Aqueous Energy salt water batteries - How to revive 4 pallets worth

[djohnson]

I have a friend with 4 pallets of Aqueous Energy salt water batteries that have been sitting in storage since 2017.

I checked the voltage and they are all around 16V which is surprising considering they have been sitting unused for over 7 years.

The plan is to get the batteries charging on grid, so when power cuts out, the batteries will power an inverter to supply energy to a boutique hotel.

My questions are:

- Are there any low cost methods I could use to bring these batteries back to life?
- Is it possible to remove the factory BMS and replace it with a similar BMS. The cells are 6V, they are 8 in series for 48V and 12 strings total.

Here is the manual for the model they have: https://www.altestore.com/static/datafiles/Others/M100-L082 Operations Manual1.pdf

Attached are some pictures of the nameplate, under the hood and a bad side picture.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

IMHO, you have your work cut out for you. Lots of effort, low probability of success.

16V is like a 12V AGM measuring 5V or a LFP cell sitting at 1.25V... nothing good can come of it.

6.7 indicates a 12 week storage loss @30°C of 60%.. it's been a LOT longer than that.

I would measure all individual 6V cells. If they're all about the same, within 10%, I'd try charging the battery to the float voltage. If they're not all the same, I'd try to charge the individual cells to float voltage/8.

Good luck.

 

[djohnson]

IMHO, you have your work cut out for you. Lots of effort, low probability of success.

16V is like a 12V AGM measuring 5V or a LFP cell sitting at 1.25V... nothing good can come of it.

6.7 indicates a 12 week storage loss @30°C of 60%.. it's been a LOT longer than that.

I would measure all individual 6V cells. If they're all about the same, within 10%, I'd try charging the battery to the float voltage. If they're not all the same, I'd try to charge the individual cells to float voltage/8.

Good luck.

Thanks! I’ll have to get a pretty beefy charger but once I find the right one I’ll give it a shot!
Any suggestions on a cheap 48v charger?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Thanks! I’ll have to get a pretty beefy charger but once I find the right one I’ll give it a shot!
Any suggestions on a cheap 48v charger?

What is cheap to you?

 

[Hedges]

A 24V or 36V (nominal) PV panel?
These things don't get "runner" cells, do they?

To do it right, use any adjustable SCC.