Errrm, if he fits a solar panel and a Rutland (or similar) controller the idea is that the battery will be topped up continuously in daylight hours. The problem is that in winter the days will be short, the sun will be of much lesser intensity and snowfall or days of low cloud will leave the possibility that the panel fails to charge the battery. This is why a second source such as a wind generator is a good idea.
|On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 06:39:41 +0100, Dave Fawthrop wrote: | |> Leisure batteries (when not maintenance free) require topping up at |> intervals. Insist that your customer tops up the battery at regular |> intervals. 2 monthly should be fine, if you install some sort of charge |> controller. | |Errrm, if he fits a solar panel and a Rutland (or similar) controller the |idea is that the battery will be topped up continuously in daylight hours. |The problem is that in winter the days will be short, the sun will be of |much lesser intensity and snowfall or days of low cloud will leave the |possibility that the panel fails to charge the battery. This is why a |second source such as a wind generator is a good idea.
Sorry I meant top up with distilled/deionised water. I lost a leisure battery with zig charge controller through not topping it up with distilled/deionised water :-(
I'd suspect the charge controller. It sounds like it was boiling the battery.
For unattended use I'd probably use a relatively expensive spiral cell/gel Optima battery just for the maintenance free aspect. I actually use an array of 2V cells sourced from a computer consultancy that was retiring a massive UPS. They cost peanuts and are simple to maintain.
|On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 13:55:09 +0100, Dave Fawthrop wrote: | |> On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 09:26:16 +0100, Steve Firth |> wrote: |> |>|On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 06:39:41 +0100, Dave Fawthrop wrote: |>| |>|> Leisure batteries (when not maintenance free) require topping up at |>|> intervals. Insist that your customer tops up the battery at regular |>|> intervals. 2 monthly should be fine, if you install some sort of charge |>|> controller. |>| |>|Errrm, if he fits a solar panel and a Rutland (or similar) controller the |>|idea is that the battery will be topped up continuously in daylight hours. |>|The problem is that in winter the days will be short, the sun will be of |>|much lesser intensity and snowfall or days of low cloud will leave the |>|possibility that the panel fails to charge the battery. This is why a |>|second source such as a wind generator is a good idea. |> |> Sorry I meant top up with distilled/deionised water. |> I lost a leisure battery with zig charge controller through not topping it |> up with distilled/deionised water :-( | |I'd suspect the charge controller. It sounds like it was boiling the |battery.
No I checked the zig charger it worked fine, just the occasional bubble, but over a year the occasional bubble adds up to quite a lot of water. The battery I replaced it with works fine after several years, topping up with deionised water every month or two. Also Sulphuric acid does evaporate, just like water.
The so called 'sealed' or maintenance free battery in my car is over 4 years old and never been topped up - these days they use a method of recovering the evaporation. Of course modern car systems don't overcharge the battery - indeed most don't actually take it to the maximum charge.
I think we will now use both types of charging system as we now ca see flaws in solar only and indeed wind only. I have spoken to som more suppliers with some success so it looks like we may be gettin somewhere.Thanks for all the constructive posts
-- Alec
|In article , | Dave Fawthrop wrote: |> No I checked the zig charger it worked fine, just the occasional bubble, |> but over a year the occasional bubble adds up to quite a lot of water. |> The battery I replaced it with works fine after several years, topping |> up with deionised water every month or two. Also Sulphuric acid does |> evaporate, just like water. | |The so called 'sealed' or maintenance free battery in my car is over 4 |years old and never been topped up - these days they use a method of |recovering the evaporation. Of course modern car systems don't overcharge |the battery - indeed most don't actually take it to the maximum charge.
Leisure batteries are normally of the old type. Maintenance free ones are rare. I did mention them upthread in the original post if you look.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required