[RE-wrenches] FW: Battery impedance analyzers

Fri Mar 27 14:01:31 PDT 2009

I forwarded this query to Rob Shappell of NWES here is his response. SEE Below.

Dana Orzel

Great Solar Works, Inc

www.solarwork.com

E - dana at solarwork.com

V - 970.626.5253

F - 970.626.4140

C - 970.209.4076

“I'd put my money on solar energy… I hope we don't have to wait 'til oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”

—Thomas Edison, in conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, March 1931

From: Rob Shappell [mailto:rob at nwes.com] 
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 2:04 PM
To: dana at solarwork.com
Subject: RE: [RE-wrenches] Battery impedance analyzers

Hi Dana,

I have no direct information as to their abilities. 

What I can say is that we had a battery that looked like it was melted down, I'm talking about lead terminals that were drooping and melted!! They were cooked and starved of electrolyte! We replaced the batteries, but some how the cooked batteries got into the hands of a guy who had an impedance analyzers. He cleaned them up and did some testing  and claimed that the batteries were all OK. Not long thereafter, the cooked batteries showed up on eBay. Not too long after that, we sold replacement cells…..you be the judge.

The battery industry is working on a reliable device that makes it much easier to determine the health of a battery, but I think it is hit and miss at this point in time.

Rob

Rob – do you have an answer for these boys?

On Mar 27, 2009, at 6:19 AM, Travis Creswell wrote:

Hi Larry,

I’ve often wondered about them.  My local battery “superstore” (everything from cell phone to golf carts) had been using them for the last few years to test automotive starter batteries and deep cycles but the last time I was in there I noticed they’d gone back to the old standby resistance/carbon pile style testers.  I inquired and wasn’t able to get any exacts but the summary was they were not happy with them.  I’m curious to know your findings on both fronts.

Best,

Travis Creswell

Ozark Energy Services

www.ozarkenergyservices.com <http://www.ozarkenergyservices.com/> 

  _____  

From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 7:08 PM
To:  RE-wrenches @lists.re-wrenches.org
Subject: [ RE-wrenches ]  Battery impedance analyzers

Hello Wrenches,

Is anyone using an impedance type battery analyzer for lead acid batteries? If so, what do you have and how has it worked out. I have seen prices from $200 to $7500 and I'm sure there is a world of difference. 

I have been using a pulser circuit I built about 4 years ago to restore nearly dead AGM batteries but I have not had any sophisticated method of verifying before and after performance. I perform a constant current equalization with no voltage limit and then leave the battery on the pulser for a few weeks. This works great and I have restored and sold a few used AGM batteries that would have gone to the recycler. Today our battery buyer just picked up another 15,400 lb. of batteries from us. Yep, they were mostly murdered! I would like to be able to restore more of them.

_______________________________________________

List sponsored by Home Power magazine

List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org

Options &
 settings:

http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org

List-Archive:

http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org

List rules & etiquette:

www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm

Check out participant bios:

www.members.re-wrenches.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20090327/da64d726/attachment-0002.html>