Chris,
Look for hair-like cracks around the cell terminals. The cracks are failure
indicators caused by temperature swings. In Malibu California, a 75 kWh,
48-volt Absolyte battery bank failed after 4 years. Malibu has a very mild
climate but temperature in the uninsulated equipment room ranged from 40 F in
winter to 90 F in summer. The PV system is grid connected with battery backup.
Absolytes were used to replace an IBE battery bank because no one was watering
the IBE cells. Two years ago, the Absolytes were replaced with a new IBE
battery bank that is inspected and watered every 6 months.
Joel Davidson
----- Original Message -----
From: mac Lewis
To: RE-wrenches
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 7:08 AM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Absolyte recovery
Hi Chris,
I suspect that the charger in the Apollo Inverter/Charger is undersized,
especially since all of the loads are -48V. Conversely, the array is very
oversized and the controllers float most of the time. The charge controllers
were working fine last I checked. It's difficult to access the site right now,
it includes a 30 mile snow mobile ride. We intended to put a comprehensive
remote monitoring system but it didn't get put in before the snow came. I want
to get up there and help the system limp along until snow melt when we can do a
thorough assessment.
The generator guy went up there and someone had pulled the stop switch on the
genset. The battery voltage was around 5V on a 48V bank. Yikes!
Thanks for the contact info.
On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 2:13 PM, Chris <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Mac,
We had a cell failure on an Absolyte system we inherited and contacted;
Jeff Lambert
Product Support and Warranty
East Penn Mfg. Co., Inc. - Unigy Battery Division
( Office: (610) 682 – 6361 ext. 2848 | ÈCell: (484) 955 – 2899 | ÇPage:
888-797-8039 (If no answer on Cell) | * Email: [email protected]
Jeff was very helpful.
I do wonder if your charge controllers are getting the array power out to
the battery bank, was there any damage to them too? Is the Apollo 4048
inverter/charger doing its job, is it undersized for the size of battery bank?
Sincerely,
Chris Worcester
Solar Wind Works
NABCEP Certified PV Installer
Phone: 530-582-4503
Fax: 530-582-4603
www.solarwindworks.com
[email protected]
"Proven Energy Solutions"
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of mac Lewis
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 12:43 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Absolyte recovery
Wrenches,
We have inherited a Telecomm system in which the batteries have had a very
hard life. A lighting strike knocked the system off line for about 5 months,
and ground fault dragged the batteries way down about a month ago. Now, we are
seeing about 10h of generator run time/day indicating to me that the batteries
are not holding voltage at all.
I am uncertain of the exact specs at this moment, but it is a 24 Absolyte
IIP batteries (5 years old), with a 5 kW array, two Apollo T80HV charge
controllers and an Apollo 4048 inverter charger.
I don't have experience with these batteries. Is there any way to try to
recover these batteries? Any good contacts with GNB would be useful.
Thanks
Wrenches,
We have inherited a Telecomm system in which the batteries have had a
very hard life.
--
Mac Lewis
"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates
--
Mac Lewis
"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates
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Mac Lewis
"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates
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