Hello wrenches, I inspected a system that another company had installed. It had single string of 12 x Trojan L16RE-2V batteries about 2 years old. They had experienced a battery melt-down. It looks as though the meltdown had occurred internally, not from a bad connection.
The system was dual stack Outback VFXR-3524A inverters (to be precise one was a sealed unit). The set-points were as follows: Absorb Voltage was 29.8V Absorb Time was 6.0 hours Float Voltage was 27.0V Rebulk Voltage was 27.0V End Amps was 0A These settings extended similarly to 2 x FM80 charge controllers. I was able to jumper the melted battery and get her power in 15 minutes. Her installer had left her without power for 2 weeks. My clients will kill me if that happened! Anyway, I believe these set-points are way out of whack and too aggressive. The voltage is OK (Trojan recommends ~29.6V for this) but the Absorb time seems way too long, Rebulk is too high and end amps isn't helping. However, Im not finding a definitive article from Trojan that describes typical Absorb times or even how to adjust towards a good Absorb Time, based on specific gravity measurements or amperage absorption. My diagnosis is that these batteries have been cooked over the past 2 years. In the electrolyte, there is noticeable "floaties". The client said that the original installer had accused her of not using distilled water, but I don't believe that would cause her symptoms. I believe the floaties are plate material. I'd be interested in wrenches opinions familiar with these batteries if these are appropriate settings for a low energy user. I will attempt to get through to Trojan as well. Thanks in advance -- Mac Lewis *"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates*
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