Battery bank ???

[doc_gonzo]

We have a real neat "salvage" place nearby, they go in and buy up all the stuff from older "mall warts" that are closed to build the new stupper centers. i came across a bunch of tow motor battery banks in their warehouse, they're 8 cells per bank but set up to be charged on 3 phase. I'm wondering if they can be tweaked around and used for solar or wind battery banks. i'm cool with tinkering with the electrical, i run the powerhouse at the plant that i work at. run a 35K horse boiler that produces supperheated steam to run a turbine for 2K continuous amps and side steam for drying kilns and plant heat and hot water. it's a hard wood flooring plant so we burn wood waste, nice tight little supply line.... i don't have a lot of experience with dc juice but i'd love to be able to make this work 'cause i can get these banks ridiculous cheap compared to the cost of "traditional" battery bank arrays. these are set up for constant discharge and recharge cycles (being tow motor batteries)so...... will it work or no?? they're set up in nice tidy steel boxes each with it's own charge controller. ant thoughts, experience, or wisdom would be greatly appreciated!


doc

 

[sunsaver]

As long as you can arrange them in groups of 12 or 24 volts, you should be able to use them for solar power. Are they marine batteries? What's a tow motor? If they can handle deep cycling they should work well for solar power.

 

[doc_gonzo]

hey sunsaver,

thanks for getting back to me on this. i've been on my long run of 12 hr days and havent had a chance to get by here, i'm on my week off right now and will be going up to the salvage yard in a day or two, i'll get all the info off of the plate from the banks and post that here. to answer youre questions, i dont know if theyre marine batteries. a tow motor is a wharehouse fork lift used for picking orders from high stacks and shelves. you use the lift all day then plug it into 3 phase to charge all night, so i assume that would be considered deep cycling. the 3 phase is what was realy concerning me, thats a lot of juice compared to what a solar pannel or wind turbine puts out, but if i take out 1 and or 2 legs it might just work. each bank is going for $125, thats a lot of bang for the buck compared to the prices i've found on line for traditional battery banks. give me a couple of days and i'll have info or a photo of the spec. plate on the banks.

thanks,

doc

 

[doc_gonzo]

Hey sun saver,

here's the info plates off of the battery banks that i mentioned,

this is the panel for the controll module; info for charging, finish, etc . as if it was on a working fork lift.lights would be green or red or yello depending on the charge status.

this is the electrical info plate, the really crucial information in relation to charging and discharging this bank of batteries, as well as the battery type and the # of cells. i'm not seeing a lot of 12 v or 24 v type info. so is this thing too high powered for a solar bank or am i in the ball park? i could do some rewiring if necessary, it may be worth it , cause i can get these puppys real cheap compared to traditional solar arrays. $125 each and i'd have 6-8 at my disposal for that price. i can have them pull one off the shelf, and crack it open with a wrench to get better pictures of the batteries themselves if that would help, just let me know... this is a long term project, and nobody wants these things but me......

thanx

doc

***edited to fix pix size

 

[doc_gonzo]

hang on the boss lady is trying to fix the size of the pics so that they are ledgable. thanks boss.
i also just noticed the mfg....... arrgh! mfg on the charge plate tooooooo funny!!

ed to add thanks boss etc.

doc

 

[Roddy]

Solar Sponge is produce lots of solar energy through many factors. It has affect on DIY application that becomes cheap to get solar enegy. In market you can find solar sponge in 1000$ or above which is very costly. So , I must say that DIY application would be the best option. It has two types of varieties active and passive both are passes solar energy through different factors.

 

[FarmerD]

thats one hell of a shovel you must be using to dig that old thread up!

 

[Smart Red]

@Roddy, welcome to SS! So pleased to make your acquaintance!

It sounds as if you are very knowledgable about this topic. Thank you for bringing it up again. As time passes, more and more of our members are researching solar options for getting "off the grid". Revisiting old topics puts the older information back into the hands of newer members and takes advantage of past postings.

Please take a moment to tell us a bit about yourself and your journey down the path to self-sufficiency to far.