L-16 batts -terminals and US Batt charge volts [RE-wrenches]

[John Raynes]

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Geoff,

Thanks for the feedback and survey request.  I'm really interested in what 
experience wrenches have with L16 equivalents from Deka or USBattery, or 
whomever, since I've got to consider going that way as an alternative 
unless my distributor agrees to stock L terminals.

I'm not really considering Surrettes, as I'm not convinced that they're 
worth the extra $$, especially given Allan's experiences a while back.  If 
my customer wants to go premium, at present I recommend taking the big step 
up to the Hup's since I can demonstrate dollar for dollar the same net value.

Any wrenches that buy batteries from the Salt Lake Trojan distributor, 
contact me off list and maybe we can combine our efforts to illuminate 
folks there about this problem.

John Raynes
RE Solar
Torrey UT


At 12:09 PM 5/19/2005 -0400, you wrote:

>I am out to visit a customer to check on - you guessed it - the terminal
>connections.  I had my crew do a swap out of his trojan L-16s - replaced
>with US battery units.  I have not yet seen these - I ASSUMED that we would
>get L terminals but now I learn that I have to specifically spec them.  My
>crew described sub-optimal connections and concern over surface area etc...
>The customer has called and said that when he slams (way too much) amps
>through with his DC genny the amps don't fall as quickly as they used to
>with his trojans (which were replaced cause they were old and shot...)
>
>This is a 12 batt 24 VDC bank, and he likes to charge with 200 amps  (about
>c/6). he said that the amps would go down to 160 after about 20 minutes, and
>steadily fall, with the old bank. (Volts rise... duh... watts about the
>same).  His concern is that the amps just stayed at 200 with this bank.
>
>I will be checking out for good contact area and torque on the terminals
>(spec? till the bolt bites into the lead a bit...) and then look for hot
>spots at these connections during charging.  Any other ideas or is this
>pretty expected... I've never charged a bank with anything like 200 amps so
>this is new territory.
>
>finally - and this could be a separate thread - the US batt
>website/instructions call for charge current at c/10 and charge voltage at
>2.583 per cell!  That is 30.966!!!! and then hold for 2-4 hours!!!! What????
>Their float spec was 26.04 Volts (2.17/cell).  I know that "cycled" batts in
>scrubbers in the different universe of grid fed chargers are different, and
>we often "modify" these parameters to find a balance between health of the
>batt, what the RE system can provide, and watering chore frequency...  but
>these numbers seem off the charts.  I would equalize at 30!
>
>WRENCH SURVEY:
>Please share your set points for L-16s (T-105s?) KS-17s (Surette/IBE) and
>gells/AGMs - this I think would be very useful info.
>
>
>For a brighter energy future,
>
>Geoff Greenfield
>NABCEP Certified Energy Practitioner
>
>THIRD SUN SOLAR & WIND POWER Ltd.
>340 West State Street
>Athens, OH 45701
>
>www.third-sun.com
>(740) 597-3111

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