Author Topic: New Batterires  (Read 4587 times)

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kitestrings

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New Batterires
« on: July 25, 2016, 11:55:43 AM »
We installed new batteries last week.  They are Trojan IND23-4V, single series string of 12, 1277Ah at 48V.  Heavy buggers, but more robust, less connections, and less cells to water.  Lots of tidying up to do, but they are in, vented and functional.






~ks

bart

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Re: New Batterires
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2016, 10:57:54 PM »
NICE!!!
Serious case of envy.

SparWeb

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Re: New Batterires
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2016, 12:31:27 AM »
For that moving crew of yours, working without gloves or steel-toed boots, I hope there was extra danger pay (eg. ice cream double cones with sprinkles).
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
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kitestrings

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Re: New Batterires
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2016, 09:51:10 AM »
Quote
Serious case of envy.

Yeah, a crew like this is to be envied...I guess we could farm them out ;)

Spar, the photo was mostly staged, although they were eager to help with unwrapping, schlepping plywood, running the screw-gun.  Although they are taller than the L16s we removed, they are surprisingly stable because they are also quite a bit wider (10 1/4") and much heavier (370# vs. 125#).  For the record I had eye-protection, steel toes, and even rubber gloves for connections.  Still, I've started to thinking about provisions for secondary containment.

I had moved two small 12V batteries from the generator shed in, and paired them with another pair so that I could get the old bank out, build a new base/platform and still have something to keep the fridge & freezer going.  The temporary bank was probably less than 100 Ah, but you could pretty much watch the gas gauge drop (unless the generator  was running), and voltage sags were significant.  The new bank is a notably stiffer 'source', and gives us ~50% more capacity than the L16s.  With a 50% DOD we should have about 32 kWh usable, or about 3-5 days in our case.  It's surprisingly quieter around here now.

Trojan provides #4/0 interconnecting cables and terminal covers.  The one irritation was that the length of the jumpers doesn't have a cm to spare.  I wanted 1 1/2" between cells, and I was hoping not to alternate orientation this time.  Our configuration was like below, but the cables appear to me to be cut for 2V cells, which are shorter case length.  I'm having to modify the covers, but only then it will work.


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SparWeb

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Re: New Batterires
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2016, 11:28:25 PM »
Yeah, I was just teasing. 

Very tidy system if the jumper length problem can be solved.
When I squint long enough at the 4th photo above I think I see the battery SOC monitoring wires.  Are there also vent tubes and tubes for re-watering?
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

kitestrings

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Re: New Batterires
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2016, 12:47:24 PM »
Spar,

The SOC wires I pulled off a pre-existing DIN-rail breaker that runs a small cooling fan on my home-made clipper (load bank), but the wiring is busy with a 12V tap and several 'local' loads serving things in the basement that I didn't run upstairs and through my DC panel (e.g. water pump, DC converter, etc.)


Trojan makes a watering kit, but I decided against it because we've always vented with (maple) sugaring tubing, which I prefer to other methods
http://www.trojanbattery.com/markets/renewable-energy/single-point-watering-kit/



The jumpers will work.  They are nice quality cables and terminals, just a little tight on length.  You're supposed to be able to off-set the terminal such that the cable comes in line with the terminal lug; then the covers snap right on.  To get them to reach I had to flip them so they are attaching to the side of the lug nearest the one they are connecting to, so this mucks up the terminal cover a bit.  I'll try to post a picture.  Got them almost all done.  It might make more sense to see them.

~ks

kitestrings

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Re: New Batterires
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2016, 01:02:32 PM »
Another thing I'd be interested in your take -

We normally do diversion (opportunity load) using the waste-not feature of the Classic.  In our case pre-heating water.  This works very well and has been shown to notably increase our overall harvest of energy.  I'm thinking with these batteries, however, that we may need to regularly schedule periods in the summer where the diversion is off, or do more regular equalization charging, so that the batteries get regular exposure to what might be a minimal charge rate for a long enough period.  I don't know if that makes sense, but as an example 3% of our new C20 Ah rating is now 38A.  In the summer we are almost exclusively recharged from PV, and our array is 3.2 kW or about 60A max.  And, using common methods we're looking at ~8-hours of absorption when the wind is not contributing.

clockmanFRA

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Re: New Batterires
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2016, 03:21:55 AM »
I am envious KS.

But please Do keep your PUSSY away, I had to re-arrange my bank .

I found my swimming cat, kiwi, he eats my 'goldfish',  asleep on top of my battery bank.
Everything is possible, just give me time.

OzInverter man. Normandy France.
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3 Hugh P's 3.7m Wind T's (12 years) .. 5kW PV on 3 Trackers, (8 yrs) .. 9kW PV AC coupled to OzInverter MINI Grid, back charging AC Coupling to 48v 1300ah battery

SparWeb

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Re: New Batterires
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2016, 02:27:40 PM »
I do certain "summertime" tweaks to my system, for similar reasons, too.  Coincidentally I have an "opportunity" diversion load, heating water troughs for horses, but that is only used in the winter of course.
I don't think there is a hard limit or threshold on charge current, whether you're referring to bulk, absorb, or equalize, but you can tell that having more is always better and offers choices.  A lot of things affect what % is acceptable, especially the amount you draw it down every day.
In my case, the very reason that I bought solar panels at all was because of the big battery bank I inherited, and I didn't want to starve them.  Those PV panels have pulled the bank up to float every day whether the wind blew or not.  Admittedly I don't draw them down much, especially in the summer.

In your case, I think you'll be able to see if the batteries are being starved, by noting the time of day that the Classic goes from bulk to absorb or float phase.  Have you been logging data (either in the digital way, or the pen+paper way)?  This would give you a pretty strong indication of how robust the daily charges are.  If you can say something like "Last year in August on a sunny day the bulk charge lasted 2 hours and today it's sunny but the bulk charge goes until noon" then you know you have a lack of PV+wind for the size of the bank.

That's actually the focus of my system logging now: battery health (voltage/charge/temperature).  I don't bother logging all that other WT performance and wind speed and blade RPM any more.  I just want my batteries to last a long time.

If I had the money and the time I would have upgraded to a Midnight classic years ago.  I've been aching to take advantage of all of those features rather than manage my hodge-podge of gadgets.
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