<div dir="ltr">Mac,<div> I was about to ditto Ray with his more common than I would like scenario of battery death when I saw your mention of the 2nd string not connected. It is always nice to see</div><div>a solution that is simple and should have been considered, but wasn't. The assumption with battery issues usually is that they are actually hooked up! I often thought that it would be worth the money to supply a cheap AC/DC clamp meter with every installation so that a phone consultation could quickly determine if the strings were unbalanced and what might be the reason. Bad cells and bad connection will usually show up in a current check and then a quick voltage check of each battery with a load on the system will show the culprit if a bad cell and corrosion present might find the bad connection. I use Interstate L16's most of the time and find that the life is typically 6 years. I used to call them a 7 to 10 year battery but kept racheting back the claim until I now call them a 5 to 7 year battery with more if properly maintained. I have seen 10 years but it is rare. </div><div><br></div><div>John Blittersdorf</div><div>Off grid specialist</div><div>Rob Stubbins Electrical and Solar.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jul 18, 2018 at 1:28 PM, Mac Lewis <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:maclewis1@gmail.com" target="_blank">maclewis1@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Hi guys, <div><br></div><div>I appreciate the answers and comments.<br><div><br></div><div>However, I did find out from her that she had forgot to connect one of the strings back in. So maybe we are OK.</div></div><div><br></div><div>Thanks again</div></div><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Wed, Jul 18, 2018 at 11:16 AM Ray <<a href="mailto:ray@solarray.com" target="_blank">ray@solarray.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>Interstate is not a long life battery. 5 years is probably
getting near the end. As they age, they start using more water
which leads to running them dry, which leads to killing them even
quicker. The end of service for L16s is usually not pretty. I'd
be checking for dead cells, in addition to Steve Higgins's
recommendations. Whether she can recover them or not, its time to
at least start shopping for new batteries. As this continues,
they'll use more and more water, make more acid mess, and in
general not work as well from here on out. Then, cells will start
dying left and right, and it will get really miserable. Basically
it comes down to how long she is willing to suffer.<br>
</p>
<pre class="m_-5382131860009746833m_-366895533554615159moz-signature" cols="72">Ray Walters
Remote Solar
303 505-8760</pre>
<div class="m_-5382131860009746833m_-366895533554615159moz-cite-prefix">On 7/18/18 9:38 AM, Mac Lewis wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Hello Wrenches,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I have a homeowner client that takes pretty good care of
her batteries. She has a 5 year old set of Interstate L16s (2
strings of 8). However, she recently didn't water them for
longer than normal and they gulped up more distilled water
than usual (4 gallons). She was unsure if any of the plates
were exposed. She has reported that since she added the water
the battery bank has lost about 1.5-2V (48V bank) of her bank
voltage in the morning. She reported ~49.5V in the morning
before she added the water and now she is below 48V.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I have advised a good strong equalize charge to destratify
the electrolyte.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Will diluting the electrolyte make the voltage sag like
that? Is there any other advice you might give her until I
can get up there?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks</div>
<div><br clear="all">
<div><br>
</div>
-- <br>
<div dir="ltr" class="m_-5382131860009746833m_-366895533554615159gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
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<br>
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sans-serif" color="#000000"><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:arial;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(48,90,120)"><font face="'times new roman', serif">"Yo solo sé
que no sé nada." </font><span style="font-weight:700;color:rgb(104,104,104)"><font face="'times new roman', serif">-Sócrates</font></span></span></span></font></p>
</font></b></span></div>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="m_-5382131860009746833gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div><br></div><div><font color="#305A78" face="'times new roman', serif"><br></font></div><div><br></div>Mac Lewis<br><br><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;color:rgb(255,153,0)"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><p align="left"><font color="#000000" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:arial;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(48,90,120)"><font face="'times new roman', serif">"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." </font><span style="font-weight:700;color:rgb(104,104,104)"><font face="'times new roman', serif">-Sócrates</font></span></span></span></font></p></font></b></span></div>
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