Eric,
I have not been following this at all & here is my .02 - Load test Specific gravity test per cell. Volt per cell measurement at rest. Volt per cell measurement under as big a load as you can impose. Volt per cell measurement with as big a charge as you can impose. The voltage will drop off on bad or dying cells severely and out of line and in comparison with "good cells" & the voltage will jump up severely under charge. If you line up the measurements - SG, VPC/ rest, VPC/ load, VPC/ charge. It become visually clear if one or more is out of line. If your SG is 1000 - 1100 & all cells do not improve even after an EQ charge on the bank you probably are looking at replacement. ****Try a refractometer instead of a hydrometer easier, cleaner, less acid to play with unless you are so inclined, much more accurate, best of all refractometers do not break in the truck on the road or if someone tosses a tool in on top of them. Good luck! Dana Orzel - Great Solar Works, Inc - E - [email protected] - V 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 web - www.solarwork.com "Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988" Please consider the environment before printing this email NABCEP # 051112-136 From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris Mason Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 5:16 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Troubleshooting Off-grid PV...second try with server up If you suspect the batteries are floating high and not taking charge, why don't you load up the inverter and see how much power you are getting from the PV system when there the inverter is fully loaded? If the PV output loads up nicely, then your batteries are gone. On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 3:07 PM, Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems <[email protected]> wrote: Eric, To see the responses to your original post, go here: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Larry Crutcher Starlight Solar Power Systems On May 29, 2012, at 9:03 AM, SunHarvest wrote: Sorry. I have to re-post this as my local, small-town email provider's server crashed the day I sent this out. I couldn't receive any responses. Hi Wrenches, I inherited an off-grid PV system that seems to be significantly under producing. I have: 12 KC120's (~19V 7A each) paired up 2 in series, for 6 strings terminated on new 15A breakers in a new Midnite combiner, Output of combiner passes through a 60A breaker into a RV SolarBoost 50 charge controller. An SW4024 ties in the CC, a Kohler 8.5 Gen set, and a Yuasa 24V battery bank. My problem is that I never see more than about 5A (displayed at charge controller) coming off the array, even in full sun, regardless of the state of charge of the batteries. I figure I should see, at least once in a while, closer to between 20-30A. Batteries are, admittedly, passed their life expectancy as the system was installed in '02 and I am sure this is part of the problem. I'm thinking that if the batteries are at about 1/2 capacity (don't own a hydrometer...yet), the controller senses the batteries are near full SOC even at lower voltage (~24V) and is therefore attempting to trickle charge even in the bulk stage. Though this is not how the CC is supposed to function in bulk, obviously, I'm assuming the old batteries are altering the standard operating conditions of the system. I've adjusted the Bulk set point on the CC but that doesn't seem to make a difference. I doubt this is part of the problem but the generator is problematic as well (it has it's own array of maladies). Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks! Eric Stikes Owner SunHarvest Solar +1 (530) 798 - 3738 <tel:%2B1%20%28530%29%20798%20-%203738> www.harvesthesun.com _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ 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 -- Chris Mason President, Comet Systems Ltd [email protected] www.cometsystems.co Cell: 264.235.5670 Int: +1305.767.2094 Skype: netconcepts
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