Oh, you could kill a battery in 6 months if you let it run dry, and kept
overcharging it. Its not a bad battery bank, all other cells are
sitting at full SG, with one cell out of the 24 being almost pure water.
I just talked to Steve H, he's working with us on expediting the
replacement. We are converging on the possibility of distributor
neglect, this might have been a mixed set sitting for a long time,
uncharged at the warehouse. That's beyond Roll's control to some
extent, and they've since dropped their relationship with that
distributor for similar issues.
Ray
On 9/21/2026 2:03 PM, William Miller wrote:
Ray:
It is possible to destroy a battery array in 15 months. Do you have
logs of the battery array voltage over that 15 months? Were all of
the connections shiny bright when originally made up? Is there a back
up generator on auto start for inclement weather lasting more than 24
hours?
These are all factors.
William Miller
Miller Solar.com
805-438-5600
www.millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com>
On Mon, Sep 21, 2026 at 12:32 PM Ray Walters <[email protected]> wrote:
I get it, there are some real idiots installing batteries, and then
expecting a whole new battery bank after 5 years. I've done a
fair bit
of tech support for battery issues in the HUP days, and usually if I
spent some time going through their charge settings, and seeing if
the
system was coming to full charge regularly, we could take care of the
problem. Otherwise we could gently convince them that their long
term
negligence had led to the problem.
This is a much different situation. It's a single dead cell, 15
months
after installation on a part time cabin; the batteries sit at full
charge half the time. I am already considering my time on the issue,
and making just one trip out is the only smart business move.
Steve Higgins is already dutifully looking into it, we'll see what he
has to share.
The real question is:
Is FLA battery quality fading as production slows? or are they
possibly
now sitting too long on warehouse shelves?
Once again, the warranty service we need throughout the solar
industry is:
1) charge a credit card deposit,
2) Provide us an immediate replacement,
3) when we return the faulty unit,
4) they can do an autopsy, and determine fault.
Ray
On 9/21/2026 11:46 AM, William Miller wrote:
> Ray:
>
> I once submitted a warranty claim to Rolls which was rejected.
There was a
> valid reason the claim was rejected along with some very suspect
reasons.
> For example I was told that temperature compensation settings in
the charge
> controllers did not meet spec, which was true, However the
temp. comp.
> settings I used were more conservative than required. I
acknowledged the
> valid reason and dropped my claim.
>
> I have had many occasions where a client has asserted that
batteries did not
> meet performance or longevity expectations and asked for
warranty relief.
> My personal criteria is for the claim to include logging to
prove the
> batteries were consistently charged sufficiently and never
over-discharged.
> It should not matter one rip how the battery charge was
maintained, be it by
> generator, grid, solar, thermonuclear reaction or black magic.
>
> It sounds like Rolls may be trying to duck the claim by asking
irrelevant
> questions and making the process overly tedious. Good luck.
>
> William Miller
>
> William Miller
> Miller Solar
> www.millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com>
> CA License C-10 77398
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: RE-Wrenches
[mailto:[email protected]] On
> Behalf Of Ray Walters
> Sent: Monday, September 21, 2026 10:03 AM
> To: 'RE-wrenches'
> Subject: [Re-wrenches] Rolls Warranty?
>
> Greetings Wrenches and Steve Higgins;
>
> I'm having an issue with a recently installed single series
string 48 v of
> Rolls S6 L16s. They are just over a year old, and we already
have a dead
> cell in one of the batteries. My local supplier already gave us
the pass,
> so we're going through the truly onerous warranty process
directly with
> Rolls. They are literally asking for serial #s of the solar
panels! Their
> online support portal is rough, it doesn't even have Outback on
the drop
> down menu of inverters, and literally won't let me submit the
info without
> choosing the inverter.
>
> We already filled out the and submitted the PDF form, but the
portal wants
> me to reenter all the info again. Seems the idea is to waste so
much time
> and energy, that we run away screaming and buy replacement
batteries on our
> own. I now have several hours of my time and my customer's time
wasted on
> what is an obvious manufacture defect.
>
> First: In 30 years in the industry, I have not had bad cells in
the first
> year. This is not a good omen for the already dimming future of FLA
> batteries. Rolls L16s Did have a decent reputation.
>
> Second; I understand Rolls needs to weed out all the DIYers
that trashed
> their batteries, but I'm a very long time reliable professional
installer,
> and I need a replacement battery immediately. This is a single
string, and
> we can't just rewire around the bad cell. Our Denver local
supplier:
> Continental Battery Systems quit carrying Rolls, or any L16s
now. We are
> totally dead in the water with this system, and very frustrated
with both
> Rolls and my long time supply chain.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ray Walters
> Solarray, inc.
>
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