[RE-wrenches] Battery Charge Settings.

Tue Jan 19 07:07:14 PST 2016

OK Steve now you got me thinking,
Some would say that's a bad idea!

Using the voltage settings you're speaking of what would you recommend for equalize charging ?

I have always thought that different settings for different times of year was logical but you're getting your bulk up you know what I would normally consider to be a low side of the equalization charge.

Understood that rolls charge differently than a lot of other batteries I believe it's due to plate density?

Thanks, 
bob ellison

> On Jan 19, 2016, at 8:52 AM, Steve Higgins <steve at surrette.com> wrote:
> 
> Good Morning Wrenches…
>  
> I’d like to take the recent Trojan thread to throw this out there!
>  
> With the IEC certification, many battery manufactures are being forced to recommend higher settings to charge their batteries.   The problem with off grid systems, or even some grid back up systems is the settings can/will vary from end user to end user and can be very difficult to determine.   Try to avoid setting up a system and assuming that those settings will be good year round as settings in most systems need to adjusted at least twice, sometimes up to three times a year.
>  
> For example, we are almost finished with IEC testing, the way they do this testing in short is they take a battery, charge it to full using mfg suggested settings, discharge it to 100% and they cycle the battery until it comes to full capacity.    Don’t quote me, but IEC testing requires the batteries to come to full charge within the first 8-10 cycles.   To do so, you need to be very aggressive on the charging settings.
>  
> Now, most customers don’t cycle to 100% depth of discharge so end users don’t need to be so aggressive on charger settings, but we will be publishing revised charging parameters and instructions in the coming quarter.   Bottom line, Bulk/Absorb Voltages @ 25 Deg C you will be advised to charge the Rolls Batteries at 2.45 to 2.5vpc.  This number will vary based on how much the customer is using the system.  A weekender cabin with a decent sized  array (<10% of C20 Charge Current) will need closer to 2.4 to 2.45vpc, while a full timer (daily heavy cycles)  will need a setting closer to the 2.5vpc rating.   
>  
> Remember, regardless of where you are in the world, unless the batteries are installed in a temperature controlled room where it fluctuates less than ½  degree C, you should ALWAYS, ALWAYS use battery temperature compensation.   Failure to do so, will always result in premature failure of the batteries.
>  
> Settings are generally a suggestion, the problem is they (customers) should be looking at the SG’s at least on a quarterly basis and adjusting settings when necessary.   Lower trending SG equal higher settings, higher SG equal lower settings.  I find that too many people set up settings and forget them, until they have a problem.   Normally I find with most customers they should have a bit lower settings from April to Sept, while settings should be higher from Oct thru March.  
>  
> Remember, the battery companies you are dealing with generally don’t have a lot of experience in solar… they are used to industrial applications where you see 8-12 hours of charging every single day.    We all know that in most Off grid systems you are lucky to get 3-5 hours, at best of decent charging a day.
>  
>  
>  
> Steve Higgins
> Technical Services Manager
> P: +1.902.597.4020
> M: +1.206.790.5840
> F: +1.902.597.8447
> Surrette Battery Company
> Exclusive manufacturer of
> <rollsae305d>
> 
> 
> From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Theo Van
> Sent: Monday, January 18, 2016 8:44 PM
> To: RE-wrenches
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Trojan L-16 charge settings
>  
>  
> No "settings recommend by Trojn"were shown. 
> On Jan 18, 2016, at 6:43 PM, William Miller <william at millersolar.com> wrote:
> 
> Colleagues:
>  
> I have an off-grid customer for whom I replaced a set of 8 Trojan L-16s as well as upgrading her inverter and charge controller.  Right after the job, we found several batteries with low specific gravity.  We spoke with the local distributor and received two replacement batteries.
>  
> The system continues to perform poorly.  The customer EQs every 30 days to 60 plus volts for 3 hours.  They try to get a full bulk and absorption charge in every day but this time of year may not. The specific gravity readings continue to diverge and generally go lower.
>  
> We contacted the distributor who told us they have had problems with Trojan batteries since the company was sold about two years ago.  We were told they had a brand X battery that tested better than the Trojans.  We agreed to try the Brand X but then were told that we had not charged the Trojans adequately.  Below are the settings recommended directly by Trojan
>  
> These settings are significantly higher than any I have used before.  Also, I don’t recall it being possible to set different bulk and absorption voltages with any of the equipment I use.  I use Trace, Outback, Schneider default settings of 57.6 bulk, 54.4 float and reprogram to 60.5 for equalization.
>  
> I am curious about what charge settings you find successful for flooded lead-acid batteries and what any of you might think about the recommended settings as seen below. Do you feel it is practical to achieve these settings in an off-grid scenario?  Would these high settings cause excessive water consumption?
>  
> Thanks in advance.
>  
> William Miller
>  
> <image001.jpg>
> Lic 773985
> millersolar.com
> 805-438-5600
>  
>  
>  
> I looked at the spreadsheet and the SG. readings across each battery are uniform which tells be that it is highly unlikely that anything is wrong with the batteries except for being under-charged. Take a look at our User’s Guide on the Trojan website on page 19  ( Recommended Charge Profile) or FLA batteries.
> The Bulk stage should be @ 59.3V, Absorb @ 58.8V, Float @ 54V and Equalization @ 64.8V. When the User notices drops in the SG such as in this document, an EQ charge should be performed in order to get the batteries back up to full charge (full charge SG being in the range of 1.270 to 1.280. When performing the EQ, the user should take SG reading for a “pilot” battery every 30 minutes until the voltages reach that range. Termination should happen when SG reaches full charge range or if battery temperature reaches 112 degrees F, which-ever comes first. SG readings can be taken during EQ, but you have to make sure that you bump the tiny gas bubbles off the Hydrometer float to prevent erroneous readings.
> Seeing the SG readings decreasing after each month is an indication that maybe the Absorb Time needs to be increased, maybe from 3 hours up to 4 or 5 hours.
>  
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