Mac, I was about to ditto Ray with his more common than I would like scenario of battery death when I saw your mention of the 2nd string not connected. It is always nice to see a solution that is simple and should have been considered, but wasn't. The assumption with battery issues usually is that they are actually hooked up! I often thought that it would be worth the money to supply a cheap AC/DC clamp meter with every installation so that a phone consultation could quickly determine if the strings were unbalanced and what might be the reason. Bad cells and bad connection will usually show up in a current check and then a quick voltage check of each battery with a load on the system will show the culprit if a bad cell and corrosion present might find the bad connection. I use Interstate L16's most of the time and find that the life is typically 6 years. I used to call them a 7 to 10 year battery but kept racheting back the claim until I now call them a 5 to 7 year battery with more if properly maintained. I have seen 10 years but it is rare.
John Blittersdorf Off grid specialist Rob Stubbins Electrical and Solar. On Wed, Jul 18, 2018 at 1:28 PM, Mac Lewis <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi guys, > > I appreciate the answers and comments. > > However, I did find out from her that she had forgot to connect one of the > strings back in. So maybe we are OK. > > Thanks again > > On Wed, Jul 18, 2018 at 11:16 AM Ray <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Interstate is not a long life battery. 5 years is probably getting near >> the end. As they age, they start using more water which leads to running >> them dry, which leads to killing them even quicker. The end of service for >> L16s is usually not pretty. I'd be checking for dead cells, in addition to >> Steve Higgins's recommendations. Whether she can recover them or not, its >> time to at least start shopping for new batteries. As this continues, >> they'll use more and more water, make more acid mess, and in general not >> work as well from here on out. Then, cells will start dying left and >> right, and it will get really miserable. Basically it comes down to how >> long she is willing to suffer. >> >> Ray Walters >> Remote Solar >> 303 505-8760 >> >> On 7/18/18 9:38 AM, Mac Lewis wrote: >> >> Hello Wrenches, >> >> I have a homeowner client that takes pretty good care of her batteries. >> She has a 5 year old set of Interstate L16s (2 strings of 8). However, she >> recently didn't water them for longer than normal and they gulped up more >> distilled water than usual (4 gallons). She was unsure if any of the >> plates were exposed. She has reported that since she added the water the >> battery bank has lost about 1.5-2V (48V bank) of her bank voltage in the >> morning. She reported ~49.5V in the morning before she added the water and >> now she is below 48V. >> >> I have advised a good strong equalize charge to destratify the >> electrolyte. >> >> Will diluting the electrolyte make the voltage sag like that? Is there >> any other advice you might give her until I can get up there? >> >> Thanks >> >> >> -- >> >> >> >> Mac Lewis >> >> * "Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates * >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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]. >> org/maillist.html >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> > > -- > > > > Mac Lewis > > *"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates* > > _______________________________________________ > 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]. > org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > >
_______________________________________________ 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
