Are you using temperature compensation? It lowers the voltage when its hot. Also, have you considered setting the batteries in a below ground vault? I've had good luck with in floor battery boxes. Finally, AGMs and L16s just don't last very long anyway. AGMs maybe 3 years, and L16s I've seen die in under 5 years and we get to 15 below zero. My suggestion: temp comp, ground vault, HUP or equivalent cycle life.
R. Walters r...@solarray.com Solar Engineer On Apr 21, 2011, at 1:22 PM, Starlight Solar, Larry Crutcher wrote: > Hello Battery Wrenches, > > Over the years I have had several battery banks in Baja and Sonora Mexico > fail in just 36 to 48 months. These have been L16 or 8D AGM or flooded banks, > 24 and 48 volt systems. The charging systems are working properly and > programmed to manufacturer recommended set points and discharges are rarely > over 30% DoD. Some batteries are only used on weekends, some are discharged > daily. I believe what is affecting the short life is the high temperature > they live in for 5 months each year. Temps. can hit 115 F in vented battery > rooms. I have been thinking about a small air conditioner and insulated > battery box to keep the battery at no more than 80 F. There are some portable > units that draw about 600 watts and the run time would be very little with a > highly insulated enclosure. There is ample power to do this on the home I am > changing batteries in now. Has anyone done this and gained longer battery > life? > > Best Regards, > Larry Crutcher > Starlight Solar Power Systems > > powered by STARLIGHT™ > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Home Power magazine > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Options & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org >
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