[RE-wrenches] FLA battery problelm

[Nick Lucchese]

Are you able to get near the 75 amp charge rate with the SW's charger and
that 7.5 KW generator with a step down transformer maybe? Neither charging
combos can push the voltage above 52? All the bus bars and hardware have
been cleaned and reassembled recently or not since 2022? Have you made any
other observations looking over that 128 day logging menu?

Battery banks prematurely heading to the smelter is the unfortunate reality
of our systems of the past. Chasing that mostly unrealistic goal that the
bank will do some dramatic turn around to redeem everyone's efforts may
likely result in more wasted time and money. Replacing with a lithium pack
that offer's it's own onboard SOC capacity meter is almost a necessity with
renters. Removing the unknown cloud around understanding what the battery
needs results in a much more enjoyable homestead experience and engages the
renter to be accountable for recharging. Offerings from both Midnite and
Rubix can be had for less than $.28 a watt hour retail these days.
Impressive times for folks storing sunshine. The sooner it goes in the
sooner the fuel savings and lack of service calls can start paying it off.

I always default to Midnite first for quite a few reasons and especially
for `UL9540 but Rubix might be a better solution in this case since that
volatile memory Steve mentions might become a concern if a trained
individual isn't frequently checking up on the system to make sure all the
settings are still in tune with the battery. Besides for LBCO, SW default
settings are quite ideal for all of the Rubix series. You also gain the
bonus of a digital net power meter on the battery to validate the SW's
meter screens along with the Outback logging menu.

Nick



On Fri, Dec 12, 2025 at 10:21 AM David Coale via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Hi Wrenchers,
>
> I have a client with an old off-grid Trace system and he is having trouble
> with the batteries.  He has HUP Solar One FLA batteries that are about 4
> years old, so they should be in good shape.  The last set lasted almost 20
> years with a fair amount of abuse.
>
> Here is he history and what I think is going on. 7/21 they got new
> batteries after about 19 years of use.
>
> 7/22 I get a call saying the batteries are not charging up all the way.
> When I check out the system, the batteries needed cleaning, and I found
> three low cells, and the charger settings were back to default, not set
> high enough to charge the batteries all the way (it’s always multiple
> problems).  The client (now a new renter, new to the system) said he was
> filing the batteries once a month and experienced some overflowing when the
> batteries were charged up.
>
> I cleaned things up, reset the charging parameters and set up an
> equalizing charge to even out the cells. Hopefully this will fix things.
>
> 11/25. The client calls and said the batteries don’t charge up all the way
> and he is running the generator a lot and worried about getting though the
> wintertime.
> When I check things out, there are three bad cells and there is soda on
> the batteries. It is hard to get a good voltage readings because of the
> soda. Most of the cells are reading 2.1 volts under about a 40 amp load.
>
> Yesterday I check things out, and all the cells are reading between 1.93
> to 1.98 under a 40 amp load in the morning, and I don’t find any bad
> cells.  The charging voltage is never going over about 52 volts so the
> system is never getting fully charged up.  The charge setting look OK, so
> not sure what is going on. This is acting like an old battery pack but
> these batteries are relatively new.
>
> My guess at this point is that maybe the batteries lost acid with the
> overflowing event and lost capacity.  Maybe adding acid back in would bring
> them back up to working order.  The SG measured at 1.150 or less.
>
> At this point the client (renter) has had enough of these battery problems
> and is wondering every morning if the batteries will last long enough to
> until the sun comes up.  The renter is pushing for a replacement LFP
> battery, but there should be lots of life left in this battery pack.
>
> Let me know what you all think.
>
> Thanks,
>
> David
>
>
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