[Tilmbeinymn]

12 batteries, if there is enough time to charge them properly, will be better for your situation since you have a house and a school on them. The inverter is working extra hard to heat up those batteries so it is causing stress on the charging circuit which will most likely lead to repairs being needed more quickly.

The insanely high electricity bill is most likely being caused by using bad batteries as space heaters which is apparently taking you over the 700 KWH power threshold in a month. It is not a coincidence that overheating batteries and high power bills happen at the same time. When this happens, I get new batteries, because each month you go forward means you are paying Edenorte a lot of extra money. ( Do also check to make sure nobody else is tapped into your meter and stealing electricity for which you are paying).

[Shootohoist]

Batteries should not get hot. It decreases life and wastes power. Battery life depends on depth of discharge. 10% - 20% is good and will give 1800 cycles typical. 1 cycle a day.
If you do not want to pay $1000,s of dollars over the next 10 years on batteries plan to reduce energy consumption. For examples turn off the fridge and use ice/thermos flasks to keep food cool. The latest flasks can store at freezing up to 36 hours; use ultra low energy light bulbs; run a tv that burns only 25 or so watts; use a solar oven.

By the way thermos food storage jars are very convenient - you can buy seafood on the beach - pop into the thermos jar and 12 hours later when it is time to cook still perfectly cold.

Solar prices have reduced 50% in the last 3 years. $1500 could buy a system now providing 80% of energy for a family.

Also think of the generating plant - DR has more than enough already causing pollution etc.

yapask1

[forextradinginfo]

@TravelHippo
At what voltage reading does the inverter orange LED change from steady to blinking (during charging)?


donP

[DavidShreder]

Travelhippo,
I disagree with Windeguy on replacing all of the batteries and think from what you are saying that one or two batteries have gone “ Bad”.
In March I posted on this thread concening batteries
Inverter Question...
One of the main points was :
Jenny,
“Give it a try - one battery - if the other fail make sure you keep the new one but I dont think the others will fail. At one year old the characteristics of the the batteries will not be much different.
There is another side to this discussion. I have found that "Electricians" will recommend replacing all four since this is a safe and lucrative bet on their part. Four new batteries - RD$20000, fitting etc say Rd$3000 - everybody happy - you bet!! Electrician then sells the three "good " Batteries he has just taken out for RD$ 2000 each = RD$6000 , and the scrap battery for RD$300 - Not bad !!!

Happy customer, RD$9300 for the job! Happy "Electrician" - an interesting "SCAM" !!!

Cobraboy and Windeguy - Is anything "Optimum" here !!! I have not come across the situation of a "New" lead Acid deep cycle battery "killing" the older ones in a string. I am just about to try that situation as I cant find a "good" 3 year old battery so I will let you know! “ End of quote.

In fact in your situation it is even more expensive : 12 batteries at RD$5300 ( Trojan Red – La Serana price) = 63600RD$ .
Identification of two bad batteries using a Battery Load Tester costs about 1800 RD$ and replacement of two batteries if the others are about a year old about RD$5000 or RD$10,000. Can your school stand that – 63,600 RD$ ?

Here is a typical Battery Load Tester :
Battery Load Tester (fy-64d) - Buy Battery Tester,Load Tester,Battery Analyzer Product on Alibaba.com

I said in my early post in March that I was about to try a situation of replacing one battery in a group of 12. In August last year I purchased 4 new batteries and removed three “Bad” batteries re-arranging the remaining 8 to get the “Best Batteries” using the load tested to identify the good from the bad.
One “good” one was spare and this was passed on to someone in need.

Subsequent to this change ONE battery of the old lot failed after 5 months and was replace with one of a similar age and charge state.
It has worked well ever since but the capacity is reduces – now we get 14 hours instead of 19 hours typically on the batteries so have about 70 % of the original capacity.
We now have 4 batteries one year old, 7 batteries 4 years old and one 3 years old. All show “GOOD” on the tester.
Many of you will jump on me but I said I would let you know and that is IT!! I put my money where my mouth is?

Change only the ones you need to ?

Olly and the team

PS you have to admire YupestKi for his dedication to saving the planet!

[FinanseMikky]

To properly check the condition of your batteries, you need to use a battery load tester, not a voltmeter. Fully charge your batteries then test them individually and disconnected from each other with a load tester like this one:

Amazon.com: Schumacher BT-100 100 amp Battery Load Tester: Automotive

This type of testing device will give you the true condition of your battery..........

[BloofPailafum]

Oops sorry just checked... steady orange light means 'bulk' and steady green light means 'float'. It seems to be orange most of the time but is steady green right now. Also the brand is 'xantrex dr series inverter / charger'. Hope someone can help. Thanks!!

[BloofPailafum]

Oh sorry, I forgot to answer... my current batteries are Premiere EXTREME Heavy Duty Deep Cycle 6 volt. Also checked the date on the Invertor. It says June 2005. And the type is a DR3624.

[BloofPailafum]

Battery Type Selector is correct... set at 7. Battery capacity is set between 170 and 340. Battery charger rate is just over a quarter of the way between the 'min.' dot and the 'max' dot. For example, if the min dot was zero and the max dot was 100, it would be about 27.

Checked it again and is still solid green 'float'. I did see on a manual online that float charging is minimal charging and may not be good for some batteries. Could that be affecting it? I don't know how I could change that though? Also wanted to point out that the invertor isn't hot at all... just the batteries... and the water seems to be boiling/bubbling inside them, sometimes boiling right over.

[BloofPailafum]

Hi... I could use a bit of electrical / battery / inversol help. Here in Cabrera we have street electricity about 60% of the time so for the rest we run our house with 8 batteries and an inversol. For the past 2 months we have been having issues with our batteries getting REALLY hot. The batteries are only about 9 months old and were perfect up until a couple of months ago. I checked them every two weeks for water but they didn't need any adding until just recently (now some of them do every couple of weeks). We have had two different electricians in to look at them but have had no success so far. The first electrician checked all the batteries and said they are all still in good condition. I thought it might be the Inversol but he wasn't convinced so he borrowed someone else's voltage meter, checked them again and saw the batteries were still all good. Then he said he would have to check them when they are all out of power to get a real reading.... is that true? He also turned down the charger rate on the Inversol which certainly did help the batteries to cool down... but it also meant our batteries only lasted an hour or two which is no good! Second electrician put the charger setting back up, cleaned and checked the batteries, all good, left and said to call if they got hot again. They have. His next suggestion is to move the batteries around so they are set up in a different pattern. Will that be any help?? I don't know what to do next. We are going away on vacation in one week with a friend taking care of our house and pets for the time we are gone and I don't want him stuck with all these issues and also don't want our batteries to all get ruined during that time due to the extreme heat they are facing right now!! :/ If anyone has any ideas or advice, that would be fantastic!! Does it sound like a battery issue? an inversol issue (the inversol is at least a few years old (it was here before we moved in 2 1/2 years ago.. not sure how long before that but wasn't brand new)? a street power issue (too strong when charging?)?? I really don't know anymore. Also, if anyone knows a good electrician who really understands battery and inversol stuff in the Cabrera area, that would be great. Thanks so much in advance!!

[Shootohoist]

Yes, all batteries have a limited life. It is related to the depth of discharge. At 10% depth 5 - 7 years is possible.

If discharge is limited the life will be greater.

Ways to do this:

Use 12 volt high efficiency fans - e.g. 02 cool from Amazon.

Use high efficiency lights - now LED lights are twice as efficient as CFC - e.g. Phillips. Last 15 years.

Use Icemaker running when elec is on and thermos flasks/food jars packed with ice to keep foods cold instead of using a fridge when mains is off. (photos anyone interested ? )

Store items that do not absolutely need a fridge under inverted flowerpot covered with wet old towel.

Turn off main inverter and use efficient 100- 500 watt inverter when power is off.

Use LED low energy 20 inch TV or LED monitor attached to laptop.

Aim for energy useage that gets you into lowest payment band.

Use solar oven - not microwave.

Augment by solar power.

Use insulation if areas are getting hot and need powerful fans etc.

Preserve the fossil fuel resources of the planet for future generations.

Remember inverter/battery combination is only 80% efficient.

Yes a good expat life with elec bill of $25 dollars a month plus or minus is possible.

yapask1

[Tilmbeinymn]

Yes, all batteries have a limited life. It is related to the depth of discharge. At 10% depth 5 - 7 years is possible.

If discharge is limited the life will be greater.

Ways to do this:

Use 12 volt high efficiency fans - e.g. 02 cool from Amazon.

Use high efficiency lights - now LED lights are twice as efficient as CFC - e.g. Phillips. Last 15 years.

Use Icemaker running when elec is on and thermos flasks/food jars packed with ice to keep foods cold instead of using a fridge when mains is off. (photos anyone interested ? )

Store items that do not absolutely need a fridge under inverted flowerpot covered with wet old towel.

Turn off main inverter and use efficient 100- 500 watt inverter when power is off.

Use LED low energy 20 inch TV or LED monitor attached to laptop.

Aim for energy useage that gets you into lowest payment band.

Use solar oven - not microwave.

Augment by solar power.

Use insulation if areas are getting hot and need powerful fans etc.

Preserve the fossil fuel resources of the planet for future generations.

Remember inverter/battery combination is only 80% efficient.

Yes a good expat life with elec bill of $25 dollars a month plus or minus is possible.

yapask1

Possible? Maybe. Practical for only .01 X 10-9 % of the population.

[DoctorIrokezov]

I can check in Gaspar H if you want. See if there is good electrician around.

Let me know

[forextradinginfo]

I would have mostly solar power if I thought I could go away for a week and still have it when i come back.......

Or not have it....

Detienen haitiano por robo de paneles solares en Bani*

http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/02/0...aneles-solares


donP

[Dertrioz]

I would have mostly solar power if I thought I could go away for a week and still have it when i come back.......

[Tilmbeinymn]

Oh sorry, I forgot to answer... my current batteries are Premiere EXTREME Heavy Duty Deep Cycle 6 volt. Also checked the date on the Invertor. It says June 2005. And the type is a DR3624.

Same model inverter and vintage that I currently use. Your batteries sound like "low end" batteries and a potential example of the "buy cheap, buy twice" saying.

[BloofPailafum]

MerengueDutchie, thank you very much for the offer. We will look around here first since GH is about a 40 minute drive and it would be nice to have an electrician close by, but if we have no luck, I will let you know. Thanks again!!

yapask1, sounds like you have put a lot of thought and work into being as energy efficient as possible. Thank you for sharing your ideas but unfortunately most really wouldn't be practical for us.

[forextradinginfo]

So let us not have more senseless posts -

Yes, please.

donP

[forextradinginfo]

I fully concur with windeguy's opinion.

A voltage meter can be used to check at what voltage the bulk charge stage switches over to the absoption charge (= 29.2 V). The gassing should then get less and less and stop.
Otherwise a voltmeter is only good to check how much and quickly your batteries' voltage drops when a high load is applied.

Even if the over discharge protection is set at OFF, there is still an inbuilt threshold of 16.4V at which your inverter would shut down.
[I set mine at MAX because I like the faster transfer when my generator shuts down.]

The search mode watts setting does not have anything to do with your problem, I'd turn it off (= defeat).

I have never heard of the brand of your batteries. They may not be real deep cycle batteries and their label may have been put on in the DR...

Maybe your batteries were not equalized regularly in their early life and the plates have hard sulfate, thus reducing the capacity.

Internal short-circuits can also cause excessive temperature. Warped plates (= bad quality) or too much bottom deposits, which finally reach the plates are likely reasons for that.

Bottom line:
I think, your inverter is OK, your batteries need replacement (T-105).

donP

[BloofPailafum]

Thanks very much for your help. A shame to hear that our batteries have probably gotten bad so quickly, but you live, you learn I suppose. We will go with the brand you suggested next time. And you mentioned 12 a bit earlier in the thread... would that better suit this inverter or is that not important? I think 12 would be good for us anyway as we have our house and school both using the batteries.

Before we run off and buy the batteries, I will still be sure to find a good electrician who knows what he is doing in this area and can help us to make sure the street power coming in and inverter are as they should be to avoid ruining yet another set of batteries. I'll also have him check to make sure it definitely is a battery issue (which it sounds like it is from everything you say).

Finally, at the moment when set to a slightly higher charger rate than we have it now, the batteries will last for as long as we need them, BUT get very hot. So they are still doing their job, just getting very hot (and sometimes a bit smelly) while they do it. My question is, could this be causing damage to anything else or just to the batteries? And if only to the batteries, should we just let them keep doing it until they are no longer useful to us, then get the new ones? Another related issue is that our electricity bill was insanely high the past two months. I assume that is due to the hot batteries which are working so hard to get that hot when street power is on, thus upping our bill and taking it over the 700 a month, meaning we pay the whole thing at the highest rate... am I right? Or may there be a whole other issue?

Thanks again so much for your advice!!

[Tilmbeinymn]

Yes yapask1 means well no matter what user name he is currently using, but once again he likes to throw in off topic posts whenever possible in any thread related to using energy.

Back to the OP. It is very likely to be the batteries causing the problem. It is best to avoid off brand batteries for the next investment in batteries and go with Trojan T-105s purchased from LH in Moca direct from their warehouse.