off grid battery equalization [RE-wrenches]

[Jeff Yago]

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Thanks for all the suggestions and comments.  TO answer some of the
questions asked, The site is very remote and using larger batteries to
reduce the number in parallel was determined to not be feasible.

I have had him dis-connect any DC loads and raise the bulk charge
setpoint first to 29.4 which never got the batteries past 65% (based
on sp.gr. readings).  He then went to 30.4 volts bulk setpoint which
took him up to 75%.  Each time he starts the process, he can only push
about 200 amp-hours into this 1,400 amp-hour battery bank before the
inverter backs down to low current draw from the generator.

I realize this 6.5 kW generator and single Trace SW40 could be larger
for this large battery bank. However, for the past five years this
system (using 16 Decca L-16s) has worked perfectly and even with
minimum solar input, rarely required running the generator at all
during peak summer months, and only about 3 hours every 3 or 4 days
during the spring and fall.

So now what?  From the comments of others, it appears we just forget
trying to equalize these Surrette batteries for now and let the system
go through a few more months of cycling.

Thanks to all for replies.

Jeff Yago

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