<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt">Yes Ray:<br> I have to back up what Todd is saying. If the batteries are well maintained, Trojan L-16s will frequently last 10-12 years , even with SW and DR inverters, and C-40s(I tell my customers 7-10.) I would expect that in a grid-tied application, with almost no added lifecycles, the batteries would make it for ten years plus. <br> I have been witness to a couple of L-16 battery banks that died catastrophically at five years of age, but those were neglected batteries. One of the banks died when the customer added a skylight to the battery room??? and the bank cooked during a hot summer month. The water evaporated out of the battery, and the SW inverters automatically started the generator to charge them up. The remaining fluid was
cooked out of the L-16s as the batteries were 'charged'. After the genny had run for a day, the customer called me and I arrived to find a set of batteries that was visibly melting down.<br> Do your customer's find the Mate controller to be very counter-intuitive and challenging to utilize. I do, even after installing 50+. I think I've given up on OB now, though. No Dual AC inputs?<br><div> </div>Nick Soleil<br>Project Manager<br>Advanced Alternative Energy Solutions, LLC<br>PO Box 657<br>Petaluma, CA 94953<br>Cell: 707-321-2937<br>Office: 707-789-9537<br>Fax: 707-769-9037<div><br></div><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2" face="Tahoma"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> "toddcory@finestplanet.com"
<toddcory@finestplanet.com><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Wed, November 4, 2009 8:17:14 PM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [RE-wrenches] OB Battery Charging<br></font><br>
<meta http-equiv="x-dns-prefetch-control" content="off"><font size="4" face="arial"><span style="font-family: monospace;">The batteries are now 10 years old <br>(twice the normal life span I see with L16s)<br><br>Maybe it wasn't the inverter's charger. I typically see 10 to 12 years in my off grid systems.<br><br>Todd<br></span><br>On Wednesday, November 4, 2009 8:54am, "R Ray Walters" <ray@solarray.com> said:<br><br>> I just wanted to comment on Outback's superb battery charging<br>> algorithm. (since I was ragging on the flexware last week)<br>> I have a customer still with his original Trojan L16s that were truly<br>> abused in off grid mode in the construction of his house. They<br>> regularly were run down to 22 vdc, and probably only reached full<br>> charge once a month for years. We finally switched the system over to<br>> grid tie about three years ago. The batteries are now 10 years old<br>> (twice the normal
life span I see with L16s) and battery voltages are<br>> amazingly close, water use is very low, and corrosion of terminals was<br>> fairly low considering the age.<br>> I was really expecting to have to replace the batteries, but was<br>> pleasantly surprised to see how good a shape they were in.<br>> That's why we like Outback inverters, even if we're not so high on the<br>> Flexware.<br>> BTW this system also had a Bergey Wind turbine, and an Apollo charge<br>> controller, but the GVFX inverter basically regulates the battery<br>> voltage.<br>> I still haven't figured out just how the GVFX works, (i.e. when it<br>> goes thru a full charging sequence, whether it uses the renewable<br>> sources or the grid, etc)<br>> because the AC Kwh meter wiring configuration I used doesn't show AC<br>> input to the batteries.<br>> but what ever it does, it works.<br>> Anyone have a better meter configuration? We're
using the recommended<br>> 5 jaw digital meter from Austin International, and the base is wired<br>> per Outback's white paper on the subject.<br>> It cancels energy readings that just pass thru to the loads and<br>> tabulates sell back, but it doesn't seem to register AC use from<br>> battery charging. (my system shows 0 Kwh after 2 years)<br>> <br>> Thanks,<br>> <br>> R. Walters<br>> ray@solarray.com<br>> Solar Engineer<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> _______________________________________________<br>> List sponsored by Home Power magazine<br>> <br>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org<br>> <br>> Options & settings:<br><span>> <a target="_blank" href="http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org">http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org</a></span><br>> <br><span>> List-Archive: <a target="_blank"
href="http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org">http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org</a></span><br>> <br>> List rules & etiquette:<br>> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm">www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm</a><br>> <br>> Check out participant bios:<br>> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.members.re-wrenches.org">www.members.re-wrenches.org</a><br>> <br>> <br></font><meta http-equiv="x-dns-prefetch-control" content="on"></div></div>
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