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just finished installing a new group of surrett s-530 batteries. 8 batteries 2 banks wired for 24volt system. Started off bad from the beginning as one battery tested at 4.1volts instead of 6.3 so had to get it exchanged which took some time. all the other batteries tested 6.1-6.2 which I thought was strange since there manufacturers web site says they should arrive fully charged=6.3volts. I figured that add was wrong so I went and hooked them up to our 2000 watts of solar panels with xantrex charge controller. The batteries will not charge above 24.8volts this is a long way from a normal full charge of 25.4. And yes compared the charge controller voltage reading with 2 other VOM units and get the same read-out. Double checked the meters against multiple vehicle batteries, nope these batteries will not reach normal 100% charge. Even tryed the inverter built in charger off the backup generator. The bulk charge is set at 28.8volts and float is at 26.6. Same as it has been for years. Has anyone run into this problem, is this some new norm... finshed project on thanksgiveing and the manufacturer and supplier are both closed for the week...... cant wait to figure this out as it was a large expense and am a little pissed and confused. Thanks for any ideas.
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How much charge current are you getting?
Do you have any load on the batteries?
Did you apply an Activation Charge? Cannot be done with solar.
At this point do not sweat the voltage, it is the specific gravity and temperature you want to focus on. Without knowing the SPG and temperature, you do not really know what the State of Charge is.MSEE, PE -
surrett low voltage
Thanks for the response on my battery problem but this is not a dry charge situation, these batteries were delivered from the factory to the dealer with electrolyte already in them and a full charge per manufacturers paperwork. The solar output max is about 45amps at 24volts in full sun(5hours), 4 more hours of indirect varing amperage. No there was no load on system while trying to figure this out. Then next day ran the generator for 6 hours at 20 amps to see if this would make a difference----no change from 24.8volts at rest. SPG-- only have a cheap hydometer, anything under $100 wont realy tell me much more than a dead cell which isnt the case. These batteries not changing by even a tenth of a volt really is interesting!Comment
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What are the `absorb settings you have programmed into the charge controller?
If your charge controller is an XW MPPT, do you have the SCP so you can access the advanced parameter menu? If you are just using the flooded cell setting, that is your problem. You should go into the custom battery settings and adjust parameters for you battery. You should also enable boost charging.Comment
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surrett batteries
No this is not the MPPT model. This is old style system with no access to advanced settings on controller or Trace PS2512 inverter. They did make SWRC unit to interface with the inverter but never got one and never been able to find one since.This system is geared toward mostly summer use for afternoon swamp cooler operation being high mtn desert, 1/2 of panels more west than south. MPPT would have added to much $ to the upgrade. The PS2524 is twice the weight of the new ones, one hell of a dependable work horse but archaic compared to todays techy toys. A "major" upgrade to a system like this is temp compensation! Got a SPG reading of 1.250 on 3 batteries, 1.260 on 4 and 1.230 on the battery we replaced right off the bat because of a dead cell. Temp 50. Ive lived mostly off the grid for 40 years and this is my first problem with new batteries, cant believe it, should have stuck with Trojans. Thanks for any ideas..Comment
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