I have in the past run a 48v system on 7 x 6v batteries. Because you know refrigeration and life.
Adjust the charge parameters correctly and set the inverter LBCO as low as it will go. It’ll work.
My only advice is the charge the new battery to 100% and make sure the others are as full as you can do.
Jay
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originally made up?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?
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
> 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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