This comes from Jeff Skelski a guy that has been involved for quite a few years w/ batteries, EVs & Jeff also works w/ a hi freq battery desulphator group. this is his response & contact info FMI.
[email protected] I have been using conductance technology for 10+ years and it is a great tool. I can test a bank of 24(up to 100) batteries is less than ten minutes and get a print-out. It is only a very good guide that has the advantage to be used without disconnecting anything. The more you use a conductance tester the easier it is to learn the short-comings. It has the ability to test a battery, or a bank that is not fully charged. It is also great for matching a used battery to an aged bank. It I have a question and suspect a particular battery, I still will use my carbon-pile or load bank along with other indicators. I have been using the Midtronics and am currently testing the Auto Meter. I use both Automotive and SLA(ah)units of different sizes. The prices do very but as the old adage goes you get what you pay for, my regular unit is an $800 Midtronics plus a $400 printer. I am not a part of the wrenches group, nor am I very good with email. I would love to join but probably can't as I am only a battery / energy guy. Jeff > -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dana Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 5:02 PM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: [RE-wrenches] FW: Battery impedance analyzers I forwarded this query to Rob Shappell of NWES here is his response. SEE Below. Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc www.solarwork.com E - [email protected] V - 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 "I'd put my money on solar energy. I hope we don't have to wait 'til oil and coal run out before we tackle that." -Thomas Edison, in conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, March 1931 From: Rob Shappell [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 2:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [RE-wrenches] Battery impedance analyzers Hi Dana, I have no direct information as to their abilities. What I can say is that we had a battery that looked like it was melted down, I'm talking about lead terminals that were drooping and melted!! They were cooked and starved of electrolyte! We replaced the batteries, but some how the cooked batteries got into the hands of a guy who had an impedance analyzers. He cleaned them up and did some testing and claimed that the batteries were all OK. Not long thereafter, the cooked batteries showed up on eBay. Not too long after that, we sold replacement cells...you be the judge. The battery industry is working on a reliable device that makes it much easier to determine the health of a battery, but I think it is hit and miss at this point in time. Rob Rob - do you have an answer for these boys? On Mar 27, 2009, at 6:19 AM, Travis Creswell wrote: Hi Larry, I've often wondered about them. My local battery "superstore" (everything from cell phone to golf carts) had been using them for the last few years to test automotive starter batteries and deep cycles but the last time I was in there I noticed they'd gone back to the old standby resistance/carbon pile style testers. I inquired and wasn't able to get any exacts but the summary was they were not happy with them. I'm curious to know your findings on both fronts. Best, Travis Creswell Ozark Energy Services www.ozarkenergyservices.com <http://www.ozarkenergyservices.com/> _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 7:08 PM To: RE-wrenches @lists.re-wrenches.org Subject: [ RE-wrenches ] Battery impedance analyzers Hello Wrenches, Is anyone using an impedance type battery analyzer for lead acid batteries? If so, what do you have and how has it worked out. I have seen prices from $200 to $7500 and I'm sure there is a world of difference. I have been using a pulser circuit I built about 4 years ago to restore nearly dead AGM batteries but I have not had any sophisticated method of verifying before and after performance. I perform a constant current equalization with no voltage limit and then leave the battery on the pulser for a few weeks. This works great and I have restored and sold a few used AGM batteries that would have gone to the recycler. Today our battery buyer just picked up another 15,400 lb. of batteries from us. Yep, they were mostly murdered! I would like to be able to restore more of them. _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
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