Wrenches,

We were recently called upon to service and upgrade a system that was installed about two years ago by another dealer. The system used a SW2512 hooked to grid, and 1.5kW of PV with a pair of C40s to charge 16 L-16 batteries (yes, I know the myriad problems with this design. We did well fixing it.) Nothing was ever connected as a load, either AC or DC, and both charging sources were left connected for the entire time, with no maintenance.

So before we were called in, the batteries ran dry. We have replaced them with Surrettes @24V now. We have to bring the L-16s back, and either recycle them or...what? All of us tell our clients to add water regularly, so I have never faced this: what happens to flooded L-A batteries when they boil dry? In what ways are they damaged, and what if anything can be done to partially or fully restore their capacity? They have never had a single cycle since new. Can we add water, cycle them a few times and see?

I could give these away to some of our local solar hippies who can't afford to buy new ("Should we get more batteries or fix the fuel pump on the Subaru?") Please, share the wisdom of our collective experience here.

Allan at Positive N

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