MessageI would be very curious to hear THE battery company's, or any battery company's, interest in warranty on a system where the strings of batteries are paralleled through a buss bar rather than physically through the bank. The vulnerability to failure of an off-grid system with only one or two series strings is high enough to be a concern. Then there's also the not un-trivial issue of handling large batteries safely.
From: Tump Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 2:32 AM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Strings and series of batteries Surrette Battery, THE battery company suggests NO MORE the 3 parallel in a string & would like to see 2 preferably. If there are more the 3 then they really not interested in warrantee issues. Jamie where are you?????? Now a days there are plenty of options for a good size/AH BB that can be configured in 1 or 2 parallel strings. Its just that us old guys are having a harder time w/ gravity! t...@swnl.net www.SWNL.net Solarwinds Northernlights Serving Mid Coast Maine & Northern California Me.# 207-832-7574 Cl.# 610-517-8401 Blair "TUMP" May ******** MAINE'S CHARTER ******** NABCEP "Certified PV Installer" ******** MAINE'S CHARTER ******** Trace Xantrex "Certified" Dealer / Installer" -----Original Message----- From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Dana Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 12:58 PM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: [RE-wrenches] Strings and series of batteries On a similar subject here - Long ago, I had a Trojan battery rep. state that they did not like to see more than [12] L-16s in a series -parallel bank system. This was due to too many points of connection / resistance and bad communication due to multiple flow paths. Has anyone else heard similar or contrary information/recommendations? Thanks Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc www.solarwork.com E - d...@solarwork.com V - 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 I will be the shift in how the world uses power! - Dana Orzel From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 10:42 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] concord batteries, EQUALIZE Them! If the 180 watt panel will provide enough current to run the recovery process, then give it a try. What I expect is that your current will vary throughout the day. Not sure if this is a critical point or if it will just prolong the process. Pay attention to the temperature. I use a laser temp probe on the terminals every 30 minutes to verify. Another thing to monitor is the current. It will probably start very low and build over time due to high resistance from sulfated plates. During this time the voltage might get really high and then lower some. Don't worry about the voltage. After a while the current will begin to drop. This means the recovery process is working. I just realized that this battery bank must be 4 in series and ten parallel strings. This is a horrible design that can never work right without extensive monthly maintenance. The strings with higher resistance will not be charged properly. Because of this, many strings will be undercharged every day. EVERY day! So even if you recover these batteries, someone will need to test and equalize at least every month. I really want to stress this point as multiple parallel batteries are the ruin and waste of many thousands of tons of batteries each year. I never design for more than two strings in parallel. Do this and be happy. Larry Crutcher www.starlightsolar.com la...@starlightsolar.com (928) 941-1660 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.709 / Virus Database: 270.14.89/2539 - Release Date: 12/01/09 09:32:00
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