Checking health of used 2 year old Trojan L-16H's

[Jedon]

I am going to go look at a battery + inverter system that is for sale locally and want any advice on how to make sure the batteries are in good shape. I read a couple other posts on the subject but they seemed to mostly take too long. Here is the listing:

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/ele/914273397.html

Text for archival purposes:

Complete inverter/battery system. System includes:

2. Xantrex SineWave Plus 5548 Inverters ("stacked" for 110v & 220v),
   
16. Trojan Deep Cycle Batteries-L16H,
    
    

Xantrex Service Disconnect,

cables & connectors.

I found in the Trojan documentation this:

Daily Charge: 59.2V

Float: 52.8V

Equalize: 62V

The Xantrex SW Plus 5548's have a readout, is there some useful information to be gleaned from them?

I just got my Metro Lister 6/1 with a ST-5 5KW head so this would complete my power system until I hook up the hydro, wind and solar.

Thank you!!

-Jedon

[zeusmorg]

 As to whether or not to buy the system, that would be your call. You may wish to read

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2008/7/7/20256/31335 (which is located in the FAQ section)

 That will cover the aspects of testing the battery bank.

 Buying used batteries is a decent way of getting batteries cheaper IF they have been well maintained and are in usable shape, however realize that their life expectancy has already been diminished.

 Any batteries or equipment should be fully tested to check it's state, as well as a good inspection to see if it has suffered any.

[dnix71]

Those Xantrex's are discontinued models, but are stackable and sine wave output.

If you needed the inverters alone, that would almost be worth it. They were about $7k new. What did he use to charge the batteries, solar? If you go over, see what they ran from the batteries. If it was just lights and a fridge, then they may be okay for another 2 years in light use.

http://www.sierrasolar.com/manufacturers.php?manufacturer_id=137

They do not grid-tie, according to specs. Maybe that's why they are being sold.

[scottsAI]

Jedon,

Prices have chanced in the last couple years.

Only price I can find on web is $700 for the L16H w 16x $11,000

Price for Xantrex SineWave Plus 5548 is $3500 each or $7,000.

Did not look up the connector box.

At $18k worth of stuff nice deal, assuming you need it all.

While waiting to be tied into PG&E's grid,

Suggests batteries were charged by a generator. Considering still want PG&E, not into RE.

Large home like that could use 1Mwhr/mo or 33kwhr/day. Considering what they were paying for their power expect using much less, 20-25kwhr/day.

Battery can store: 6v * 16 * 420 = 40,230whr. To 50% 20Kwhr.

This shows the generator was probably running 4-5 hrs every day or longer depending on the size of the generator. To limit to these hours, battery is only charged to 90%. Many more hours to "finish" the charge, required every few weeks.

Based on the above guessings, I think the batteries have been cycled 400 times.

Daily cycling is not bad as long as their charged back up each day. Forklift batteries are used in a similar manor, last for years!

Measure SG of each cell, water level, looks for swelling, do all the cell plates look the same?

Ask the guy about the generator, what size? Will give you an idea of the run time to charge. Then ask how often he did a finishing charge. If he does not know... unless the charger does it automatically, not good. I know nothing about the Xantrex SineWave Plus 5548 operations.

If you need both 5548, almost a good deal based just on them. (assuming the web price is right?)

Hope this helps?

Have fun,

Scott.

[Jedon]

Thank you all!

The batteries were charged from a 13KW Kubota Diesel generator.The seller says he performed equalization's on schedule and never let the charge go below 40%.

I know they ran a well off it as well.

[scottsAI]

Jedon,

Sounds like a good deal!

What you thinking?

Scott.

[Jedon]

I'm going to go take a look at them tomorrow ( bringing the trailer and cash ). If the batteries seem good and nothing seems suspect then I'll go for it.

Will my 4KW listeroid be able to fully charge those batteries? I'd probably run it 8-10 hours a day.

[dnix71]

Your Listeroid will charge them up according to how far you draw them down.

How many kw hours do you use each day?

[Jedon]

I don't know yet exactly but I estimate 400-500KWH/month so 13-15KWH/day about.

[scottsAI]

So how did it go?

[Jedon]

I talked him down to $3500 and loaded it all up, it's in my trailer waiting for me to take it out to the building site.

At that price the batteries were basically free so hopefully they work for a while.

[Jedon]

Here are some pictures before we tore it down.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jedon13/XantrexSWPlus5548SAndTrojanL16HS

[scottsAI]

Sweet deal!

Did you try to get his generator while you were at it!

How soon will you have it installed?

Have fun,

Scott.

[Jedon]

He already sold the generator, he was using a regular gas 6500W generator to charge them up once in a while.

I'm going to see how much I can get set up this weekend, I'll post more pictures probably on Wed.

[woodchips]

Hello, not mentioned in the FAQ section on batteries is cadmium testing. Bit involved to go in here but basically a cadmium rod forms a third terminal in the battery acid, and from measuring the voltage from cadmium to positive or negative the condtion of each plate can be clearly established.

Bob