John,
I contacted www.beutilityfree.
principal there demands $200 per hour consulting fees just to answer one or
two some simple questions about these batteries, even to a potential
commercial user of his product! No thanks. I give advice freely all day
long and support the EV community to the best of my abilities without ever
sticking my hand out. I figured that this discussion group is a valuable
resource with plenty of professional talent, which from the results I have
received so far I have been proven correct.
Regarding my batteries, I particularly like Mark Stafford's response and
will definitely try his idea of recirculating the electrolyte and monitoring
specific gravity along the way. From my research, it should reach between
1.20 and 1.25, if it doesn't reach that level I will add KOH flakes as
required to boost it. It will take time and patience but seems to be a
solid approach to reviving these batteries. I suppose I could use a small,
cheap, low-pressure pump as one would use to replace their windshield washer
in their car.
I now own 28 of these Nickel-Iron batteries, 200 amp-hours each, which would
yield an excellent pack for either an electric boat or an electric car. I
would likely use 20 or 24 of them for either a 120- or 144-volt nominal
pack. If I am successful in reviving close to their rated 200 amp-hours, a
1,320 lb., 144-volt pack at that capacity would make an awesome power supply
and I would still have four left over for potential replacement as required
along the way. That equates to almost 29 kilowatt-hours of energy storage!
I'd be content with 20 kilowatt-hours.
I have several Saft Nickel-Cadmium 100 amp-hour STM batteries which I
purchased used in 1997 and I am still using daily 12 years later. They were
manufactured in France in 1994. Most are still showing full capacity, I add
distilled water about twice per year and they soldier on. Twelve are in my
solar-powered garden tractor (operating both a mower and snowblower) and I
have 24 in various other electric boats owned by myself and friends. I also
keep a pack of 12 for a general power supply for testing electric outboards,
etc. I originally had 48 of them in my ElectriFly electric car which I
competed in the Tour de Sol electric car rally and used as a commuter for
50,000 kilometers in total. If I didn't have such success with these
Ni-Cads I would probably have been less inclined to take a gamble on these
15-year old Nickel-Iron batteries, but from everything I've read, they can
tolerate abuse unheard of in the lead-acid realm.
Monte
Wrong! You can find them here:
http://www.beutilit
<http://www.beutilit
cle&id=44-nickel-
or-on-grid-backup&
yfree.com/content/
n-batteries-
tid=72-Storage&
John
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