Automatic Battery Watering

[Sunking]

You're right....shouldn't be so sensitive:

So here we are two years later, and still no one gives a crap.

[SunEagle]

You're right....shouldn't be so sensitive:

Hang around and try to learn as much as you can about solar technology.

Even I was raked over the mud by the members when I first joined. I learned to not let peoples comments get to me or take them as a personal offense.

Look what it got me. I am now a Moderator.

[Zardiw]

My you are thin skinned. Both Sunking and Mike were trying to help you. If you took their comments as condescending then maybe you are too easily offended.

You're right....shouldn't be so sensitive:

[Sunking]

Do you find it a hassle to remove those filler caps to manually check level and to stick in a hydrometer to measure SG?
Do you recommend only routinely measuring SG on the most accessible cell of each battery?

Perhaps we are on the wrong page. Sticking valves can be fixed by tapping them. I have had good results, it takes observation. and a recipe.

[inetdog]

Honestly the sticking float valves are not a big issue. Really easy to tell and fix.

Do you find it a hassle to remove those filler caps to manually check level and to stick in a hydrometer to measure SG?
Do you recommend only routinely measuring SG on the most accessible cell of each battery?

[Sunking]

Thank you for all the responses!!!.......Now if the float valves were a bit more reliable,

Honestly the sticking float valves are not a big issue. Really easy to tell and fix.

[Zardiw]

Thank you for all the responses!!!.......Now if the float valves were a bit more reliable, it would be perfect.

And also you would have to do it when the batteries are fully charged of course.

z

[Sunking]

so, not really worth it. or is it easier to keep track and add distilled , but requires oversight? please share your experience, I truly want to know your opinion. since a 24 cell set up is pricey and if they are prone to fail.

I know lots of people who use them, most of them Golf Cart owners. They are also called Single Point Watering. It requires either buying a battery with the Caps as part of the battery purchase, or an after market battery cap. Example is Trojan Hydro Link, or after market Pro-Fill are two I am familiar with. All of them to my knowledge work the same. They use a Float Valve similar to that of a toilet.

Each battery cap is interconnected by a fill tube. Easy way to use them is with a plastic 1-gallon jug of distilled water and using gravity. Water flows through the tube filling low cells. When the float valve in a cell if full the valve seats and stops water flow.

Are they handy? Heck yeah they are. It can make a 30 minute job a 1 minute job. Do they have known problem? Yes, stuck valves is common sticking closed so a cell does not receive water but is an easy fix. The other failure which is kind of a big deal is the valves sticking open. This will allow electrolyte to be siphoned off by adjacent cells. Once you remove acid from a battery, it cannot be replaced easily.

All in all I think they are a good product. But there is nothing Automatic about it. It requires you to monitor water level, and add water as needed. When needed you connect the water bottle or jug, elevate it above the batteries, and open the valve. Each of the battery caps has a full indicator. When you see all Indicators, close the valve and put the water away until you need it again. It is a manual operation. It makes it very easy for you to water your batteries and less inclined to put t off because of the mess and time required. Many a Golf Courses use them on their fleet of carts. Saves them big bucks on labor and battery life.

[Mike90250]

......Was thinking of doing the whole thing automatically with a sprinkler timer and a pond pump and a tank with distilled water.z

EXACTLY what the OP is thinking of. You get a time out.

[Logan005]

so, not really worth it. or is it easier to keep track and add distilled , but requires oversight? please share your experience, I truly want to know your opinion. since a 24 cell set up is pricey and if they are prone to fail.

[Sunking]

Try Binging it buddy. There are several systems out there.....z

I have used several of them, and they do not work automatically as you put it.

[Logan005]

The auto battery watering systems I have seen have special caps, and are gravity fed so they can only maintain the specified level of liquid. I have plans to deploy such system when I get my L16's

[inetdog]

Looking at a couple of systems. Flowright and BFS.........anybody have any experience with these systems? Are they worth having?

Was thinking of doing the whole thing automatically with a sprinkler timer and a pond pump and a tank with distilled water.

z

A system that would be able to work that way, unattended, would have to include a replacement vent cap with some sort of float valve to shut off the water fill when the electrolyte level reaches the target.
Given that, it will probably make it a lot harder to get at each cell for an SG measurement with a hydrometer, which you should be doing on at least one cell per battery on a regular basis.
Which is going to be more inconvenient for you?

[SunEagle]

You too........try Binging it...........And yeah I realize only a moron would actually try to hook hoses to the vent caps and set a timer to dump water into them.....lmao.....I am not such......lol..........z

My you are thin skinned. Both Sunking and Mike were trying to help you. If you took their comments as condescending then maybe you are too easily offended.

[Zardiw]

Do not automatically water batteries with a timer and water. It either wont water enough, or too much. Generally, the auto water systems are "engineered" so the easy failure points are fixed. The auto systems work fine on your cheap bank. Wait till you replace it with an expensive bank. then it breaks

You too........try Binging it...........And yeah I realize only a moron would actually try to hook hoses to the vent caps and set a timer to dump water into them.....lmao.....I am not such......lol..........z