Automatic battery filling/watering systems?

Rossman

I have a rather large battery bank, 24x Surrette 2V 1445Ah.  I was looking for some kind of automatic battery watering system that I could install so that I don't need to be filling batteries individually, and also it would ensure the fluid level stayed consistent all the time.

Any recommendations?  I found a few by googling but most of them seem to be for smaller systems/battery banks.

mcgivor

Personally I recommend filling the electrolyte manually, including all relevant checks, SG, volt drop across terminals  and so forth, relying on an automated system can bite you in the ass, so to speak, but that's just a personal opinion, I do daily checks because being off grid means relying on the system, keep a finger on the pulse at all times, which equates to understanding what is going on and never becoming  complacent. Just opinions others may differ. 

Estragon

I agree with Mcgivor, but it seems to me that the only issue with a bigger bank might be the length of tubing, which I can't see being a big deal. 24 cells would be any 48v bank.

Solray

The more you can effectively and reliably automate, the better in my opinion. Just be sure it is effective and reliable with redundancies and back up systems in place.

Vic

Agree with Mcgivor and Estragon,

ANYTHING that isolates the person RESPIONSIBLE for caring for and maintain Flooded batteries is not good.

Monitoring the amount of Distilled Water that each cell needs on each maintenance of the bank is important.   Looking into each cell,  is good.   Measuring the SG of,  at least Pilot cells is good.   The mass of tubes can easily encourage the maintainer to just blow off measuring SGs until next month ...   or perhaps year ...

An automatic watering system comes between the servicing person and the battery.    This is generally NOT good.

It is just like personal relationships,   would be want some automatic robot tending your significant other's desires and needs?

Would always worry about some fill tube becoming clogged with something,  and starving a cell or two of water.

Batteries are expensive,   taking time to tend them is well worth the time,   IMO.   FWIW,   Vic

littleharbor2

Solray said:

The more you can effectively and reliably automate, the better in my opinion. Just be sure it is effective and reliable with redundancies and back up systems in place.

How about a picture of your battery bank? Is this how yours is set up?  

BB.

And we have couple of posts over the years here of auto-watering systems failing and dumping the entire supply of distilled water into the cells. And the surrounding mess and what to do with the fresh water flooded cells.

Any automation runs the risk of failure. Is the reward worth the risk?

-Bill

Estragon

No in this case, IMHO, but to each his own.

BB.

Exactly, different people, different answers.

-Bill

Estragon

The generator problem I had recently was frustrating, but instructive. I now have a better understanding of both the generator and of ways to diagnose problems, thanks to people here.

Lots of people thought I should just replace it, but I'd prefer to understand the problem first. I think, like Vic, understanding how things work is important. That said, there are some who just want an appliance, don't care how it works, and just want to know who to call when it fails.

engineer

I think you should handle the batteries manually.

Solray

> @littleharbor2 said:
> Solray said:
>
>
> The more you can effectively and reliably automate, the better in my opinion. Just be sure it is effective and reliable with redundancies and back up systems in place.
>
>
>
>
> How about a picture of your battery bank? Is this how yours is set up?  :)

Nope. AGM.
I wouldn't own FLA with the alternatives. Life is short, spend as little of it in the battery compartment as possible.

FWIW I would check on batteries when I was there if I had FLA too, but would use automated fillers to do the grunt work.
Or assign the task to one of the kids.
If it was just my wife and I, I'd never use FLA so I could spend more time with her. People are important, batteries are easily replaced.

Solray

> @BB. said:
> And we have couple of posts ovet the years here of auto-watering systems failing and dumping the entire supply of distilled water into the cells. And the surrounding mess and what to do with the fresh water flooded cells.
>
> Any automation runs the risk of failure. Is the reward worth the risk?
>
> -Bill

To me? Absolutely. Without a doubt. Everyone has different priorities, batteries are way down my list, lol.

Ralph Day

I have much the same sized Surrette bank and it only takes 15 minutes per month to water (middle of the month) and 15 minutes per month to check SG's in all 24 cells.  Time is precious, but 30 minutes over 30 days?  Reminds me, today is SG day.

Ralph

Mangas

For many reasons, I would NEVER hook up an automatic watering system to our large banks.

If watering the batteries three times a year or so is too much maintenance for some owners, suggest moving to current higher cost AGM.   In my opinion, next five to ten years service free storage will be best practice as unit costs decrease, charging management becomes mainstream and FLA are displaced into technological obsolescence. 

In the meantime, a little extra time servicing the banks to save some money.

littleharbor2

@Mangas , Do you still have 64 Trojan L-16 batteries as in your Sig. line?    192 cells IS a bit of a project to maintain.  Still, I agree your feelings on an automatic watering system.
 Some of the advice dolled out around here needs to be taken with a grain of salt coming from contributors who have no actual experience with what they are recommending, but, just like to hear themselves speak.

Mangas

Yes and thank you.

Takes about an hour and a half three times year.  No big deal.

While I am not an engineer by training, over the past 13 years I have tried to offer comments specific to actually using larger scale stand alone off grid technology.

In a small way, hope my real life experiences have helped people contemplating and executing off grid systems. Ours has more than proven itself.

I try not comment where I don't have any actual experience but listen to others that have successful and proven track records.

Rossman

So to summarize none of you have any product recommendations....ok then!

Solray

Yep. A lot of chatter and no answer for you. Sorry and thanks for the interesting topic. It's interesting to see who is afraid of using new ideas and tech to do mundane tasks and who embraces change around here.

Good luck in your search.

BB.

A couple of posters here have commented on their systems they use in the past:

http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/24940/hydrolink-battery-watering-system

-Bill

mmaritz

Rossman said:

So to summarize none of you have any product recommendations....ok then!

Given the discussion above,  I personally don't know if I would take the chance. Do the manual maintenance and monitoring monthly or quarterly. 

BB.

For Rossman, auto watering makes sense.

Anybody with systems they like, please post.

-Bill

Vic

First,  this is NOT " a new idea ".   In some apparently rare situations,  these systems can be of use,  but  it appears that very few people here have found the need for them.  Watering systems have been available for many years.

Agree with Ralph Day,   battery maintenance is a periodic task,   that takes very little time,   and is a chance to check the batteries,   clean them as needed,   add water,   and so on.

If Rossman's system is new,  then  would suggest trying the manual approach to watering  --  only 24 cells on Surrettes (one cap for each cell,  not three like Trojan and some others).   The initial observations on the battery bank behavior is very important.   Even for those very familiar with battery systems,   the eyes-on observations are crucial.   as are trends in the amount of water consumed,   and as I noted above,   differences in the amount of water consumed by each cell IS very important.

There may be some particular reason that Rossman's situation would be aided by having auto-watering,  dunno.

IIRC Ralph actually measures the amount of water consumed by each cell  --  have not needed to do that here,  but  some of theses details DO matter.

Some battery manufacturers offer watering systems,   and for some applications they can make sense  (as for Forklift batteries,  possibly),   but it appears that for most users here  the task of manually tending one's batteries seems to not be that tedious.

Solray

Most people with solar are not on this forum. Saying most here do not use something is not an accurate cross section of people with solar. There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of solar users. There are maybe a couple dozen or so that are regulars here.
You need to look at sales figures of the watering systems to know how many people use them. I think a lot of folks would need to use them for a company to be making them. I also think that a lot of folks with solar that use the systems use the free time they get from them to enjoy other things besides reading a forum.
If you don't want to use one, fine, don't, but saying no one here does is not helpful to someone asking about what brands to use.

OP, have you looked to see if there is a forum on a site that sells the systems?
Have you looked at Battery Watering Technologies, Trojan or Flow rite? Those companies are all good with BWT having some of the best technology.

aksala

@Rossman

 How are your batteries holding up? Did you ever install a watering kit? Or Hydrocaps perhaps?