[RE-wrenches] Lithium upgrade when Magnasine goes to float too soon

[Darryl Thayer]

Hello,  I have had similar serious problems when working with old
batteries.  Their voltage rises rapidly when charging. The older
batteries will lose in capacity and more so charging rate. Have the
batteries been equalized periodically?  If not, they will develop sulfur on
the plates.  The solution is a desulfation routine.  I have improved the
battery's performance by a long equalization charge (up to 30 hrs), Do not
overheat the batteries, keep the water level up, and be careful you will be
generating Hydrogen and Oxygen in the batteries and have a
possible explosion.  I MEAN EXPLOSION!!!  it has happened to me twice, Wear
splash goggles.
Remember LA batteries have a normal charge period of 20 hours.  Steve
Higgens will tell you you need a bigger solar array or a smaller load.

On Tue, Apr 18, 2023 at 2:55 PM Mick Abraham via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Hi, Mechanix~ I have several local clients with various different versions
> of Magnum pure sine inverters & all of the inverters seem to transition to
> the float stage soon after the charge cycle begins. I've observed this even
> when the inverters & batteries were brand new. I'm aware of the menus about
> adjusting the bulk time duration but even adjusting that to the longest
> setting never helped.
>
> Since these clients are all off grid with no generator automation, I
> just tweaked the float voltage to match the bulk voltage then instructed
> the clients to turn off their generator when the target voltage appears on
> their display. The batteries were always lead acid floodies.
>
> Now that some of these clients need better batteries (& I hope they can
> afford transitioning to lithium), are there any mfr's for drop in
> replacement lithium which don't care if the gen-powered charger can't shift
> downward for the float voltage? The customers' PV chargers all have a float
> function that does work right. I know that Blue Planet suggests 55.2v DC
> for all charge stages, but my Magnum systems are all either 12v nominal or
> 24v nominal, so I'll need to find a different brand that builds the lower
> voltage batteries.
>
> The clients can still shut down the generator when the target voltage is
> reached, but what if they fail to shut down soon after the setpoint is
> reached? I wouldn't want to put anybody's battery warranty at risk due to
> this strange charging quirk. Also, I'd like to know if any other Wrenchies
> have noticed this peculiarity with the Magnum inverters.
>
> Thanks in advance; the Wrench List is The Bomb!
>
> Mick Abraham, Proprietor
> www.abrahamsolar.com
>
> Landline: 970-731-4675
> Cell phone or for text messaging: 970-946-6584
> ᐧ
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