Author Topic: My new battery bank  (Read 7610 times)

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bamfords54

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My new battery bank
« on: November 16, 2010, 10:41:36 PM »
hey all, I broke down and bought a new battery bank. It is an absolite GNB 1000 amp hour 24v. Actually, it is used but in very good condition. My question is what do I need to set my charge points for this battery? I couldn't find any info online maybe I didn't look long enough. Thanks.

dapdan

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #1 on: November 17, 2010, 07:42:44 AM »
Try this link. Click on the tab labeled documents and you will find a pdf with the info you need. good luck.

http://www.altestore.com/store/Deep-Cycle-Batteries/Batteries-Sealed-Agm/GNB-Absolyte-Iip-3-100A17-6V-800Ah/p6114/

Cheers...
Damani

SparWeb

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2010, 03:36:44 PM »
You will also find the manufacturer's website useful:

http://industrialenergy.exide.com/index_r.asp?lng=en&area=np&gnb=2

Absolyte is under the right-hand column brands.
You can download more detailed performance tables (if you want), and much more useful is the operating + installation manual there.

Answers all your questions.  You've bought maybe the best batteries out there.  DON'T tell me how much you paid  ;)
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
www.sparweb.ca

dapdan

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2010, 04:14:27 PM »
I agree with Web. I call them the rolls-royce of batteries.

Cheers...
Damani

TomW

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2010, 05:28:11 PM »
I agree with Web. I call them the rolls-royce of batteries.

Cheers...
Damani

Me Three.

Sure like mine.

 ;D ;D ;D

Tom

PeterDe

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2010, 09:28:59 AM »
With your new "used" absolyte battery while it may seem to be in good condition, it most likely has off gassed considerably and will need the water replenished that has gone from the dilute sulfuric acid that is in it.  If you have not yet put it on charge measure and record the individual cell voltages, be sure and use a DVM that will give you three digits to the right of the decimal.  For example 2.102 which will tell you that the battery has sat off charge for some amount of time and is most likely partially discharged.  The next step should be to give it a high rate charge of somewhere between 2.4 and 2.5 volts per cell.  When you do this charge you will want to keep and eye on the cell temperatures and you should charge at this voltage for at least 24 hours.  Then let the battery set off charge for a couple days and again measure and record the cell votages.  Remember the universal rule for lead acid batteries.  Acid density + 0.845 = open circuit cell voltage.  So if you measure for example 2.207 this will mean that the acid density in that particular cell is 1.362 denisty.  Since all standard Absolytes ship with between 1.300 to 1.320 you will know that you have to replace the lost water in order to get the cells to perform as best that they can. 

If you want to send me the model of the cell and the date code off of the front of a cell then I will gladly give you some guidance as to what you can try to get the most useful life out of your battery.   If you are interested in understandign jsut what I am trying to explain in this short post just search for IOVR+ on the web and it will expalin it a little better.

PeterDe

SparWeb

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2010, 06:38:52 PM »
Hi Peter,
Would you be at the company that has the catalyst caps?  Thanks for joining in (better late than never I suppose).

Here is something I've always wondered about: The manufacturer says they should not be opened, therefore they don't give instructions on removing the valves (none that I've found at least).  Since you've found a process for restoring and improving the life of the cells, is it safe to assume that your company provides written instructions on properly opening the valves so that (a) no liquid or gas bursts out (b) they won't be damaged and (c) nothing inadvertently contaminates the cells? 

It's one of those things that I expect to be completely obvious once I start, but I'm not going to start blindly, because the replacement cost if I screw up is over a thousand dollars.  Just my sense of caution getting in the way of my self. 
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
www.sparweb.ca

PeterDe

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2010, 05:37:45 AM »
SparWeb;

I just spent the pas thalf hour respondign and finding the documents to attach and when I posted it, it came back as too large a post, and I lost it all.  So to be shorter, it is standard industry practice to remove the vents when a cell has to be repalced, to make it easier to remove and insert the cedlls.  This has been a standard practice for at least 15 years.  I will attach the GNB instructions plus one that we have made up to help people.

If you would like to talk in more depth off line please contact me.* ABSIIPCellreplacementprocedure.pdf (95.7 kB - downloaded 4341 times.)* ABSIIPCellreplacementprocedure.pdf (95.7 kB - downloaded 4341 times.)

I cannot attach our document due to the number of pictures in it.  Too large 421KB.  Contact me off line and I will get that to you.

SparWeb

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #8 on: December 31, 2010, 04:21:00 PM »
Thank you Peter,    That file you posted dispels my concerns. 

I have your company's website bookmarked somewhere on my computer so I'll go hunting around some more.  I must have missed something the last time I visited the site.

Upload problems are a common mistake, because it's not thoroughly explained:  You can include the website address as a link instead of uploading the file.
If you want to "link" to a separate webpage or a file, you don't have to upload things - you can just type the link like this www.sparweb.ca.
I didn't even use special code with square brackets around it to make this work.  The forum software picks up on the format of a link and usually can make it a link that works when you click on it.
In any event, if you include the link and the software can't sort it out, we're pretty handy with the terminology and can manually fix it and/or copy-paste into the browser's address bar to make it work.

I already have plans to contact you, because I want to put some catalyst caps on the laggard cells in my batt bank (but not until the summer when I don't need the batteries on line and it's more pleasant to handle that stuff).

Happy new year to you.
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
www.sparweb.ca

B529

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #9 on: January 01, 2011, 10:11:26 AM »
What's your charging current?

SparWeb

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #10 on: January 02, 2011, 01:24:09 AM »
What's your charging current?

Me or Bamfords54?  (this is his thread after all)

On sunny days where there's enough sun to make up for power consumption the previous evening, the solar panels put in a nice full power charge for a couple of hours, then the charge controller cuts in, not using so much current to maintain the float charge.  From noon to sunset it will be regulated down to just an amp or two, yet still maintain float voltage.  Of course this doesn't last long as the panels won't even generate an amp by 4PM since the sun is nearly set in winter.
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
www.sparweb.ca

B529

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #11 on: January 03, 2011, 10:49:17 PM »
What's your charging current?

Me or Bamfords54?  (this is his thread after all)

Yours SparWeb or Bamfords54 no matter. Better yet, what's your charge current, battery capacity, type of battery, charge set points.

Nice score on the batteries Bamfords54. Take care of them and they will take care of you.

SparWeb

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Re: My new battery bank
« Reply #12 on: January 04, 2011, 08:49:25 PM »
Quote
...what's your charge current, battery capacity, type of battery, charge set points....

"Got a minute? I'll tell you everything I know!"

Today my system (because it might be different tomorrow) has a funny interation between the turbine and the solar panels, but I'll start in pieces and then put them together
Batteries: GNB Absolyte IIP 90A11, 6 cells per tub, 2v each X 4 sets + 24 Cells that I currently have configured for 24V in 2 strings.  The data plate rating for each 12V set is 440AHr at 8-hour rate, from full to a 1.75 Volt-per-cell discharge.
Turbine: 8-foot diameter 3-bladed wooden rotor, driving a converted 3-phase motor.  The motor/alternator was bench tested up to 1kw in various conditions to simulate using Star, Delta, and independently recitified phase connections.  Currently I observe a peak 400 Watts over a large range of wind speeds in Star, due to stalling the blades, but I can switch it to IRP (I call it "Jerry"-rigged) and it will run much faster RPM but produce much more power (have seen peaks over 1kw).  The conclusion is that the rotor is too small to match the generator, however I'm getting by and it's fun flipping it into "High gear".
Solar: Two panels that would be better suited on a MPPT controller.  Too bad for me.  Data plate MP at 17.3V or so and 7.4 Amps.  Connected in series the string voltage would be over 34 volts but they are clamped to 24-28 by the battery.  I've seen peaks of 7 Amps but only at noon on a clear day, when the panels are perfectly aligned with the sun's elevation.
Charge Controllers - Wind: Tri-Star TS-60 with a 1200W dump load.  Sorry I forget the exact settings but they are around 27.6V.  Equalization is off/manual/disabled.  The dump load resistors are inside the box so that the heat is used.
Charge Controllers - Solar:  Xantrex C40 with simple solar regulation.  27.4V float and 27.6V bulk charge.  No equalization.

The batteries are in an insulated box outside.  Temperature in side lags by a few degrees but usually not much warmer than outdoor temperature.  Due to very cold temperatures, I have an odd way to regulate voltage and temperature in the box:  The Xantrex CC is temperature regulated, but the Tri-Star is not.  This causes some useful effects, but the point is to not overcharge the battery.  ON a sunny day, solar energy from the panels will not be regulated down by the PWM circuit because the Xantrex CC wants the battery voltage to float at 27.4-27.6V plus 1.5 Volts or more.  Before this can happen, the Tri-Star kicks in.  It's not temp regulated, so the solar energy runs out the dump load instead of raising the voltage above 27.6V.  Whatever electricity is needed by the batteries, they get, whatever isn't can warm up the box a little.  On windy days a lot of the energy is shed as heat in the box.  It can get 20C warmer in there than outisde.

Don't tell anyone I do this.  They'll come up with some obscure reason why I shouldn't.
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
www.sparweb.ca