FLA Battery Charge Voltage Question

MrM1

mcgivor said:

@MrM1

Before giving up, allow for a few weeks of minimal loads, or better yet no loads, lead acid batteries sometimes need a good long charge, something solar itself cannot offer.

This is more or less the plan.   I am going to check with my Trojan distributor to see if 1.) the have any used L16s in my capacity, and 2.) if not will he do some led horse trading with me for a new replacement deal. 

As far as temperature is concerned, along with catastrophic failure the risk is extremely low, the wells in tall cells are pretty generous being designed for the purpose of preventing sludge front creating a short circuit. Agitation may help to dislodge any remaining material from the water treatment, don't be gentle lift and drop the battery several times, from a couple of inches.

BEFORE I did the water treatment,  I did some serious "Agitation" from rocking side to side,  front and back and lift-n-drops.  So much so that the acid in the cell become so clouded it was completely unreadable with a Hydro.  Then did the power squirt with turkey baster both before and during the acid draw down / reinstate.  So I did do a good bit to try and dislodge any material.  But yes it would be worth it and no trouble to do it some more.

Yes the best solution may be to replace the battery in question, but it seems to me at least you have achieved significant progress from where you were in the beginning, why give up now. Obviously results will vary, the importance of the bank must be taken into consideration, even a slightly weaker battery may still provide enough energy in the big picture, if it were me I would give it some more time, just an opinion.

Really and truly this whole system is a "generator of convenience".  I do not need the system for off grid,  or multiple days of power with out solar, etc.  I have grid power and a generator,  but simply like the idea of saving enough on grid power to pay for batteries over several years.  And I have a generator if I did have a power out with no solar for several days,  that would allow for powering loads and/or recharging the bank as needed.   The "Solar Generator" simply allows for 100% continuous power regardless of the grid,  and solar power to power loads all the time if the sun is shinning.  I could really get by with enough battery storage to get me thru about 12 hours at about 400 Watts or less (say power lost over night) ... just long enough to realize the grid is really down and power up a generator if necessary.

That said, if and when I need to have to replace the whole bank,  I will replace the four 435Ah L16's with four cheaper 220Ah GC batteries for about 1/3 the price.  Yes it would not be enough to do much,  but would do what I need.   This would allow me to run Lights, Fridge, an occasional well pump (3-4 minutes) and some fans for about 15 hours without having to run a noisy generator 24/7.