Hey Wrenches! That Camera it a FLIR-One.
https://www.amazon.com/FLIR-ONE-Thermal-Imager-Android/dp/B0 0W5PRY52/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1532009331&sr=8-5&keywords=flir+one+android I bought mine a couple of years ago... at the time they were $350.00... now the older models are cheaper... There is a Flir One Pro now that has some newer features... It plugs into my tablet and has an independent FLIR camera and overlays the flir image over the normal camera image. It has saved my bacon many times. Especially when it comes to checking connections, or individual battery issues. While a battery that has been run partially dry isn't the best thing to do for the battery, it's also not the absolute end of the world. When it goes dry the plates are exposed to air, it's going to take a while for those plates oxidize, or corrode... once they've oxidized, or corroded you've lost that capacity from the battery. Depending on how long they were dry also matters some manufactures envelope their plates, this also helps prevent from going totally dry... As those age you will slowly notice say 12-36 months depending on how long they were dry you will still lose capacity so eventually you'll have to replace the cell or bank depending on of course how bad the damage is.. Here are some pictures... I put them on Google Drive sorry my first email didn't go thru due to being too large. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nYTRTQ8BJBJ6xlFnk0km9Gl7jQdCDtHY?usp=sharing Here is what we see when you do run them dry On the Pictures ending with 083113 and 083226... This is a picture of what the plates look like when you've run them dry, you can see the water line. The next picture (flir_20171115T045746) is a battery bank under charge you can see the second battery from the left is overall getting warmer than the rest of the batteries. If this was a shorted separator, or cell you'd see a hot spot in the battery, since the the heating is uniform throughout the battery, this battery getting hot due to an overall increased resistance in regards to the rest of the bank. This battery has developed a bit higher internal resistance (sulfation) and is more resistive to charge than the rest of the battery bank. You can also see some loose connections, it's fun to show that to the installer or customer after they tell you that "of course I tightened the connections"... When I commission a bank, or am involved in recovering a bank the first few charge cycles I'll watch these connections, and often you see these loosen up... Having the FLIR lets you see where your connections are not so good so you can clean them up. The picture (2015-04-30 Mfangano Island 020 infrared) is an example of a short internally. As for parallel strings, yes my personal opinion is no more than two parallel strings, I don't see why guys do 3 strings 6v L16 for 24 and 48 volt banks... Once you go with 12- 6 volt batteries (3 Parallel Strings) why not use 12 2v batteries? Same for the 48 volt systems... Once you get to 24 6v L16's.. You could have gone with 24 2v batteries and had a much more efficient charging system. If I do ever get involved with banks with 2 or more strings, I will generally recommend bus bars over cables and main positive/negative buses with each parallel string (Over 2) fused with a class T fuse block and a shunt on each string if you need to monitor current in each string. As mentioned earlier, watching this current often aids in troubleshooting lead acid battery problems quickly. <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> Steve Higgins ⋅ Technical Services Manager t +1.902.597.4020 m +1.206.790.5840 f +1.902.597.8447 e [email protected] <#UNIQUE_ID_SafeHtmlFilter_> <http://www.facebook.com/RollsBattery> <http://www.facebook.com/RollsBattery> <http://www.twitter.com/RollsBattery> <https://www.youtube.com/user/RollsBattery> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/rolls-battery-engineering> <http://www.instagram.com/RollsBattery> <http://www.instagram.com/RollsBattery> <http://www.instagram.com/RollsBattery> ------------------------------ CONFIDENTIALITY: The information transmitted herein is intended only for the addressee and may contain confidential, proprietary and/or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, distribution or other use of or the taking of any action in reliance upon this information is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please contact the sender and delete or destroy this message and all copies. ------------------------------ On Thu, Jul 19, 2018 at 9:40 AM, Ray <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm sure part of the problem is no load current circulation, but much of > the problem can be seen with a clamp on meter while charging. I've seen > parallel strings pulling 10 amps on one string and 1 amp on the far end. > Not subtle at all, and very easy to understand why it would lead to unequal > battery charging. Let us know William what you find out with your extra > shunts; we always appreciate your keen mind and desire to get to the root > of the problem in a no nonsense manner. I think resistance checks of the > batteries and arranging the batteries into strings of equal resistance > might help too, but yes, less parallel strings is better. > > Ray Walters > Remote Solar > 303 505-8760 > > On 7/18/18 7:33 PM, William Miller wrote: > > Colleagues: > > > > I believe that circulating currents in multi-string battery installations > are a major cause of premature failure of such a system. I think it is > important to monitor these currents. Most telling would be checking these > currents in an at-rest scenario. It would be helpful to have a baseline at > install and then check periodically. > > > > Measuring these currents with any type of DC clamp-on meter can be > inaccurate at best. In a conversation with Steve Higgins at a recent trade > show I came up with this idea that may have some merit: If an install has > more than one string of batteries, install an appropriately sized shunt in > the negative lead of each string. At any later date you can apply any > decent voltmeter with a millivolt scale and check for battery string > imbalance with some degree of accuracy. Shunts are cheap and readily > available and if you avoid the brand that Outback uses in the Radian GSLC > cabinets, they are relatively rugged. > > > > We will be trying this in any future install with multiple strings, > although we avoid this if at all possible. > > > > William Miller > > > > [image: Gradient Cap_mini] > Lic 773985 > millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/> > 805-438-5600 > > > > *From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *John Blittersdorf > *Sent:* Wednesday, July 18, 2018 6:24 PM > *To:* RE-wrenches > *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Electrolyte Dilution vs Voltage > > > > 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > >
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