Here's a thermal image from a recent inspection of 2 v Trojan L16REs.
Notice the normal batteries above and below, they are cool blue, running
around 75F
2 of the cells of the center battery are obviously shorted. Cell
voltage was 2.07 v compared to about 2.3 to 2.4 v for surrounding good
batteries. Dead cells are much easier to find on 6 v batteries. I
wouldn't have found this without the Flir 167.
About 1/4 of the batteries in this set had hot cells; 25 -30 deg F
warmer. Obviously time for some fresh lead. Owner couldn't recall how
old the set was, he thought 2 to 4 years. Rated at 1000 cycles to 80%
DOD, these Trojan RE batteries should do much better than that. I have
never been impressed with L16s anyway. John, my experience has also
been: higher Capacity = more premature cell failures.
R. Ray Walters
Chief Technical Officer, RemoteSolar.com
BS Mech Engineering, 1988
Former NABCEP Certified, 2004-2016
Licensed Master ELectrician, Colorado
303 505-8760
On 4/26/17 2:09 PM, John Blittersdorf wrote:
Wallace,
I installed some Interstate RE batteries (green case) L16's that
supposedly are made by US Battery. As with Trojan and other High
Capacity L16's I had several cell failures. I have always felt that
gleaning more amp hours from the same box must lead to cutting corners
on robustness. I have found that often when the batteries are full,
they work OK for awhile but as the voltage drops and the current flow
rises, the cell will eventually drop out. Other adjacent batteries in
the string often overcharge to compensate. In my case with the green
batteries, they were about 2 years old as well. I took them back to
my distributor and replaced them with standard L16's at a special pro
rated price. I have found that all lead acid batteries that have
problems seem to first have a cell failure somewhere along the line
and finally the capacity diminishes to the point that it is an
annoyance. Seems bad cells seem more numerous lately.
John Blittersdorf
Rob Stubbins Solar
On Wed, Apr 26, 2017 at 11:54 AM, Wallace Stahle <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hi Folks,
I was called by a customer with the complaint of the MS4024
inverter shut down and ME-ARC controller and Trimetric acting
strange, intermittent and even even showing 29 volts at times.
The batteries are four 2.5 year old US battery L16XC 380 AH and
checking each battery showed one at 4.8 v under charge while the
other three were at 7+ volts and no current.
Meanwhile the specific gravity was high on all cells and even a
week after removal are up at 1.275 on all three cells.
I suspect an open in the cell interconnects with enough continuity
to read volts but not conduct current.
My question is what have any of you seen n this regard and any
knowledge of cause of such a failure.
Your insights and experience are greatly appreciated.
They were installed by others and are out of warranty. I donated a
serviceable used USB L16 to get her back to a working system.
She did recall her Ex stating along the lines of "oh this one has
a problem but dont worry, it'll come around" as they were installed.
Many thanks,
Wallace Stahle
Future Electric Energy Co
P O Box 236
Willits, CA 95490
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
CA Lic.# C10-762093
707-459-0474 <tel:707-459-0474>
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