They look good. The caps on the top of the batteries have a very small opening for taking readings. The diameter is approximately 7mm. Do you know Calvin98 what the diameter of the tube is? Please! The batteries are all set up for a watering system. Its difficult and awkward to remove the lids to take readings. My old hydrometer isn't able to fix down the designated opening on the cap.
New Forklift Battery
- Thread starter Feenster
- Start date
I would say that 48V/100A is just a setting on a forklift battery charger. Hook it up, press the button and hope that they are charged for the morning. Is the high current requirement (of 100 A) as much to do with making sure that the battery bank is ready for the morning after having been brought down by 80% the day before?
I take the whole cap off to take gravity readings. Mine has a tiny hole also, but way too small for the meter. 1/4 or 1/8 turnto take cap off. I add water more often than I check the gravity readings, so not a big deal. My tube OD is 6mm in dia. and barely 2" long. You may wnat to get a longer tube.
Most important thing is to know if the battery had initial charge set up done. Was it full of liquid when you got it? At rest voltage should be 50.8V (12.7 for a 12v battery x4). If it was done, you should only need to add distilled water on occasion. My 17yr old battery uses 10x as much water as my new battery does.
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OzSolar
Whatever you did, that's what you planned.
I switched over to refractometer for measuring SG and really like it.
Here's a link to the Rolls Battery Manual. Lot's to be gathered there.
If you aren't able to get those batteries bubbling every few days then you aren't charging then properly. The error in shunt style amp hour meters will accumate when they aren't able to get a "finish charge reset" to recalibrate themselves. EG: they will tell you that your battery is at a falsely high state of charge while your SG continues to fall.
Here's a link to the Rolls Battery Manual. Lot's to be gathered there.
If you aren't able to get those batteries bubbling every few days then you aren't charging then properly. The error in shunt style amp hour meters will accumate when they aren't able to get a "finish charge reset" to recalibrate themselves. EG: they will tell you that your battery is at a falsely high state of charge while your SG continues to fall.
Wow $15. Just got one. Interesting.
Yes, it was full of liquid. The rest voltage was 49.7V.
I went ahead and charged over the course of a few days - not no choice with the s.g values as low as they were.
I have the panels split between a charger and an inverter/charger.
I left the inverter/charger on an older set of batteries and set the charger on the new set. Over the course of a few sessions of charging I have got the s.g up to the 1.26 region. The highest current was just over 40A, but there was a good amount of bubbling going on. I will need the inverter/charger along with the charger to get up close to 100A.
Probably should go an equalization now? A wide variety of values for equalization voltage to be found online. Might just go with 60V?
littleharbor2
Solar Addict
Good to see not everything has gone through the roof, pricewise.
OzSolar
Whatever you did, that's what you planned.
Let me know what you think of it. I'll never go back to a bulb style.
32 volt boater
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2022
- Messages
- 427
50% off yesterday. Somehow I thought these cost a lot more.
Check out they hyrdovolt. Really good also. Built in temperature compensation.
The glass bulb ones never worked right for me cause the inside price would often "stick" to the tube and you could not get a good reading. Plus it is good to have something to compare to. i.e for calibration. Had a SP meter that said batteries SG was "good" when in fact they were really low. It was way off.
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49.7 at rest is a bit low, meaning battery is not full. What is the charging voltage? I think that time can also do what a lot of amps do - i.e keep it on charge longer. I have used 2 pcs Harbor Freight 24v battery chargers connected in series to charge the battery before. Works well. In manual mode, they can equalize the battery at 60 or so volts as I remember.
I still think you need to know if that initial set up was actually done or not. Everything follows from there. I'd hate to mess up such a nice big new battery.
littleharbor2
Solar Addict
12 years ago I switched to AGM and last year I switched to LiFePo4. I still maintain FLA batteries for neighbors but I personally wouldn't look back to their crude, messy technology here.
Got it. Works well. Got the exact same reading as with the hyrdovolt. So it looks to be accurate. BUT, I will not be using it on a regular basis. You have to hold the refractometer exactly surface level, otherwise you get acid on your hands and the meter (were gloves, duh). Still. Takes a really long time to use. Take pipette, get acid from the cell, put it in the meter, hold it steady and level, make sure no drops fall off, close lid, read it. Then clean it. Repeat 23x. It could take an hour to take readings from all 24 cells of a 48v forklift battery. Hydovolt is super quick and no acid spills. Good to have an option though. Might use it to check 6 cells on 12v battey, any more is too much work. Hydrovolt wins hands down. Plus it has the temperature calibration function built in. I will never go back to bulb style. Anyway, my 2 cents worth.
OzSolar
Whatever you did, that's what you planned.
Great feedback! So I tried buy the Hydrovolt a about a dozen times the last 10 years or so on but never could. I just assumed it was vaporware. Probably just odd timing. Guess I need to give them a 17th chance, eh?
FWIW, I just put one drop of electrolyte on my refactromerter. A quick wipe with a paper towel and I'm onto the next cell. 10 minutes or less for all 24 cells in my 48v pack but I haven't timed it to be honest. Hardly ever do I get any on my hands but I'm still sure to wear nitrile gloves.
The hydrovolt is really good. Aside from all what I mentioned, I like that is has built in temperature compensation. For full disclosure, I do have to tap it on occasion when there are air bubbles in the dial. They can affect the reading if you don't get rid of them.
My instructions said to put 2-3 drops on. With practice I could get better though. Good to have 2 independent ways to test. Will try with 1 drop at some point. I know I'll get it on my hands and wipe it on my pants and goodbye pants.
Lithium is the way to go, but still really "new." When there is a good way for my Sunny Islands to communicate with the battery, I'll make the switch. Would prices coming down be too much to ask (like they did with panels and inverters)?
