Yes, Bill, but it seems that the manufacturers are over eating as the excrement is happening with much greater frequency. It’s interesting that I’m not seeing this problem with the Trojan T-105 Plus. We sell about 3 pallet loads of those each season.
Larry On Nov 23, 2015, at 9:25 AM, Feather River Solar Electric <[email protected]> wrote: Dan, Larry, I just had a S-460 do exactly the same thing, bank of 8, good maintenance, light usage, one battery with 2 cells at 1.270, one at "zero" Surrette was low hassle and prompt with free replacement. As someone notable once said "excrement occurs". Bill <FRS_working_logo, 50%.JPG> On 11/23/2015 6:42 AM, Starlight Solar Power Systems wrote: > Dan, > > Last week I had a 3+ year old Trojan L16H-AC with one dead middle cell, SG > shows water. The bank has 8 batteries and the customer is diligent about > maintenance and charging. I wish I knew why this happens but it seems over > the last few years like there is a pattern with Trojan L16’s. > > Larry > > > On Nov 22, 2015, at 7:49 AM, Dan Fink < > <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > wrote: > > Esteemed Wrenches; > > I'm looking for input on what could be going on with a battery bank at the > college I teach for. It's a stand-alone system with 4 Trojan 12v T-1275 in > series / parallel for 24v, 660w of PV, running only a drainback solar hot > water system for space heating. So, 3 pumps and 3 DTCs, max load 100 watts > and doesn't run all that often, outback CC is usually in float. The batteries > are only 2.5 years old and are regularly maintained. > > My lab class tested and maintained the battery bank last week, and on one > battery there was one cell, in the middle of the battery, with a SG so low it > wouldn't even register on our refractometer or midnite hydrometer. That > battery reads about 0.2v lower than the others. All the other cells in that > battery read reasonable SG, with 2 cells on the downstream side reading SG > slightly low, but still in reasonable range. This was of course all before > topping up the electrolyte with distilled water. > > Our troubleshooting exercise looked at: > ~ Measurement error? Nope, I was right there supervising and 2 different lab > classes got the same results with 2 different instruments; > ~ Stratification? A suspicion especially since the system is usually in > float. We equalized twice, no change in SG. I DID hear that likely this was > the first time the batteries had ever been equalized, but no way to know for > sure. > ~ Spilled electrolyte from tipped battery replaced with water by a previous > instructor's class? Can't see this, all the other cells would have lost > electrolyte too; > ~ A student accidentally discharged electrolyte into the bucket instead of > back in the cell, then was replaced by distilled water when topping up? I > can't see that either, the midnite hydrometer needs only a small sample. > > So, I'm left with "likely we have a cell that is failing for some reason" and > students secretly smug that the professor is also stumped. > > Any ideas? > > > Dan Fink > Adjunct Professor, Ecotech Institute > IREC Certified Instructor™ for: > ~ PV Installation Professional > ~ Small Wind Installer > Executive Director, Buckville Energy > NABCEP Accredited Continuing Education Providers™ > 970.672.4342 <tel:970.672.4342> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org> > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm <http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm> > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org/> > -- Feather River Solar Electric Bill Battagin, Owner 4291 Nelson St. Taylorsville, CA 95983 530.284.7849 CA Lic 874049 www.frenergy.net <http://www.frenergy.net/> <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: [email protected] Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
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