Revisiting Rolls Surrette

Dave Angelini
Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,728 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
One of my customers insisted on using the S550 battery and Steve Higgins sent me the beta copy (he edited) of their new manual. I thought it was one of the best battery manuals I had seen. It should be out soon on their site.
"we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
   htps://offgridsolar1.com/
E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

Comments

  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Revisiting Rolls Surrette

    Thanks Dave, I for one will be looking forward to the new manual.
  • sub3marathonman
    sub3marathonman Solar Expert Posts: 300 ✭✭✭
    Re: Revisiting Rolls Surrette

    I too will add how great Steve Higgins is, in fact he is the reason I would go back with Rolls/Surrette again, if necessary.

    My story has been told before, http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?24255-Battery-Bank-Dilemma/page1 , and there were those who said I must have killed them, but Steve Higgins didn't. He helped me work on the batteries (remotely) and we determined that an internal (to the battery container) cell connection had failed catastrophically. This also threw the other cells into unbalance, and in addition one cell did read SG of 0, which was strange because that battery seemed to be OK. I don't know if that cell was at 0 though before or after the cell connection in the other battery failed.

    He was extremely helpful with taking care of the warranty. I did have to pay for shipping, but Mary was able to get the battery shipped to DC Battery in Miami, which is fairly close, and I only had to pay to ship it here to Bartow from there.

    I will say, unfortunately, it did take what I would consider to be an almost unacceptable time-frame to complete the warranty replacement, and if I was absolutely depending on my system I would have been in major trouble, but considering how really great it was working with Steve that more than made up for a bit of delay.

    And, as other experts have stated here, Steve Higgins really knows how to set up and maintain heavy duty Rolls/Surrette batteries, and he has updated many documents on the Rolls website to help people.
  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Revisiting Rolls Surrette

    I will say, unfortunately, it did take what I would consider to be an almost unacceptable time-frame to complete the warranty replacement, and if I was absolutely depending on my system I would have been in major trouble, but considering how really great it was working with Steve that more than made up for a bit of delay.

    That delay COULD have been for the same reason I had to wait 2 or 3 wks before I could pick up my (then) new batteries at their shipping door - - - They were waiting for enough orders to restart the production line for that model of battery. I didn't mind the wait because it was a sure indication the batteries hadn't been sitting around in a warehouse somewhere for who knows how long.
  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,728 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Revisiting Rolls Surrette
    That delay COULD have been for the same reason I had to wait 2 or 3 wks before I could pick up my (then) new batteries at their shipping door - - - They were waiting for enough orders to restart the production line for that model of battery. I didn't mind the wait because it was a sure indication the batteries hadn't been sitting around in a warehouse somewhere for who knows how long.

    Exactly why I switched to US battery after Surrette let me down twice with my customers 5 years back. These were all 1,100AH 2V cells. US takes about a month once you place the order and the battery is made during that time. They also are made in my state and got really good dealer reviews. If anyone can't wait for the revised Surrette manual I can e-mail a copy of the beta. Drop me an e-mail that I can send the file to.
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

  • twistedtree
    twistedtree Solar Expert Posts: 135 ✭✭✭
    I had a second Surrette cell fail on my bank. The first one after 2 years and the second one 4 years later. The first replacement took 8 weeks to get, and the most recent took a full 12 weeks. If I hadn't been able to bypass the bad cell and keep running on 23/24 cells, I would have been REALLY screwed. Plus they want such a long absorb cycle to get full charged, I just think they are a poor fit for off-grid solar.