L-16 charging voltages [RE-wrenches]

Thu May 19 16:39:26 PDT 2005

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Dave,

What you say makes good sense to me... and I have found similar results with the
systems I do and maintain. I have also read contradictory advice on this list
that L-16's being floated (for batter back up grid intertied systems) need to be
EQ'd once a month to "stir" the electrolyte, yet if they are being floated
should there be a small electrolyte circulation happening anyway so why the EQ?

Todd

"David Palumbo, Independent Power & Light" wrote:

> Wrenches,
>
> Allan's charge voltages listed below look good. Of course the temperature of
> the batteries needs to be considered.
>
> I do take issue with the statement on equalization though. The definition of
> an equalized battery is, all the cells are equally charged. This can happen
> at voltages lower than 15.5v (nominal 12v bat) although that works too. I've
> been working with deep cycle bats for 20 years and have seen plenty of sets
> have long service lives without ever going over 15v. It depends on many
> factors. I have found that if the battery bank receives a full charge at
> least once every seven to ten days then the need for an "equalization
> charge" with an elevated voltage is typically not needed.
>
> Living and working on off grid systems in the North East, where we usually
> have many cloudy days in Nov. and Dec., I saw many people running their
> generators too many extra hours every month performing EQ charges. I did
> some testing and experimenting with various battery banks and found that
> much of the extra gen run hours was not necessary and wasted allot of fuel
> and gave off grid pv systems some bad publicity (too much running of noisy,
> polluting generators). The caveat is that you must have a well designed
> system and pay attention to an accurate (and well programmed) amp hour meter
> to insure that the systems batteries are getting a full charge every week to
> ten days. Mr. Surrette told me years ago that in his view a fully charged
> battery was in fact an equalized battery. He recommended charging voltages
> of 14.6 to 14.8v, temp compensated.
> When in doubt test each cell with a hydrometer, or refractometer.
>
> Of course if you have a situation where the system is poorly designed, or
> people are abusing it etc. then the elevated EQ voltage may be necessary.
>
> Dave
>
> <<From: Allan Sindelar [mailto:allan at positiveenergysolar.com]
> Geoff,
> 30 volts isn't an equalizing charge. I generally shoot for 31-31.5, which is
> easily achievable with C/10 if the batteries are in good condition.
>
> Here's Trojan's spec for their L16s: See
> http://www.trojanbattery.com/Tech-Support/BatteryMaintenance/Charging.aspx
> Table 2. Charger Voltage Settings for Flooded Batteries
>         System Voltage
>       Charger Voltage Setting 6V 12V 24V 36V 48V
>       Daily Charge 7.4 14.8 29.6 44.4 59.2
>       Float 6.6 13.2 26.4 39.6 52.8
>       Equalize 7.8 15.5 31.0 46.5 62.0
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Geoff Greenfield" <Geoff at Third-Sun.Com>
>
> 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.>>
>

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