Sam Stephens wrote:
Jay Peters wrote:Hi Mega Brain,
. Screw the fridge, but I can't live without a freezer...
Back in 2014, I spent 6mos offgrid and very broke in central Texas.
I had a 100w panel, 2 old RV batteries, a cheap,cheap,cheap 1000w MSW inverter and a $30 PWM solar controller.
After messing with different scenarios, I put a timer on the freezer power cord and set it to turn off daily between 2200 and 0900.
It worked enough to get by.
SS
Meni Menindorf wrote:Thanks for your feedback Steven. This is what I am hoping to hear. Sure seems like they are happy batteries charging like this, and so much easier to work with than lead-acid! Also I should mention, with all the "sizzling" I have discussed in this post, I still have not seen any observable change in the water level. All ten batteries still hovering around the max fill level. I am also not terribly concerned about Carbon build-up, and a freshening of the KOH should certainly solve that issue. Side note about reconditioning... I have reconditioned lead-acid batteries with an Eposom Salt solution, and I am astounded by how well this works! It costs $5-$10 to recondition, and the resulting "mineral battery" as I am calling it, responds much more like the NiFe batteries do. They don't heat up from solar-direct charging and they continue to give out pretty rad amperage even at 9V. So stoked it is an option to recondition, lead and otherwise~. I probably never would have bought NiFe if I knew how well reconditioning worked
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Sounds like a really fun project with that Arduino! I am going to make a new post for HHO~. But before I go here, could this be a way to store HHO from my NiFe?
https://www.hho-generator.de/en/mcgiver.htm
Alden Banniettis wrote:Thank you, Thomas and David. Yes, I know what you mean about the voltage. I was just wondering what to do with this old Targus thingy. I do have a motorcycle trickle charger on the batteries that keep them fully charged. I basically use these batteries only when the lights go out up here in northern Maine, which is often.
Meni Menindorf wrote:
First on my mind. I am still charging these batteries using the panels straight to the batteries (no controller) and I recently installed a voltage readout and a switch so I can manually turn charging on and off. I am still somewhat financially challenged, so I can't afford a high end controller with user modifiable parameters. (Seems like these are all in the $500+ range?). My question: am I damaging my batteries charging them like this regularly? Or is there a certain approach with my handy manual on/off switch that would help prevent harm? I have read that these batteries can safely charge up to 17.5V. I very rarely see mine go above 16.5v (though we will see what the Summer brings). Does this mean I can continue to charge like the neglegent off-gridder I am, and sit on my couch expecting my NiFe to last 80 years? Or with them sizzling away all the time like an HHO generator, should I expect them to have a 5 year life?
Rachel Brylawski wrote:. (Check out this "Cabin Iron Sun" kit for $300, which includes the solar panel, NiFe battery set, lightbulbs, adapters, etc: https://livingenergylights.com/product/iron-sun-cabin-kit/)
Mark Cunningham wrote:
Manufacturers recommend changing out the electrolyte periodically to remove K2CO3 accumulation. ChangHong says every 7 years or 15%.
But if you replace a portion of the electrolyte annually you will keep that percentage down to manageable levels and avoid the costs, both in chems and labor/hassle, of a total electrolyte swap out.
That means you keep keep less KOH/LiOH on hand, you have less electrolyte to dispose of, refreshing your electrolyte has just become like a normal watering maintenance event.
Mark Cunningham wrote:
One advantage of Nickel cells is that there is no equivalent of sulfation. I feel for the L.A. folks, having been one. It's not really a big problem to under or over charge. Within reason.
Mark Cunningham wrote:
Making / storing D.W. is a practice I strongly recommend .... one bottle of pond water mis - marketed as distilled water from WallyWorld can ruin your day. Especially if your running a L.A. bank.
Overcharging counteracts the phase change in the nickel plate that most folks think of as cell memory.
Here is a good paper on Nickel cell memory
Mark Cunningham wrote:
Rejuvenation of Nickel Cadmium Aircraft Battery Electrolyte.
Ignore all of the apparatus and pay particular attention to the second and third paragraphs under the "Background of the Invention". Think about what those dilution/rejuvenation tricks mean for the home installation.
Hope this helps
Neil Binderman wrote:Some bathroom reading for you
http://jes.ecsdl.org/content/162/10/A2036.full.pdf
Mark Cunningham wrote:
Nobody I've read to date has given a direct explanation of what LiOH does in the electrolyte. I don't think that it has any effect on cell hydrolysis.
I remember reading that it was a preservative in one manual, (I forget which but it is in the references appendix). I know that LiOH was the agent used in the Apollo emergency as a CO2 scrubber.
So my guess is that it is both a carbon scavenger and a rust preventative.