[RE-wrenches] replace part of rolls battery bank

[jay]

Hi Danny

Lots of variables.  As the warranty is over, that is no longer a concern to deal with
The fact that you’ve had 2 go bad at the 5 year point, usually means you can expect other failures soon.  

There are 2 options I’ve done.
1. is to hi grade the battery bank into best 16 batteries, but that only works if that capacity is enough. Then as you get more failures in the near future ( probably) you’ll have extras to pop in.

2. is to go buy as close as possible another L16.  Given the age of them, a new battery is going to be in the ball park to the same capacity.  The chemistry of the rolls likes  2.5vpc but as they age that goes down in my experience as they begin to use way too much water.  So that allows the newer battery to actually be a better match. 

But you’re probably only looking at another few years to go.  My attitude with older batteries is they are already paid for, you  might as well use the crap out of them, treat them hard as they don’t have long to live. And most people just don’t have the extra money to just go out and buy a new expensive battery bank.  


jay




  



> On Apr 3, 2023, at 11:03 AM, Daniel Young via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Wrenches,
>  
> Have a client with 24 x Rolls S550’s. 2 of the batteries have given up the ghost. Rolls will replace them under the pro rated warranty.
>  
> The issue us, the client is wanting to replace them with non Rolls batteries to save $. They can get 400AH 6V L-16 form factor FLA batteries from a local battery house for the same price I am going to get the new Rolls for. And that also means they don’t need to pay for freight. The net result is that they could save $4-500 by getting the batteries locally. No freight, and no markup on the batteries we provide (I can technically add the lost markup back in as labor, we do need to make something off of the 3hr one way drive to swap the batteries)
>  
> Question is, has anyone got experience mixing battery brands like this?
>  
> 3 x strings of 8 c S550’s (L-16HC would be the replacements) both dead batteries are on the same string.
> Whole battery bank is near the 5yr old mark.
> The last rolls battery bank the client had lasted them 10 years. (they baby the battery bank to be sure, and take maintenance seriously)
>  
> I understand where the client is coming from, but do not want to let them shoot themselves in the foot, and I simply do not know what the chances are of swapping in batteries from a different brand. In my head, I don’t see a big issue, even if they are sub par, they will likely just get older faster, and fail around the same time as the rest of the 4-5yr old battery bank. But I’m unsure if there are any more subtle issue that these other batteries would cause.
>  
> Client has been loyal for more than a decade, so I want to give them a fair shake at saving some $ now, as they plan to move to lithium when the whole battery bank finally gives out.
>  
> With Regards,
> --
>  
> Danny Young
> NABCEP PV Installation Professional #031508-90
> Engineering Team Lead
> Solar Energy Solutions
> Lexington | Louisville | Bloomington | Cincinnati | Evansville | Indianapolis
> 513-448-5176 (mobile)
> 877-312-7456 (Main Office)
> danny at sesre.com <mailto:danny at sesre.com>
>  
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