[RE-wrenches] Failed L16 with perfect Sp.Gr.

[John Blittersdorf]

Wallace,
   I installed some Interstate RE batteries (green case) L16's that
supposedly are made by US Battery.  As with Trojan and other High Capacity
L16's I had several cell failures.  I have always felt that gleaning more
amp hours from the same box must lead to cutting corners on robustness.  I
have found that often when the batteries are full, they work OK for awhile
but as the voltage drops and the current flow rises, the cell will
eventually drop out.  Other adjacent batteries in the string often
overcharge to compensate.  In my case with the green batteries, they were
about 2 years old as well.  I took them back to my distributor and replaced
them with standard L16's at a special pro rated price. I have found that
all lead acid batteries that have problems seem to first have a cell
failure somewhere along the line and finally the capacity diminishes to the
point that it is an annoyance.  Seems  bad cells seem more numerous lately.

John Blittersdorf
Rob Stubbins Solar



On Wed, Apr 26, 2017 at 11:54 AM, Wallace Stahle <wstahle at pacific.net>
wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> I was called by a customer with the complaint of the MS4024 inverter shut
> down and ME-ARC controller and Trimetric acting strange, intermittent and
> even even showing 29 volts at times.
>
> The batteries are four 2.5 year old US battery L16XC 380 AH and checking
> each battery showed one at 4.8 v under charge while the other three were at
> 7+ volts and no current.
>
> Meanwhile the specific gravity was high on all cells and even a week after
> removal are up at 1.275 on all three cells.
>
> I suspect an open in the cell interconnects with enough continuity to read
> volts but not conduct current.
>
> My question is what have any of you seen n this regard and any knowledge
> of cause of such a failure.
>
> Your insights and experience are greatly appreciated.
>
> They were installed by others and are out of warranty. I donated a
> serviceable used USB L16 to get her back to a working system.
> She did recall her Ex stating along the lines of "oh this one has a
> problem but dont worry, it'll come around" as they were installed.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Wallace Stahle
> Future Electric Energy Co
> P O Box 236
> Willits, CA 95490
> future at pacific.net
> CA Lic.# C10-762093
> 707-459-0474
>
>
>
>
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