Last time I bothered the list about this, replies from Cor, Jay and
-Phil- who all chimed in to say that it's not necessary to discharge
Leaf modules before removing the compression, just don't charge them
without recompressing.
Today, finally, I'm getting around to replacing the two
half-defective modules in the 2P5S Leaf pack in my ElecTrak tractor.
After removing the pack intact from the front battery bay, I put it
on the bench and began loosening the 5/16" threaded rods that provide
the compression. I reached the end of the threads on the rods, and
there was still excessive compression, and a 3/8" gap had opened
between the two defective modules, exposing the threaded rod at the
top of the modules, which are side-by side in the pack. It appears
that the defective modules have swollen appreciably, while the
remaining healthy modules in the pack maintained their positions and
don't seem to be excessively puffy.
So, question: Is this normal and expected for defective modules? I
have a feeling that one of the two bad modules had dendrites, as it
would slowly lose charge while in storage with no other load
connected. It would drag it's buddy-pair module to the same lower
voltage, as each half-module is parallel connected to it's mate
before being connected in series with the rest of the pack.
I've begun discharging both of the defective modules completely,
draining the charge with connected 12 volt, 50 and 100 watt
incandescent lamps. I was going to do this anyway before sending them
off to the recycle facility at our local town dump, but as a
precaution, decided I'd drain them completely before releasing the
remainder of the compression.
Other then having a big steel bucket of water handy, would anyone
like to offer suggestions on what I should expect once the bar clamps
come off? I've clamped the pack such that I can remove the nuts from
the threaded rods without blowing a hole in my garage wall. No sure
how much expansion to expect or how many changes of clamps I'll need
to reach full release.
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