HUP VS Rolls [RE-wrenches]

Sun Mar 18 20:11:41 PDT 2007

<x-flowed>

Hello all,

When I did some work for Apollo Solar (www.apollo-solar.net) I  
produced a table of charging voltages for MPPT charge controller. I  
contacted Surrette/Rolls and the values below reflect the mid point  
between their minimum and maximum values. Many thanks to John Pfeifer  
at Apollo Solar for allowing me to use his table. I personally run my  
batteries a bit harder than these values but I am married to a  
wonderful woman who looks after watering them. I equalize regularly,  
especially during the winter months when I run them up to 31.5 on the  
EQ cycle.

  	Voltages Per 2 Volt Cell	Temp Comp	12 Volt	24 Volt	48 Volt
  	Absorb	Float	Equalize	mV/deg C	Absorb	Float	Equalize	Absorb	Float	 
Equalize	Absorb	Float	Equalize
Surrette (Flooded)	2.40	2.21	2.58	-5.00	14.40	13.26	15.48	28.80	26.52	 
30.96	57.60	53.04	61.92

I'm happy with the results of running my batteries at these charging  
voltages, it worked wonders on my old Yuasa's they lasted for over 13  
years. I've been off grid for over 35 years and, not surprisingly,  
through more than a few sets of batteries. What I've learned can  
almost be summed up in a single sentence. "Charge them aggressively,  
get the electrolyte warm, and don't be afraid to put water in them."

Regards,

Ezra

Ezra Auerbach
DragonSun Consulting
Lasqueti Island, B.C. V0R 2J0

ezra at lincsat.com
250 333 8650

On 18-Mar-07, at 8:50 AM, Chris Worcester wrote:

>
> Hi Roy,
> That's 16 years or 5840 cycles on the IBE's. This is year 30 for me  
> being
> off the corporate grid.
> What to do about all those Surrette's out there now? I like to  
> bring up the
> PV charge controller's bulk charging to around 28.8 to 29 daily on  
> the 24V
> systems (57.6 to 58.0V on the 48V curve). This really works on the  
> old IBE's
> and I'm wondering if others are using this sort of value on the  
> Rolls with
> good results? Should this go up to 29.2V at 24 nominal (58.4 at 48V)?
> I don't want to work the batteries too hard on a daily basis but if  
> this is
> what it takes for longevity let's do it.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Chris Worcester
> NABCEP Certified PV Installer TM
> USA Distributor of Proven Wind Turbines
> Toll Free: 877-682-4503
> Fax: 530-582-4603
> www.solarwindworks.com
> chris at solarwindworks.com
> "Proven Energy Solutions"
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roy Butler, Four Winds RE [mailto:roy at four-winds-energy.com]
> Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 3:22 PM
> To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
> Subject: Re: HUP VS Rolls [RE-wrenches]
>
>
> Chris,
>
> You have me beat.....only 10 years off-grid for me....just a newbie!
>
> I have the Surrette CH-375's in my system...fore runner to the S-460.
> They're on their last legs now (lots of abuse...a case of age and  
> do as
> I say, not as I do).
> I have installed over 400 Surrette Ch-375 and S-460s in about 42  
> systems
> since 1998.
> And since 2002 about 60 of the 4KS-25PS and about 40 of the 4KS-21PS.
>
> We found that they all needed aggressive charging to prevent  
> sulfation.
> We almost lost a bank of 36 of the 4KS-25PS batteries....until we  
> found
> that a 10 hour corrective equalization at 62 volts 2-3 times per year
> was needed.
>
> FYI...I have 2 banks of the S530 batteries out there....they are the
> worst to keep healthy.
> I won't have anything to do with them anymore.
>
> I find that Trojan and Deka are a lot more forgiving and don't seem to
> have the need for all that extra generator or grid usage to keep 'em
> healthy. I'm sure there are others just as good, but those are the
> brands I'm most familiar with.
>
> I stuck with Surrette as long as I could afford to....probably too  
> long.
> I'm ready for a change and have been following this HUP discussion  
> very
> closely. Thanks to everyone for all the great feedback!
>
> Roy Butler
> NABCEP Certified Solar PV InstallerR
> NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
> Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
> 8902 Route 46
> Arkport, NY 14807
> 607-324-9747
> www.four-winds-energy.com
>
> Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
> a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
>
>
>
>
> Chris Worcester wrote:
>
>> Hi Gang,
>> Does anybody have anything good to say about the Rolls batteries  
>> anymore?
> We
>> have installed them in at least a dozen systems; they are all  
>> working,
>> although some of the clients have complained about a lack of storage
>> capacity/performance. We haven't seen any failures yet. We use the  
>> S-530's
>> in the small systems and mostly the 2-KS-33's in our large off grid
> systems.
>> I really like my IBE 2 volt 1476 Ah batteries that I installed  
>> here in
> 1991,
>> 16 years ago, that's 5840 days off the grid.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Chris Worcester
>> NABCEP Certified PV Installer TM
>> USA Distributor of Proven Wind Turbines
>> Toll Free: 877-682-4503
>> Fax: 530-582-4603
>> www.solarwindworks.com
>> chris at solarwindworks.com
>> "Proven Energy Solutions"
>>
>
> - - - -
> To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com
>
> Archive of previous messages: http://lists.topica.com/lists/RE- 
> wrenches/read
>
> List rules & how to change your email address:
> www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquette.php
>
> Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/
>
> Hosted by Home Power magazine
>
> Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com
>
>
> - - - -
> To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com
>
> Archive of previous messages: http://lists.topica.com/lists/RE- 
> wrenches/read
>
> List rules & how to change your email address: www.mrsharkey.com/ 
> wrenches/etiquette.php
>
> Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/
>
> Hosted by Home Power magazine
>
> Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com
>
>
>
>
>

--
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

- - - -
To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com

Archive of previous messages: http://lists.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/read

List rules & how to change your email address: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquette.php

Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/

Hosted by Home Power magazine

Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com
--^----------------------------------------------------------------
This email was sent to: michael.welch at homepower.com

EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bz8Qcs.bz9JC9.bWljaGFl
Or send an email to: RE-wrenches-unsubscribe at topica.com

For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit:
http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER
--^----------------------------------------------------------------

</x-flowed>