[RE-wrenches] 4 ways to keep a battery for a long time

frenergy frenergy at psln.com
Thu Dec 17 07:50:51 PST 2015


I'm experimenting with a panel I built myself that is series'ed and 
paralleled to produce a Voc of ~3.3 volts and ~10-12 amps which can be 
alligator clipped to slacker 2V cells, leads running outside to a sunny 
locale.  It's certainly not the quickest/best solution but worth a try 
in some instances and doesn't burn up many gallons of fuel cooking an 
entire pack to save a couple slackers.  Its pretty easy to find PV cells 
and the rest of it to make your own...and it was kinda fun.

Bill



On 12/17/2015 3:59 AM, Chris Mason wrote:
> I have a customer that has had AGM batteries in the Caribbean for many 
> years without any sign of capacity loss, but...they air condition (?) 
> the room they are in, and they do not use any discharge, they are 
> purely setup as a UPS style system. Unless the power fails, all the 
> power is exported, and they use grid power.
> When using AGM as an offgrid solar system, they last about three years 
> here.
>
> On Wed, Dec 16, 2015 at 9:44 PM, jay <jay.peltz at gmail.com 
> <mailto:jay.peltz at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     HI Luke,
>
>     Without knowing what the charging parameters its really hard to
>     know whats going on.
>
>     And this false issue with life span is years really gets me.
>     Batteries are measured in cycle life, period,  So to say a IND
>     battery will get 15 to 20 years is bunk.
>     It’ll get the cycles based on DOD, if its charged correctly,
>     watered and the sun is in a good phase and, and and,
>
>     I’ve got a guy who’s worn out his Hup’s in around 5-6 years.
>     But how would any other but an IND battery worked with that hard
>     of a life, yikes, L-16’s would have been a set a year.
>
>     But I’m guessing his 11 year old batteries could be quite done. 
>     And he is caught in the perfect bind.
>     Do you spend money on replacing some of the cells?
>     If it was my client, I’d say no, he’d be throwing good money after
>     bad.
>
>     jay
>
>     peltz power
>
>
>
>
>     > On Dec 16, 2015, at 12:50 PM, Dana <dana at solarwork.com
>     <mailto:dana at solarwork.com>> wrote:
>     >
>     > We recommend an EQ when there is a 0.02 SG differential on any
>     one cell to the rest of the pack, use a refractometer for SG
>     readings, install watering systems with a electrolyte port  or
>     water the battery bank ourselves, & do not do systems without a
>     charging power backup.
>     >
>     >
>     ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     > Dana Orzel
>     > Great Solar Works, Inc -  NABCEP # 051112-136
>     > E - dana at solarwork.com <mailto:dana at solarwork.com> - Web -
>     solarwork.com <http://solarwork.com>
>     > O - 970.626.5253 <tel:970.626.5253> C - 208.721.7003
>     <tel:208.721.7003>
>     > "Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988"
>     >  Please consider the environment before printing this email.
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     > -----Original Message-----
>     > From: RE-wrenches
>     [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
>     <mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org>] On Behalf Of Dave
>     > Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 10:23 AM
>     > To: 'RE-wrenches'
>     > Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] HuP Conundrum
>     >
>     > Luke,
>     >
>     > Contac HUP for specific advice. You've probably already done that?
>     >
>     > What comes to mind:
>     > Since you have two series strings, run the house on one string
>     of all good cells.
>     >
>     > Pull out the weak cells and charge them as per HUP's advice.
>     >
>     > I'm guessing that this problem has happened because the
>     homeowner did not properly charge the batteries.
>     > Homeowner most likely did not use a hydrometer upon EQ'ng the cells.
>     > Homeowner thought the cells were fully charged and equal but
>     obviously they were not.
>     > Record keeping, log books etc.. for people caring for expensive
>     batteries are well worth the effort.
>     >
>     > David Palumbo
>     > Independent Power LLC
>     > 462 Solar Way Drive
>     > Hyde Park, VT 05655
>     > 802-371-8678 <tel:802-371-8678> cell
>     > 802-888-4917 <tel:802-888-4917> home
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     > -----Original Message-----
>     > From: RE-wrenches
>     [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
>     <mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org>] On
>     > Behalf Of Luke Christy
>     > Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 12:01 PM
>     > To: RE-wrenches
>     > Subject: [RE-wrenches] HuP Conundrum
>     >
>     > Hi Friends,
>     >
>     > With all of the battery threads going on right now I figured it
>     would be a
>     > good time to start another one.
>     >
>     > I have a customer with a large off-grid system who has just
>     started having
>     > trouble with a bank of HuP batteries. This system is 48V with 8x 12V
>     > 6-85F-27S batteries in two series strings. Charging is supplied
>     by around 10
>     > kW of PV.
>     >
>     > I didn't install the system and the customer has always taken
>     care of the
>     > maintenance and watering himself. He has seemingly been pretty
>     diligent
>     > about taking care of things, including  equalizing on a regular
>     basis.
>     > However, recently he started having voltage problems and when I
>     made a site
>     > visit to check on the batteries, I found that 3 of the 8x 12V
>     batteries each
>     > had a cell with SG so low it wouldn't register on my hydrometer.
>     >
>     > Obviously this is a problem, and owing to some complicating
>     factors I'm not
>     > really sure how best to address the issue.
>     >
>     > Replacing the entire battery bank will be unbelievably
>     expensive, especially
>     > given that the house is in a remote location and there is
>     difficult access
>     > to the battery room. To add a another factor, the house is currently
>     > unoccupied while the owner tries to sell the property, so he is
>     not exactly
>     > eager to invest a lot of money into battery replacement.
>     >
>     > The batteries are only 11 years old, so they should
>     theoretically have quite
>     > a bit of life left in them. Perhaps those of you with more
>     experience with
>     > larger batteries can advise. Can the cells be resurrected with
>     careful
>     > charging and equalizing?
>     >
>     > What would you do?
>     >
>     > Thanks as always for opinions and advice.
>     >
>     > Luke Christy
>     >
>     > NABCEP Certified PV Installation ProfessionalT: Certification
>     #031409-25
>     > NABCEP Certified Solar Heating InstallerT: Certification
>     #ST032611-03
>     >
>     >
>     > Solar Gain Services, LLC
>     > PO Box 531
>     > Monte Vista, CO. 81144
>     > SGSRenewables at Gmail.com
>     > 719.588.3044 <tel:719.588.3044>
>     > www.sgsrenewables.com <http://www.sgsrenewables.com>
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>
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> -- 
> Chris Mason
> NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™
> Solar Design Engineer
> Generac Generators Industrial technician
>
> www.cometsolar.com <http://www.cometenergysystems.com>
> 264.235.5670
> 869.662.5670
> Skype: netconcepts
>
>
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