All,
I recently overhauled my house battery installation and what I did might help
others.
I had some years ago built a battery box of 3/4" plywood with the inside
surfaces having Formica contact cemented to the plywood. The box was sized to
accommodate three pair of Trojan L-16 batteries side-by-side and the plywood
fastened together with epoxy and deck screws. The seams also filleted with
silicone rubber caulk.
The space for the third pair of L-16s is used for supplies, hydrometer, pulser,
distilled water, baking soda, etc. with a bulkhead holding the two pair of
L-16s in place. For years I just had the box secured horizontally and a piece
of peg-board for a cover.
Last winter I overhauled the box and discovered that water spilled during
watering the batteries caused some damage in the bottom of the box so I
fiberglassed the inside of the box up to about a half a foot above the bottom.
When I reinstalled the box I notched the ends to accommodate two lengths of 1
1/2" x 1/4" steel angle iron, each end of which is secured to the deck with a
length of 1/2" threaded rod. There is a 1" x 1" spacer between the angle iron
and the battery made of that plastic synthetic "wood" made for building decks.
This rig should keep the batteries in place even in the event of a rollover or
any lesser gyrations.
I also made a substantial cover that fits down over extensions of the four
threaded rods at the corners. So far I have not put hold-down nuts to hold the
cover thinking that in the case of an explosion it would be better to allow the
cover to pop off rather that do more serious overpressure damage to the box.
On the storage compartment end of the box I made a 3" hole (and a corresponding
hole in the opposite end) and installed a muffin fan ("computer" fan) to
ventilate the box when charging. My Trace inverter has three 12 V relays I can
program to turn on and off at whatever voltage levels I wish so I use one to
turn the fan on when it sees charging voltage levels and blow air through the
box. I considered venting the discharge outside but the battery bank has
worked fine without such venting for many years so I demurred on this.
There is a little space between the individual batteries and the batteries and
the box, enough to allow me to put 1/8" wood spacers (pieces of a yardstick) in
the spaces to provide an air space around each battery. A ss sheet metal screw
in each spacer keeps it from sliding down. Baffles inside the box direct air
around the batteries and out the discharge hole. I am hoping this will add a
little more longevity to the batteries.
I got about five years from my last bank before cells started shorting.
I did notice that the Conventional Wisdom a la Richard Perez (creator and Chief
Editor of Home Power magazine) has now changed from a 50% discharge floor to
30% with equalizing a daily, weekly and monthly event.
Norm
S/V Bandersnatch
Lying Gloucester MA
----- Original Message -----
From: Alan Lewis
To: [email protected]
Sent: 7/8/2009 7:21:12 AM
Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Trojan Batteries
I just replaced my two Trojan T-105 banks with new ones. The old banks lasted
5 and 7 years respectively; they were no longer taking a full charge. I am
using one of the old banks on my home generator and it still works well. The
new T-105's have the captive caps, a nice feature (called T-105+). At $125
apiece, I couldn't justify spending more for AGM's (a 3X cost differential) or
gel cells (a 4X cost differential).
I have had Trojans fail prematurely in the past, but always due to suspected
misuse (physical shock or overcharging). And I'm sure they sometimes produce a
faulty battery. But in 30 years, I have had good luck with them.
Alan Lewis
"Victoria"
Gulfstar 41 #160
Lying Kittery, ME
K1ALL
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