking float that
you don't flood the battery and room.

Usually you have a few gallon storage tank with a valve at the bottom that
you close which makes sure you don't have any problems.

If you cannot get these good float units, the I can suggest you contact

Vern Allen from Interstate, whom I've bought these in the past. 800-562-3212

jay

Peltz Power



That's why I stated they are
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Matt Tritt" <solarone at charter.net>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2003 9:52 AM
Subject: Re: battery watering systems [RE-wrenches]


> How about putting a check valve in the tubing?
>
> Matt T
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Brad Bassett" <bsbassett at earthlink.net>
> To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 9:34 PM
> Subject: RE: battery watering systems [RE-wrenches]
>
>
> > An ingenious solution. It's likely an improvement over other automatic
> > watering methods, which I've heard occasionally cause the batteries to
> > overflow, causing a nasty mess.
> >
> > However, if I understand this correctly, it seems to me that there would
> > be a possibility of the acid backing up into the water reservoir. This
> > could conceivably happen if the battery became hot because of
> > environmental temp change or heavy charging, causing expansion of the
> > electrolyte. There is also the possibility that O and/or H from the
> > charging could gather in the hose and break the suction. Since the
> > system worked fine for many years maybe these are not great concerns,
> > but the consequences are potentially a mess. Different setups or
> > batteries could change the possibility for something wrong happening.
> > Perhaps it would be adequate to cover the water reservoir and make sure
> > it's acid proof and well protected from spills, or that spills are
> > collected safely.
> >
> > Just thoughts since you can't be too careful around batteries.
> >
> > Brad
> >
> >
> > Robert Warren wrote:
> > >
> > > Marco,
> > >  One of the first off-grid systems I built maybe 14 or 15 years ago
was
> > > for a blind gentleman in Oregon, Charlie Weaver. I installed 12 or
more
> > > Trojan L-16s in a big insulated cabinet in his garage. Since he was
> > > blind, he couldn't see the water levels or stick a finger into the
acid
> > > to check the levels, so he used his head. He rigged up a simple
gravity
> > > feed watering system with 1/4 inch plastic tubes coming from a
> > > Tupperware container placed so that the top of the water in the
> > > container was precisely at the top water level mark of the batteries.
> > > The tubes went to holes he drilled in the caps, and extended down into
> > > the battery so it touched the plates, and thus would never break
suction
> > >
> > > as long as the top-off tank was always filled. A run-off tube near the
> > > top drained off excess water if he overfilled the water container. I
> > > went out to the site about 6 or 8 months after the intital
installation,
> > >
> > > and everything was in tip-top condition, and I thought this was the
> > > slickest thing I ever saw. He was also careful not to block off the
> > > vapor ventiation through the cap.
> > > Robert Warren
> > >
> >
> >
> > Brad Bassett
> > Alternative Energy Engineering
> > Olympia, WA
> >
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