[RE-wrenches] Battery capacity testers

[toddcory at finestplanet.com]

When I do a system, the customer is hiring me as the expert. If they want me to do something that won't work well, my reputation is on the line, and so they need to hire someone else.

Todd

On Monday, October 4, 2010 2:46pm, holtek at sbcglobal.net said:


Since when does the customer make these decisions?

since they started writing the checks. Communicate the options, answer the questions honestly and openly, give your opinions and recommendations then let them decide what kind of system they want to own. 
 
Holt E. Kelly
Holtek Fireplace & Solar Products
500 Jewell Dr.
Waco TX. 76712
254-751-9111
[http://www.holteksolar.com] www.holteksolar.com
  
----- Original Message -----   
From:   [mailto:toddcory at finestplanet.com] toddcory at finestplanet.com   
To: [mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org] RE-wrenches   
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2010 3:24   PM  
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Battery   capacity testers  

"The battery choice was the decision of the system   owner."

Since when does the customer make these   decisions?

Todd

On Monday, October 4, 2010 6:36am,   "North Texas Renewable Energy Inc" <[mailto:ntrei at 1scom.net] ntrei at 1scom.net> said:

     
   
Todd  
I've heard the same   arguement, as well as its inverse. The battery choice was the   decision of the system owner. I know they are more sensitive to   charge/discharge abuse but I see the full charge rate last week at   52.xx V, just like day 1and I trust the Trimetric and the Sunny   Islands. We're   taking down the entire system to upgrade & install a 400A transfer switch   so the batteries will have time to stabilize for the VOC check & cleaning.     
I guess a more accurate   question would be is it good enough to properly check cell VOC and not   bother with the discharge capacity check? A compromise could be cap   check 12V blocks of cells instead of all 24 separately. Or is the   capacity checker a waste of money.  
Jim  
   
   
   
 ----Original   Message-----
From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org   [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org]On Behalf Of   toddcory at finestplanet.com
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2010 2:23   AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Battery   capacity testers

  I know many on this list disagree, but     this sounds SO typical for sealed batteries. It is why I never use em...     never! If they are 5 years old, you are probably at the limit of their life.     Replace em with flooded lead calciums and your customers (and you) will be     happy for 20+ years.

my .o2

Todd



On Sunday,     October 3, 2010 9:28pm, "North Texas Renewable Energy Inc"     <ntrei at 1scom.net> said:

        
I have a customer with     a set of 24 Concord PVX-6480s that have twice failed during grid outages     during the night. No large loads are on the critical load panel and, since     it's at night when they drop to 50% dod, I'm not sure what's up with them.     I plan on cleaning and retightning all     the cable connections first to eliminate that possibility then checking     VOC of each cell.     
Eventually we'll     install a 25 kW genset but my first task is to find out the state of the     batterys. The system turns five next spring so I don't think they are     near an early death. The BOS is 2     Sunny Island 4248s with upgraded chipsets and the charger is set to spec     though that may need to be bumped up. The only culprit I suspect is the     high summer temperatures in this unconditioned equipment room.         
Finally it may be time     to invest in a capacity tester. What brand is popular among those     Wrenches with lots of experience in diagnosing a batterys health? The     Concord DC5000 only comes in 12 & 24 V models and these are 2V     cells.     
Thanks as     always    
     
    
Jim Duncan    
North Texas Renewable Energy    
486 W.N. Woody Road    
Azle Texas 76020    
    
    
NABCEP Certified Solar PV    
Installer No.31310-57    
TECL 27398    
[mailto:ntrei at 1scom.net] ntrei at 1scom.net     
817.917.0527    
[http://www.ntrei.com/] www.ntrei.com    
 


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