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matt down south Regular Member Joined: 20/10/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 50
Posted: 11:47am 09 Sep 2010
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whilst leaving 1 of the local scrap metal yards i noticed some large bp wet cells of 570 ah capacity so asked the owner could i buy all 7 cells if they were ok and worked out a deal of 85 cents a kilo with the same buy back price if they were stuffed,so $200 dollas were exchanged and i came home with the cells which i connected up to two car charges and a jaycar desulfator and last reading was 2.27 volts up from 2.04 so they seam to take charge ok.tomorrow ill connect them to my two 40 watt panel as well and get abit more charge in.they were made in 4/03 so must have been replaced at 2300 cycles which is good for me and not much lead in the bottom just wished they had 5 morematt
VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539
Posted: 12:48pm 09 Sep 2010
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Hi Matt
Good deal mate glad to hear a success story, it may take several months to bring them up to usable capacity, be patient and it will pay foo.
All the best
BobFoolin Around
matt down south Regular Member Joined: 20/10/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 50
Posted: 10:03am 10 Sep 2010
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hi Bob
yeah it will take a while to get them back to full capacity but at $200 ive got the time and patience,thought about what i could use them for since all the pure sine wave inverters ive got all run off 24 volts[apc smart ups] so ill use them with a 12 volt 650 watt mod square wave inverter [$5 dump find] for house and shed lights so they should do 10 years service under those light load conditionsmatt
mid north Matt Regular Member Joined: 06/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 58
Posted: 12:27pm 10 Jan 2011
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hi all
formerly matt down south till a email address change and virus made i had to reregister again,anyway found out why they replaced the cells because of leaking pos terminal seals so can i fix the leak?and how do i desulphate/take care of the spare 2 volt cell?what's the best way to cycle it in the 12 volt pack of batteries or do i keep it just for a spare cell case one "blows"?Pt Wakefield Matt
Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904
Posted: 02:40pm 10 Jan 2011
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Matt, since the terminal posts are on top of the case they should be well above the fluid level. So, unless you cause severe gassing during charging there should be no problem. You could always seal them with bituminous paint if you wish.Klaus
mid north Matt Regular Member Joined: 06/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 58
Posted: 01:22pm 11 Jan 2011
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thanks for that Tinker ill give it a go,i doubt if 15 amps of solar i have would over gas the cells i say the damage was done before i got them Pt Wakefield Matt
Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904
Posted: 01:32pm 11 Jan 2011
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Matt, the two panels on my tracker put out 15 Amps (into a 24V bank) under normal conditions. This is a 500Ah battery bank and its almost full by midday if the sun cooperates. So, you might need a good controller to deal with the charging.
I use a 60A MPPT controller and the load on the bank is about 3Kw in 24 hours. Klaus
mid north Matt Regular Member Joined: 06/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 58
Posted: 03:03am 12 Jan 2011
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hi Tinker
ive got the solar running threw a trace 45 amp 3 stage pwm controller which floats off at 12.8 voltsPt Wakefield Matt
Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904
Posted: 01:18pm 12 Jan 2011
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Sorry Matt, I'm a bit dense sometimes , "threw a trace" meaning?
!2.8V float voltage is a bit low IMO, my controller goes to float at 14.5V (29V for the 24V battery bank).
You won't get your batteries charged at 12.8V.Klaus
mid north Matt Regular Member Joined: 06/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 58
Posted: 11:10am 15 Jan 2011
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hi Tinker
sorry about the bad spelling,i should have put through a c40 trace/xantrex pwm charge control which ive set to float off at 13.8v @2.30v per cell Edited by mid north Matt 2011-01-16Pt Wakefield Matt
VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539
Posted: 01:02pm 15 Jan 2011
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Hi Matt
Check the vent hole in the top of the cells as may be blocked forcing a bit of gas and electrolyte out the terminal connection. I have found this on several SLA batteries, solution, clean around the terminal with clean hot water water with some baking soda
then re seal with the two pack epoxy used to emergency seal plastic petrol tanks, when set apply a liberal coat of vasaline petroleum jelly.
You may be able to include the other cell into your battery pack for desulphating and rotate as a spare cell.
All the best
BobFoolin Around
mid north Matt Regular Member Joined: 06/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 58
Posted: 01:34pm 15 Jan 2011
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hi Bob
ive had good results with the knead it range of epoxy resins so ill give it ago and report back how it all works outPt Wakefield Matt
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i say the damage was done before i got them 