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fillm

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Joined: 10/02/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 730

Posted: 10:03pm 12 May 2007

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Hi , Went to the local dump the other day and at the battery area I found 20 large wet cell nickel cadmium batteries . The make is SAFT NIFE , Type- SBM 43-2 , Code 97 J , (W277 296J is stamped on the case). They were built in 97 .Wondering does anybody know what fluid you use to top these up with , 1 battery was on its side and it has lost some fluid and the rest are on the low level line .Each cell measures approx H 330mm x D 250mm x w 60mm and are joined in pairs and the voltage is at 1.2 to .9 volts per pair at present . Do you have to have a special charger for these or can they be charged as normal . Haven"t been able to find much on the net about these batts so hopin someone has had something to do with these type of battery as I think they could make a faily good bank for my first wind gen as it is nearly finnished ,hope to put photos on when I work out how to ..Regards Phill..

PhillM ...Oz Wind Engineering..Wind Turbine Kits 500W - 5000W ~ F&P Dual Kits ~ GOE222Blades- Voltage Control Parts ------- Tower kits

wind friend

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Joined: 01/05/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 39

Posted: 03:24am 13 May 2007

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gday phill

fully charged nicad wet cell is 1.45 volts( 9 cells to give you 13 and a bit volts) . charging is done mainly by observation of the electrolyte. when it is bubbling its charging. top them up with distilled water only. if the cell is on constant charge expect to see a level drop of 12mm per month(much more than a lead acid cell). dont spill any of the fluid on your self tis trully nasty stuff. i will get back to you soon on what do do about the spilled fluid. if they were built in 97 expect another 10 years of reliable service.

hans

fillm

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Joined: 10/02/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 730

Posted: 06:18am 13 May 2007

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Thanks for some info Hans , did some more searching and found saftbattery.com web site and down loaded tec specs. They are only 43 amp cells . They are joined in pairs and I havn't been able to work out wether that would be 1 @ 1.45 or 2.9 volts .. phill..

PhillM ...Oz Wind Engineering..Wind Turbine Kits 500W - 5000W ~ F&P Dual Kits ~ GOE222Blades- Voltage Control Parts ------- Tower kits

Bryan1

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Joined: 22/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1448

Posted: 07:30am 13 May 2007

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Hi Fillm,
Eh mate those batteries sound like the ones I have, I got mine for free about 3 years ago and one also had lost 90% of its fluid so all I did was take abit from all the others and top them all up with distilled water. These batteries have been powering the 12 volt cfl's in my shed ever since. I've got a 80 watt pv panel and the oatleys charge controller with some resistor changes I float them around 16 volts. Oh I have 10 of them and I've got 2 banks of 5 in series/parrallel. On a few occasions I've left the lights on for days and the batteries dropped to under 1 volt, simply charging them up brought them back to float. Now try do that with lead acid batteries!!!. Unfortunately oatleys stopped selling the kit but i do know Windstuff Ed has some of them over in the US. If you manage to get hold of 1 I can give you the resistor changes so you could copy my setup.

Cheers Bryan

KiwiJohn
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Joined: 01/12/2005
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 691

Posted: 07:55am 13 May 2007

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NIFE is surely nickel iron not nickel cadmium?
Although NIFEs do have their downsides being free is an almost overwhelming advantage!

Feral
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Joined: 03/12/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 39

Posted: 12:52pm 14 May 2007

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Manufacturer's web site for your batteries
http://www.saftbatteries.com

fillm

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Joined: 10/02/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 730

Posted: 02:13pm 14 May 2007

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Thanks Bryan for the info on your experience , I did download the manual from SAFT on these battries and had a good read lastnight . Have split them into 4 banks of 5 and have them on charge with just a normal bat charger . They definatly come to life quick . I will do what you sugested with taxing a little fluid from each cell to top up the two low cells , and refill the rest with distilled water . I would be interested in how your bank is set up , what is the resistor for ? Are you also charging with a wind gen ? I also have been collecting fairly resonable large CAT truck battries 1500 cca , they are fully sealed and have been keeping them up at 12.8 - 13.3 v with a 65w & 80w sol panels and a Morningstar 30 amp charger . As i do not have an inverter as yet my load is 2 x 50w halogen globes which pull 7.4 amps and it takes 13 hrs to bring the volts down to 12.3v from a bank of 4 . What is CCA in normal Amp hrs ? Has anyone else used these battries with solar & wind power..? Thanks everyone for your input & help

Phill...

PhillM ...Oz Wind Engineering..Wind Turbine Kits 500W - 5000W ~ F&P Dual Kits ~ GOE222Blades- Voltage Control Parts ------- Tower kits

windlight
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Joined: 03/03/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 331

Posted: 03:29pm 14 May 2007

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Phill, my opinion on these for what it's worth is while they are useful, enquire about disposal before acepting ownership.

My experience in comercial use is the case frets(cracks) well before the battery expires, concider what you or your children are taking on.

allan down under

"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - (Act II, Scene IV).

Bryan1

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Joined: 22/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1448

Posted: 08:07am 15 May 2007

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Hi Fillm,
The resistor changes are for the oatley K220 kit which they stopped selling. It was designed for 12/24 volts but with a few resistor changes I set it up for 16 volts. I've no need to run a wind genny as the 80 watt panel usually has the batteries dumping into some of oatleys heating wire for a dumpload. I've made up the new K241 kit and when finances allow I setup an F&P genny to topup my otherbattery array of 28 6 volt 105a/h agm's in a 24 volt array which are currently charged by 8 65 watt pv panels and I'll soon be adding 24 2 volt 275a/h agms to the shed array as the 3kw sinewave inverter will suck some juice when i'm running a bridgeport mill or one of my lathes.

Cheers Bryan

Prof

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Joined: 01/12/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 33

Posted: 10:56am 15 May 2007

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Hi Phill,
As these batteries age, they do develop cracks and leak. It eventually becomes a nuisance and they will need to be scrapped. It is possible to fix up some at the beginning of the failures by using hot melt glue, but eventually repairing becomes unviable.

See pics of the bank I have now decommisioned.

Prof

I know boats!!

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