Ray, I had a very similar thing happen with a set of 24, 2 volt 5000series Rolls batteries about 13 years ago. When I picked up the batteries I wasn't savvy enough to check the dates stamped on the Battery lugs until years later I started having problems with charging, water consumption, SG readings. I was keeping very good records and taking excellent care of the batteries. It wasn't until one of the batteries failed that I checked the dates.... as I recall they varied by more than a year and there were three different date codes. Was the distributor topping up the older cells with his handy-dandy 2 volt non-existent battery charger? I doubt it. After the second failure and other cells looking suspicious I recycled that set and went to l-ion. The first replaced cell was warranted, the rest was on me. EXPENSIVE and time consuming lesson learned.
After that I told my distributor same date codes or I'm not interested. Bill Feather River Solar Electric 5575 Genesee Rd.(billing, USPS, UPS, FedEx) 4291 Nelson St. (freight delivery) Taylorsville, CA 95983 530.284.7849, 530.258.1641 cell CA C10 Lic# 874049 Solar Powered since 1982 From: "Jay" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Sent: Monday, September 21, 2026 2:29:34 PM Subject: Re: [Re-wrenches] Rolls Warranty? 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 On Sep 21, 2026, at 2:27 PM, Ray Walters <[email protected]> wrote: BQ_BEGIN 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: BQ_BEGIN 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 Were all of the connections shiny bright when originally made up?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 [ http://www.millersolar.com/ | www.millersolar.com ] On Mon, Sep 21, 2026 at 12:32 PM Ray Walters < [ mailto:[email protected] | [email protected] ] > wrote: BQ_BEGIN 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 > [ http://www.millersolar.com/ | www.millersolar.com ] > CA License C-10 77398 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: RE-Wrenches [mailto: [ mailto:[email protected] > | [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. > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: [ http://re-wrenches.org/ | > http://re-wrenches.org ] > > List Address: [ mailto:[email protected] | > [email protected] ] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > [ > https://lists.re-wrenches.org/mailman/options/re-wrenches_lists.re-wrenches.org/ > | > https://lists.re-wrenches.org/mailman/options/re-wrenches_lists.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]/ | > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ ] > [ https://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches_lists.re-wrenches.org/ > | https://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches_lists.re-wrenches.org/ > ] > > List rules & etiquette: > [ http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm | > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm ] > > Check out or update participant bios: > [ http://www.members.re-wrenches.org/ | http://www.members.re-wrenches.org ] _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance Pay optional member dues here: [ http://re-wrenches.org/ | http://re-wrenches.org ] List Address: [ mailto:[email protected] | [email protected] ] Change listserver email address & settings: [ https://lists.re-wrenches.org/mailman/options/re-wrenches_lists.re-wrenches.org/ | https://lists.re-wrenches.org/mailman/options/re-wrenches_lists.re-wrenches.org/ ] There are two list archives for searching. 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