Surrette Rolls battery warranty

[mark3885]

On the Rolls website, they state "Rolls Surrette stands behind their batteries with some of the longest warranties in the business, up to 10 yr warranty on some models .Average life expectancy for these batteries is known to be in the 15 to 20 yr range. " What batteries are they talking about and is it even possible to achieve this?

[Sunking]

Series 5000, but in reality 5 to 7 years life. The warranty 3 years full replacement, and 7 prorated after that.

[ChrisOlson]

Average life expectancy for these batteries is known to be in the 15 to 20 yr range. "

I don't know who told you that. But realistically the only way you'll get 15-20 years is if you run them down to about 25-30% of their original capacity. At 10 years you'll be lucky to have 50% of the original capacity left in them. And 50% is considered end of useful life. The life of the battery will depend on how many times you cycle it and how deep you cycle it.

That being said, the 5000-series Rolls batteries have sailed the Atlantic in fishing trawlers and yachts for over 20 years and they have gained a reputation of being the most reliable battery you can buy, used by people where having a battery failure at sea is not an option. The ones with the CS .265" plates are the ones to use for RE - they are thicker plates than most steel case forklift batteries have. The nice thing about the multi-cell 5000's is that individual cells can be replaced if one goes bad.

The thing with Rolls is that they are a small company with only about 50-55 employees. Some of the people they have working there have been building batteries for over 30 years and they take pride in what they do. The chances of having a legitimate warranty claim on a Surrette battery is almost zero. If the battery fails before its time, chances are it's your fault - and that is the standpoint that they take on warranty issues.

If you buy Surrettes I'll tell you right now that you must keep a detailed service log on them. Include charge profile information, number of cycles, SG readings on each cell at 100% SOC at service time, how much water each cell takes, and preferably include load test information (if you have the equipment to do it). Without that log that details the health of the battery from the word "go" you are pretty much screwed if you have a warranty issue. Surrette will have you doing corrective equalizations for weeks to try to bring one dead cell back to life, and only after jumping thru hoops and spending several messy weeks boiling batteries (and probably lots of generator fuel if you're off-grid) will you get any warranty coverage on it. With the log showing details of a cell that failed before its time you'll get a replacement cell without any hassles.

If you are looking to buy batteries for off-grid I would consider like a Crown or GB Industrial steel case forklift battery instead. They are cheaper per kWh of storage over the long term. That's what I would have except for the fact that when we built our utility room we never left the option open to handle a 4,000 lb battery. The 12CS-11P's (or comparable 6CS-21P's) only weigh about 275 lbs each and two men can move one into place without overhead lifting equipment.
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Chris