[RE-wrenches] FullRiver battery question

[Starlight Solar Power Systems]

Let me confirm what William has shared about Deka/MK 8D AGM batteries; they have a very high failure rate. We saw over 40% fail within 2-3 years of installation. Deka would not own up to the problem and offered no compensation.

Fullriver has been the finest AGM we have ever sold. All DC models are excellent. We especially like the 2 volt L-16’s for high capacity systems. We had one failure, and I know of one other, where L16 batteries went into thermal runaway. The cases welded together. After fully testing the power system that we designed and installed, we found no problem. Fullriver would not offer any help or replacement. 

Our installations are 100% battery based. When I do see failures I have many other identical power systems to compare with (in the thousands, we do 5-8 per week) and this helps me make sound judgements about our findings. 

Larry Crutcher

3 year old Deka 8D


1.5 year old Fullriver L-16



On Nov 28, 2018, at 11:43 PM, William Miller <william at millersolar.com> wrote:

Allan:

We have had poor luck with the 8D AGM batteries (MK/Deka).  Many of them have had short life spans along with swelling, heating and even exploding.  Your point about the inefficient footprint is right on.

I have minimal experience with Full River.  I have seen a set fail, but heck, anyone can do that in a hurry.

When footprint is an issue, we have gone to racked AGMs, like the Deka Unigy.  Now to get higher voltages might require custom racking, but the cells come in lots of sizes and shapes, physically and in capacity.  It may be worth checking into the size of a 400 AH Unigy cell and see how they rack up.  I don’t have but a smattering of drawings for the models we have purchased, but my cursory look indicates you won’t save on volume or dollars,  but you may gain a smaller footprint with some Unigy racks in series.

William

<image002.jpg>
Lic 773985
millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/>
805-438-5600
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