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The Quest for maximum battery life continues

A quick recap. The battery bank consists of 8 L-16’s, which are a 6v, 420ah battery, in two parallel 4 in series strings. This gives me 24v @ 840ah.

After cross-tying (massively paralleling) my battery bank, by connecting the positive posts across parallel banks, it was time for more drastic measures.

I installed a second hand BattEQ that originally came from http://www.abrahamsolar.com, but it wasn’t functional. One phone call, and 4 days later, a new one from http://www.smartsparkenergy.com arrived, and is now installed and functional. The BattEQ equalizes the charge and discharge to each battery in the string, and the cross tie cables distribute that functionality to the second string.

The next item on the agenda was a pulse desulphater, from http://www.pulsetech.net. The PowerPulse extends battery life by minimizing the size of the lead sulfate crystals. Again, because of the cross-tie cables, the effect is distributed across both strings. Installed and functional.

The next item I will evaluate is an automatic watering/degassing system, to prevent spills and corrosion, and prevent water loss. These steps should ensure I get maximum life from my battery bank.