Hey Guys you do have some great points. Here are my comments. *Taking Readings while EQ'ing. *
Yes, this is not fun, and one of the big reasons I'm not a big fan of EQ'ing at all. As a matter of fact, I tell people all the time if you properly charge your battery bank on a regular basis, you should NEVER have to EQ. Last fall I retired a battery bank that was 8 S530's that were purchased in late 2002... This battery bank had been EQ'ed a total of two times, over the years and still had SG readings that were between 1.255 and 1.275. The capacity of the battery bank had fallen off over the past few years and was estimated to be around 60%. When you are EQing you should open all the doors and windows and get as much ventilation as possible. Even so, the Hydrogen-Sulfide case can give you headaches and other symptoms, In the last few years I have resulted using a full-face respirator mask when I work on battery banks as I'm too old and tired to deal with the symptoms of hydrogen gas inhalation. Even so, when you are EQ'ing you are often only checking the cells that you are attempting to balance, you are not checking the entire bank while under the EQ process. Normally this is only 3-4 cells at the most. When taking readings, I use a standard refractometer that is about 23 years old at this point. To collect the sample, I use a glass 8-inch stir stick (Chemistry Stir Stick) to take the drop of electrolyte out of the battery and place it on the slide of the refractometer read it, wipe it with a microfiber towel, and move on to the next cell. I can read a string of 24 cells in less than 9 mins if I'm taking my time, (I have done it in less than 7 mins). and I use an mp3 recorder or the audio recording function of my phone to record the sg readings. *Acid Stratification. * Stratification is an issue for some batteries not all. Rolls batteries are going to gas more and at a lower point than many of the batteries on the market today. Yes, we use more water, the reason for this is we use over 4.25% Antimony in our lead mix, most of our competition is around 1%. The reason for this is the higher antimony content lowers the gassing voltage. This will help mix the battery electrolyte, even when in float. Some companies even have tubes installed so you can inject air into them to help them mix. With this higher antimony content, I have only ever seen a Rolls Battery stratify when they sit in a warehouse for a long period of time. In today's world with the lead times from most battery manufacturers, this issue has pretty much gone away. Stratification can be an issue, but once you put the battery under a nominal Bulk/Absorb Cycle this should be enough to mix the electrolyte enough to get a consistent reading from a good quality hydrometer or refractometer. Try to keep your customers away from those EZ Red hydrometers, I like the refractometer because you can calibrate them and cleaning is easy. *Water Levels and Fill Levels* William, Yes and Yes... Water levels and, when you check the SG's will affect your readings. When I come to the battery room I will often spot check SG's before I add water and go thru the charging process, The after a charge I do a full recoding after the charge just before you top off. If you add enough to make sure you don't run them dry go thru a charging/EQ process and then add the 1-2 cups to finish the top off after you are finished isn't going to affect the SG's that much, maybe .0005 to .0010 points at the most. Now when you do EQ you definitely want to loosen the 1/4 turn bayonet caps, or flip caps. You want to do this because if you do get an ignition event and it's likely possible that you will at some point have this happen. The fumes you smell is hydrogen sulfide. The hydrogen gas fumes are very flammable, almost as flammable as gasoline fumes. So if you do have an ignition event you want the caps loose, you don't want to take them fully off, unless they are hydrocaps which will melt. The reason for this is compression! If you hold a firecracker in your open palm and light it what happens? You get 2nd-3rd degree burns and you may keep all your fingers. If you hold that same firecracker in a closed fist, what happens? It's a good chance you are going to lose fingers. When you get an ignition event on a battery, those fumes ignite and the ignited fumes trace back the source of those fumes. if the cap is in place there is enough compression to blow the top off the battery, if the cap is loose then it'll just flame out. While this flame out even is scary, loud, and may singe a few hairs the system should be okay with very little damage. <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> <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] <#SignatureSanitizer_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. 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If you receive this email in error, please contact the sender and delete or destroy this message and all copies. ------------------------------ On Tue, Feb 9, 2021 at 11:42 AM RE Ellison <[email protected]> wrote: > Probably preaching to the choir here and I’m sure not gonna argue with > Surrette > > But the purpose of equalization is to stir up the electrolyte so you have > the same strength from the top to the bottom > > Some of the older industrial cells had a tube where you could sample it > all the way down to the bottom and the top to see what the difference was > I have seen them but I’ve never used them in our industry, but it was an > interesting thought ! > > I have heard of batteries where they have taken them apart and had the > lower portion of the cells considerably more wore than the upper portion, > presumably from the electrolyte being stronger and never having been > stirred up by a good charge > > It seems that came from a class at Trojan many years ago but I could be > wrong > > Just my two cents worth and worth everything that you paid for it ! > > Bob Ellison > > > > On Feb 9, 2021, at 10:35 AM, Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > That does not sound best to me. I get the point but there are much > better > > ways. Not good for you to be close around a bank in EQ. If you are > checking > > water level every month the level should not be really low. You do this > in > > case you miss a cell a month back! You should be counting as the water > goes > > in to see if you have put about the same amount in. I have never noticed > > any advantage to mixing the cells after watering. They will get mixed the > > next day. If this concerned you, you could run a 30 minute absorb after > > watering. > > > > I like to EQ before watering so my customer does not over fill and start > > the corrosion process. Just open all of the cells and look before they > EQ. > > > > I also like to mark 2 of the lower SG cells and 2 of the good ones. This > > makes it easier for my clients to check the bank. Once every summer or 2 > > they need to look at all of the cells. Summer is best because it is the > > time when you can do long corrective EQ's if you find trouble. > > > > > > Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar > > "we go where powerlines don't" > > http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ > > e-mail [email protected] > > text 209 813 0060 > > > > On Tue, 9 Feb 2021 05:36:39 -0800, Mark Frye <[email protected]> > > wrote: > >> My Rolls manual says: > >> > >> "It is recommended to water the battery cells half way through the > >> equalization. This is to > >> assure the water is completely mixed into the electrolyte." > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> 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 > >> > >> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try > > the > >> other: > >> https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > >> > >> List rules & etiquette: > >> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > >> > >> Check out or update participant bios: > >> http://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 > > > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try > the other: > > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > > > List rules & etiquette: > > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > > > Check out or update participant bios: > > http://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 > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
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