Vinyl Tube lost in Flooded Lead Acid Battery Cell...
Options
openplanet
Registered Users Posts: 34 ✭✭
I use the excellent hydrometer sold by Midnite Solar and other vendors. Unfortunately, its little vinyl tube is only affixed with a pressure fit, and tends to fall off. I've now lost two such tubes (about .25" o.d. x about 4" long) in two different cells of my battery bank, and they're proving impossible to see, let alone retrieve. I've always been fastidious about keeping my battery compartment clean and minimizing contaminants in the cells. So the question is...will these hunks of vinyl damage the cells they've drowned in? Thank you.
Tagged:
Comments
-
I don't think they will cause any significant problem.Island cottage solar system with 2500 watts of panels, 1kw facing southeast 1.3kw facing southwest 170watt ancient Arco's facing south. All panels in parallel for a 24 volt system. Trace DR1524 MSW inverter, Outback Flexmax 80 MPPT charge controller 8 Trojan L16's. Insignia 11.5 cubic foot electric fridge. My 30th year.
-
I wouldn't go poking around inside of a cell with a screwdriver or pair of pliers to try and get it out!!!
-
I would think an internet search may tell if vinyl tubing dissolves in battery acid. Such tubing is usually either made of PVC (stiffer) or silicone (supple and more expensive) as I recall.
Midnite should know the answer...First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries -
You can look up chemical compatibility charts for various materials (page 46 for the following PDF link):
http://www.graco.com/content/dam/graco/ipd/literature/misc/chemical-compatibility-guide/Graco_ChemCompGuideEN-B.pdf
Use (I think) the ~50-65% concentration for electrolyte (sulfuric acid+water).
-Bill
Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset -
BB. said:You can look up chemical compatibility charts for various materials (page 46 for the following PDF link):
http://www.graco.com/content/dam/graco/ipd/literature/misc/chemical-compatibility-guide/Graco_ChemCompGuideEN-B.pdf
Use (I think) the ~50-65% concentration for electrolyte (sulfuric acid+water).
-Bill
I think black hose is often nitrile but can be rubber. Then we have blends as well.First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
Categories
- All Categories
- 243 Forum & Website
- 150 Solar Forum News and Announcements
- 1.4K Solar News, Reviews, & Product Announcements
- 191 Solar Information links & sources, event announcements
- 919 Solar Product Reviews & Opinions
- 256 Solar Skeptics, Hype, & Scams Corner
- 22.5K Solar Electric Power, Wind Power & Balance of System
- 3.6K General Solar Power Topics
- 6.7K Solar Beginners Corner
- 1K PV Installers Forum - NEC, Wiring, Installation
- 2.1K Advanced Solar Electric Technical Forum
- 5.5K Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems
- 438 Caravan, Recreational Vehicle, and Marine Power Systems
- 1.1K Grid Tie and Grid Interactive Systems
- 652 Solar Water Pumping
- 829 Wind Power Generation
- 626 Energy Use & Conservation
- 626 Discussion Forums/Café
- 303 In the Weeds--Member's Choice
- 91 Construction
- 124 New Battery Technologies
- 108 Old Battery Tech Discussions
- 3.8K Solar News - Automatic Feed
- 3.8K Solar Energy News RSS Feed