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<DIV>Gentlemen and women,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> I have been called in to deal with a
pack of 16 (4 strings of 4 for 24V), L-16s, 6 years old. She is
having to run her generator 2 times a day. Here in N.E. CA. its been cold,
mostly clear, little wind. Her inputs are about 1 KW of PV, and small wind
machine and of course a serious generator. Cables and terminals looked
clean, were tight. The bulk setting on the Trace 4024 was 28.0 V for 2 hrs
with RTS, however, she would manually turn off the generator soon after it
reached 28V. Recipe for suphation.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Rather than getting into too much
detail, here's my quandary. When I fired up the generator, the input amps
in each of the 4 strings were.... string #1:29A, 2:34 A, 3:25 A, 4: 13
A. A survey of IR temps throughout the pack gave temps ranging from 63 to
92 degrees. The highest temps were in the string pulling highest
amps. In trying to find shorted/failed and/or sulphated cells which data
are most relevant? Temps, amp draw during charge, disconnect strings from
each other and check volts of each 6 volt
batt?, active bubbling? ...all the above? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> I'm thinking I should have (1)
checked the amp draw with batts under load/genny off in each string AND (2)
check amps between strings with the pack at rest, no input or output. I
would love to EQ the pack but with a temp already in the 90's and uneven
currents in the strings I don't want to risk too high of temp or worse, a
runaway situation and fire. I'm thinking I'd like to yank a few bad batts and
run on 3 strings and then carefully EQ. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I appreciate any insights.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks in advance,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bill</DIV>
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