Battery with bad cell

VolcanoSolar
VolcanoSolar Solar Expert Posts: 56 ✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
I recall seeing threads on here regarding battery problems where one cell is loosing all the electrolyte, but durned if I can find it now. Can anyone give me a link?

I've got a 2-year-old bank of 24 Interstate L16s, wired 48 volts (three sets of eight), with a single battery doing this fluid loss.

I remember reading that this sometimes happens with the first battery in the series, which this is, though it isn't the first cell on the battery, it's the third one. Can't remember what anyone said to do about it though. Top it up with water and it's back dry in a few days. Plus, the acid is accumulating on the ground, and severely eating my nice new concrete. :cry:

Thanks,

Ted
· Share on Twitter

Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #2
    Re: Battery with bad cell

    Sounds like the battery case is cracked and/or you have bad plates in that cell...

    If not, have you checked the specific gravity of all of the cells in series?

    Lastly, if the one cell "boiled over" (some gunk in the cell got on a cell cap and siphoned/pumped raw acid out/battery tipped over and lost electrolyte???)... When you refilled with just distilled water, that one cell would be now be short of acid and would not charge correctly... dumping the old electrolyte out and refilling with new electrolyte might fix the problem (or more likely, not fix the problem).

    If you have series/parallel strings... It is possible that one (or more) series string(s) has high resistance in the wiring/connections--forcing all of charge/discharge current in to the other remaining string(s). The string with the bad connections will not get properly charged, and the strings with the good connections will get over-cycled and an early death.

    Using "diagonal" connections for the wiring (to balance wire path resistance--as mentioned in other threads here) can help for parallel connected batteries.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
    · Share on Twitter
  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Battery with bad cell

    if the case is cracked then refilling it will be a lost cause as that battery is no longer for this world.
    · Share on Twitter

Categories