[RE-wrenches] Trojan L16 2v vs 6v

[Travis Creswell]

Greetings Esteemed Wrenches,

 

I searched the archives and didn't find a specific reference to my question
so please accept my apology in advance if this has already been covered.

 

Are the 2v Trojan L16s a much better option than the "standard" (non-re, 370
Ah) L16?  Local distributor tells me they are specially formulated for
renewable energy.  They have a 7yr warranty vs. 6 months for the standard
L16 which is pretty attractive.  kWh capacity wise they are the same.  But I
can't find any actual cycle life curves for either battery which is a pretty
critical data point in my mind. (would it kill Trojan to publish that on
their website????)  My cost on the 2v L16 is nearly 50% more than the
standard L16 so it's certainly worth doing some homework.

 

It's time to replace a set (3 strings of 4) of L16's that I'm sure have been
abused in a full time off grid residence.  They won't even make it through
the night anymore.  I adopted this system several years ago and found a
severely sulfated one yr old set of chronically under charged batteries that
had replaced a set that they had gotten less than 2yrs out of.   Most of the
usual suspects..small solar array, both solar and gen charge settings left
at the factory defaults, Tri-metric was there but not installed, and
customer who didn't pay attention because he didn't have the time. On at
least several occasions the customer let the electrolyte level drop to the
point where the plates are exposed.  I immediately upped the charge settings
then over the last 3yrs I've increased the solar to just over 2kW, replaced
the tired 8kW generator with 12kW and added a second 4024.  All of these
upgrades should lead to much a better life for the next set of batteries.

 

If the budget wasn't such a major concern I'd like to get them into a set of
HUP's which I still might be able to.  A comparable set of HUP's is just
over 2x's the money but they offer at least 3 times the life on paper
anyway.  We've got numerous sets of HUPs out there.  Some are approaching
10yrs old but customers take very good care of them.

 

Thanks in advance for any input or suggestions.

 

Best,

Travis Creswell

Ozark Energy Services

 

 

 

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