Bad experience with Trojan
- Thread starter Zardiw
- Start date
Yep, agree.
Trojan/Interstate (far as I can tell, Interstate FLA's are actually Trojan), had been my "go to" for years. Regularly getting 7+ years out of a bank of L-16HC's.
I needed to buy 8 of those in October 2021. HC's still not available, so went with E-AC's. That would work. This was right after a massive months-long shortage of deep-cycle anything due to them shutting down the Georgia plant (as explained to me by a local distributor) and as manufacturing came back on line.
The 8 started failing one at a time 13 months later (1 month out of warranty) with internal OPENS between cells in an individual L-16. I could get the cells to "re-connect" by tapping the top of the battery with a rubber mallet, but as soon as I pulled some current, it would open up again.
I have never had this kind of failure with FLA's - they generally just start to taper off in capacity after X years such that you notice your daily charge power starting to slowly increase over what you were used to. When that would start, I would slap the load tester on them one at a time to verify and start saving my allowance for replacement.
By the time I had thrown in the towel and replaced the 8 bank with LFP's in May of this year, fully half of them had failed one at a time open ckt or internal high resistance under load.
I believe that this was due to a manufacturing defect, perhaps linked to the re-start of production. I tried to make my case reasonably with Trojan engineering and offering my system logs (battery voltage/current values recorded every 10 minutes) in order to prove I had in no way exceeded the charge/discharge params.
Just got the "Out of warranty" song and dance.
At least they were worth $150.00 at the local scrap yard. Not a very good return on the $2500 +/- I spent on them new.
Trojan/Interstate (far as I can tell, Interstate FLA's are actually Trojan), had been my "go to" for years. Regularly getting 7+ years out of a bank of L-16HC's.
I needed to buy 8 of those in October 2021. HC's still not available, so went with E-AC's. That would work. This was right after a massive months-long shortage of deep-cycle anything due to them shutting down the Georgia plant (as explained to me by a local distributor) and as manufacturing came back on line.
The 8 started failing one at a time 13 months later (1 month out of warranty) with internal OPENS between cells in an individual L-16. I could get the cells to "re-connect" by tapping the top of the battery with a rubber mallet, but as soon as I pulled some current, it would open up again.
I have never had this kind of failure with FLA's - they generally just start to taper off in capacity after X years such that you notice your daily charge power starting to slowly increase over what you were used to. When that would start, I would slap the load tester on them one at a time to verify and start saving my allowance for replacement.
By the time I had thrown in the towel and replaced the 8 bank with LFP's in May of this year, fully half of them had failed one at a time open ckt or internal high resistance under load.
I believe that this was due to a manufacturing defect, perhaps linked to the re-start of production. I tried to make my case reasonably with Trojan engineering and offering my system logs (battery voltage/current values recorded every 10 minutes) in order to prove I had in no way exceeded the charge/discharge params.
Just got the "Out of warranty" song and dance.
At least they were worth $150.00 at the local scrap yard. Not a very good return on the $2500 +/- I spent on them new.
Zardiw
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2022
- Messages
- 6
Yes. Out of the 24, I'd say 20 of them are still working top notch.........so why 1 would fail completely, and 3 others are borderline, indicates their quality control has gone WAY down.......
And it's amazing how well they can 'sing and dance' around making good on their product........lol
I'm going to go with US Battery next time.....I got 24 more L16's to order.......and Trojan is going to miss out........so sad.
Z
And it's amazing how well they can 'sing and dance' around making good on their product........lol
I'm going to go with US Battery next time.....I got 24 more L16's to order.......and Trojan is going to miss out........so sad.
Z
Big problem right now is that you can't trust the rest. If they're all from the same mfg. run they will probably all have the same issue(s) eventually.
That really sux.
I tried to play the "you have always had a top-notch reputation among the solar crowd, and with me, so work with me on this" to no avail. I would have been OK with them meeting me half-way with replacing them all.
Which variant of L-16's do you have? Can you take a pic of the date code on the top? Would like to compare it to my batch.
I have two 2017 T-105AGM in the RV, so far working OK.
I wonder who makes rolls surrette batteries?
rollsbattery.com
I have some of their FLA's in the solar power system here.
The Rolls have only been in service for 14 months, not long enough for any issues to appear.
I wonder who makes rolls surrette batteries?
Rolls Battery | Premium Deep Cycle & LiFePO4 Lithium Batteries
I have some of their FLA's in the solar power system here.
The Rolls have only been in service for 14 months, not long enough for any issues to appear.
Rolls makes their own FLA batts in Nova Scotia. Their AGM batts are made by Fullriver.. Trojan was sold and they have been moving some production to China..I have two 2017 T-105AGM in the RV, so far working OK.
I wonder who makes rolls surrette batteries?
Rolls Battery | Premium Deep Cycle & LiFePO4 Lithium Batteries
I have some of their FLA's in the solar power system here.
The Rolls have only been in service for 14 months, not long enough for any issues to appear.
I have two 2017 T-105AGM in the RV, so far working OK.
I wonder who makes rolls surrette batteries?
Rolls Battery | Premium Deep Cycle & LiFePO4 Lithium Batteries
I have some of their FLA's in the solar power system here.
The Rolls have only been in service for 14 months, not long enough for any issues to appear.
"I have two 2017 T-105AGM in the RV, so far working OK."
Yup. Pre-pandemic plant shutdown. Talking to various sources (official and unofficial) this was a turning point for QC.
"Trojan was sold and they have been moving some production to China.."
Huh. So they can compete in the LFP market, no doubt...with their seriously overpriced LFP products.
Thanks for the info. Gonna do some follow-up on who actually owns them now.
C&D Technologies, Inc.
In 2018, Trojan Battery Company was acquired by C&D Technologies.
C & D Technologies | News and Events
C&D Technologies experts are active in our industry and in related sectors around the world. Check in often to read news releases and learn about upcoming events.
www.cdtechno.com
So, your 2017 stuff should be OK ;-)
Probably there was a serious morale problem at Trojan after the sale and dismemberment...employees are not at their best in that situation.
seneysolar
Solar Addict
seneysolar
Solar Addict
Need more details here, otherwise this thread is just a rant. Useless.
Age of batteries? Warranty status? CC settings? Equalization schedule? Average depth of discharge? 24 batteries?- are you using a battery balancer? Is the charge sequence going all the way to float in a full day of sun?
Not providing details of a company not honoring warranty or support, you cant be taken seriously.
"My truck broke down and dodge wont give me a new one. Its a 2005 with 350k miles, dodge QC has totally gone down the tubes."
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