[RE-wrenches] Hydrocaps- was Battery Automatic Watering

[Bob-O Schultze]

Bill,
I agree with you about Hydrocaps and have mostly used them for nearly 20 years. I do believe HP reviewed them sometime in the first 20 issues. Back when most of us couldn't even spell solar bozo. Well.... maybe not Joel. :)
Two things to add:
1) HCs aren't forever. There is a sacrificial catalyst in there that goes away after XXX A/hrs of gassing. In a hydro system with the regulator set too high, I've seen them used up in just a couple of years, but normally, you can expect a full battery lifecycle out of them and a bit more. Shake a new one and you will hear the catalyst puck banging around. Shake a used one (after drying it out) and you will hear less of a thunk. No thunk? No more good. I reckon you could get really scientific and weigh a new one for comparison to your old ones, but I never have.
2) While I've never seen an HC clog and blow the top of a battery, I have seen them overheat under violent gassing to the point where the plastic will melt or bulge out like a bubble gum bubble. I totally agree that they need to be taken off and replaced with the regular caps during EQ at a high charge rate (ie, with a generator or grid). Using a PV charge controller like the MX (oops, FM) to do EQ automatically is generally OK unless your PV array is C/20 or bigger.
Dealing with old George has always been difficult. He's almost older than dirt at this point and one of the few people I know who is more of a PITA to deal with than myself. To the best of my knowledge, he still doesn't own a fax machine and invoices come typewritten with carbon paper. Honest...
Ain't likely he's ever gonna change at this point.
Good Luck, Bob-O

On Dec 14, 2009, at 4:17 AM, Bill Loesch wrote:

Another person's opinion...
With all due respect, Allan, if you understand how the Hydrocap works (properly sized, removal when equalizing, as detailed in the instructions) and use distilled (or equivalent) water to top off the electrolyte much more infrequently than regularly, Hydrocaps provide a close second to a recombinant battery at a fraction of the cost of the real thing. Moreover, they are reusable (unless you blow them up).
 
I know of nothing, nothing that competes with the Hydrocap. The yellow flip caps provide a marginal convenience in terms of filling, however there is no comparison in performance. Have any Homepower articles ever reviewed either of these things back in the Dark Ages?
 
The use of a suitable battery enclosure to contain the potential results of _any_ battery mishap should be defacto procedure.
 
I will send George a copy of this thread and will post his reply, if he chooses to comment. I believe it was Windy who commented the biggest hassle of the Hydrocaps was dealing with George and evidently Joel can echo that experience.
 
Bill Loesch
Solar 1 - Saint Louis Solar
314 631 1094
 
MO Licensed Professional Engineer
Saint Louis County (MO) Licensed Water Heater Specialist
 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20091214/a6e4e790/attachment-0004.html>