Micro CoGen.

Lloyd,
thanks for the clear prompt reply

Regards

Philip

Lloyd
a few questions
what type of charger do you use, you say that you hit it with 10 amps and then 20amps for 24 hours, is this selectable from your charger and is it at a contastant voltage ?

what make or model do you use.

"I then hit the bank with a 15.8 v equalize...now the spg after a 24hr rest on all cells is between  1.25 and 1.26....I recognize this as a surface charge. So I disconnect the string into individual 12 v bats, I set up a Peukert discharge  of 12 amps on bat 1, within in one hour the voltage drops to 12.3, Peukert says I have 20 hrs to hit a voltage of 10.5, that's not going to happen, so I recharge to full, and hit it with another eq this time 16 volts, after 24 hrs rest I have a bat voltage of 12.9, and an spg of near 1.3...maybe things are looking good, wrong. I set up a factory spec load of 12 amps, she pukes out at 141amps/10.5v drawn in about 8 hrs, well below any respectable bank/bat. So now, I have the bat on a 10 amp recharge, when she hits voltage...I'll hit her again with a 16 amp eq, and another load test. If one bat can't pass this, then the whole bank goes to recycle and a new group of bats will be installed."

so you can select the output/ charge voltage as well ?

Lloyd. you charge up the bank and then when it has reached full voltage you hit it with a 16 amp equalisation charge ?
the reason i am asking these questions is that i was given a battery bank, where it has not been charged for a few months but the batteries are reading from 11.8 to 12.3 volts,
what would you recommend to test them out, should i charge them at a low rate, 1 amp for a long time or at a higher current rate, 20 amps until the reach their voltage.
they are 12 volt 65ah deep cycle batteries

step by step what would you do ?

regards
Loon

Mobile Bob, i do take your point and man do you have a way with english!

Guys, thanks for all the information, data and real life incidents, i hope others are finding this as useful as i do.

I enjoyed reading the messages here, people here know their stuff and if wrong will say so.

Philip

Hello all, sorry for the delay in getting back to you,

Mobile Bob, i take your point, 3 strings sound like a good idea.

Cornelius, more info wolud be helpful.
i would source some lead acid batteries typically 65ah rating 12v, i am living off grid using a lister 8/1 som with the 4.5 kva alternator,  iwant to build a battery bank to run small critical loads all the time, this is a low budget system and am using a 3kva ups  with a 96volt bus.
the battery conversion forum convert the batteries which appear to be at their end by using alum electrolyte and bring them back, reports have it that they have better characteristics than when they functioned initially as lead acid batteries.

I have contacted 2 members of the group to get their permission to post 2 of both their messages here to give members some detail of the process, i think it might interest lots here.

Bruce M here is the connection method
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn4zzV0wqlk

Lloyd, thanks for the detail

I  am currently sourcing some old batteries to do conversions using info i got at this group "batteryconversions@yahoogroups.com" to make a battery bank.

now i have seen where it is suggested that if you have a large bank to parallel connect the series strings, even to cross tie them at each point in the string.

i believe that the idea is to ensure that all batteries get an equal charge.

i have seen the shunt unit here for ensuring equal charging on series parallel strings by BruceM


i do believe that if there is one bad battery it will drag down that parallel connected group causing problems.


so i am a kind of confused, should all the batteries be connected in series strings with shunts across them and then cross connected when discharging ?

this would require contactors or relays to make and break these connections as required, then there is the problem of bad contact on the contacts which will affect the system.

is solid state a better solution ?

or am i just getting blinded by thinking too much and knowing very little ?

Figured as much myself, but i lived in hopes, back to scratching the old noodle

Philip

Does anyone know where i can find contact info on this company

Thanks
Philip

well good luck with it,
you have a lot of interested people here waiting for the next installment.

Philip

Mobile Bob,
any update on the project, i just came across it and its cool

Philip

Hi,
i got a silcon dp30e ups a few months back and it worked great, recently it developed a fault where the charging circuit will not charge although the inverter is still fine

Would anyone have a manual for this or point me in  a direction ?

Regards
Philip

Thanks all, i really enjoyed those replies.

may go with the "natural veg oil" look, asi plan to spill gallons !
Philip

I know that this is a little off thread but what is the best method of cleaning the spilt veg oil off the concrete floor.
I ask as I will soon start to fuel my lister with veg oil and spills will occur, so advise from the experts please.

Philip