[RE-wrenches] Failed L16 with perfect Sp.Gr.
Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
offgridsolar at sti.net
Thu Apr 27 12:45:37 PDT 2017
The 2V L16's are 2V one cell. The 6 volt L16's are (3) 2 volt cells but
you should see the SG being way off, right?
Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
"we go where powerlines don't"
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
> That was my point: voltage is not very helpful on the 2 v L16s, as all 3
> cells are internally paralleled. With the Flir I was able to see all
> the dead cells in the set in seconds.
>
> R. Ray Walters
> Chief Technical Officer, RemoteSolar.com
> BS Mech Engineering, 1988
> Former NABCEP Certified, 2004-2016
> Licensed Master ELectrician, Colorado
> 303 505-8760
>
> On 4/27/17 10:22 AM, Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar wrote:
>> The FLIR is nice but SG and voltage would have told the same thing,
>> would
>> it not?
>> I have excellent experience with the L16 2V cells but will be switching
>> to
>> the LG RESU 10 very soon for my clients.
>>
>>> Here's a thermal image from a recent inspection of 2 v Trojan L16REs.
>>> Notice the normal batteries above and below, they are cool blue,
>>> running
>>> around 75F
>>>
>>> 2 of the cells of the center battery are obviously shorted. Cell
>>> voltage was 2.07 v compared to about 2.3 to 2.4 v for surrounding good
>>> batteries. Dead cells are much easier to find on 6 v batteries. I
>>> wouldn't have found this without the Flir 167.
>>>
>>> About 1/4 of the batteries in this set had hot cells; 25 -30 deg F
>>> warmer. Obviously time for some fresh lead. Owner couldn't recall how
>>> old the set was, he thought 2 to 4 years. Rated at 1000 cycles to 80%
>>> DOD, these Trojan RE batteries should do much better than that. I have
>>> never been impressed with L16s anyway. John, my experience has also
>>> been: higher Capacity = more premature cell failures.
>>>
>>> R. Ray Walters
>>> Chief Technical Officer, RemoteSolar.com
>>> BS Mech Engineering, 1988
>>> Former NABCEP Certified, 2004-2016
>>> Licensed Master ELectrician, Colorado
>>> 303 505-8760
>>>
>>> On 4/26/17 2:09 PM, John Blittersdorf wrote:
>>>> 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
>>>> <mailto: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 <mailto:future at pacific.net>
>>>> CA Lic.# C10-762093
>>>> 707-459-0474 <tel:707-459-0474>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>>>
>>>> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>>>> <mailto:RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
>>>>
>>>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>>> <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org>
>>>>
>>>> List-Archive:
>>>> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>>>> <http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html>
>>>>
>>>> List rules & etiquette:
>>>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>>>> <http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm>
>>>>
>>>> Check out or update participant bios:
>>>> www.members.re-wrenches.org <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>>>
>>>> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>>>>
>>>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>>>
>>>> List-Archive:
>>>> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>>>>
>>>> List rules & etiquette:
>>>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>>>>
>>>> Check out or update participant bios:
>>>> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>>
>>> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>>>
>>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>>
>>> List-Archive:
>>> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>>>
>>> List rules & etiquette:
>>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>>>
>>> Check out or update participant bios:
>>> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
>> "we go where powerlines don't"
>> http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
>> e-mail offgridsolar at sti.net
>> text 209 813 0060
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>
>> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>>
>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>
>> List-Archive:
>> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>>
>> List rules & etiquette:
>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>>
>> Check out or update participant bios:
>> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>>
>
>
Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
"we go where powerlines don't"
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
e-mail offgridsolar at sti.net
text 209 813 0060
More information about the RE-wrenches
mailing list