NiFe?..NiCad?

Started by tecnodave, March 09, 2019, 06:50:58 PM

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jmd2020

David,

I can tell you that these are NICKEL CADMIUM cells. Our company BeUtilityfree reconditioned thousands of the cells about 20 years ago.

What of course is confusing to most people is that they have NIFE written on the cell case, so people think they have a nickel iron cell and they do not. NIFE of course stands for Nickel Irion, Ni = nickel Fe = Iron. These cells where make by SAFT in the USA specifically for the railroad companies. We still have many customers using our old reconditioned cell after 20 or more years. When we reconditioned all those cells we had about an average of 80% good cells per 10 cells tested. The bad  cells we sent to a recycling place. My guess is that you will get 8 out of 10 cells to be good. Maybe you will do better, who knows! We stopped selling these cells mainly because Cadnium became a poisonous material according to the EPA and therefore have to be recycled in expensive cadmium recycling facilities. Nicke iron cells have no hazidious or poison materials in the cells

We sell both liquid and powder form of electrolyte. Contact us if you would like a quote.

John D
BeUtilityFree, Inc.

tecnodave

John D,

Larry has told me to contact you for the electrolyte. I'm still preparing to do the flush and new electrolyte. Trickle charging them now with a small 55 watt solar panel. I take it real slow and easy with a battery that has been sitting. The train cars where these were are being converted to stationary diners and all the electrical systems are being stripped.  They were in use 5 years ago as a Christmas dinner train.  I have not opened all the electrical cabinets yet but there are possibly 6-8 more of them. I have 4 now. I do know about the toxicity of cadmium.
I am very much an environmentalist and will dispose of them responsibly if need be. I would rather use them off grid. I will have a total quantity soon.

Thanks for the offer to help with these, we will be communicating on this soon.

David
#1 Classic 150 12 x Sharp NE-170, 2S6P, 24volt L-16 Rolls-Surette S-530, MS4024 & Cotek ,  C-40 dirv.cont. for hot water
#2 Classic 150 12 x Sharp NE-170, 2S6P, 24 volt L-16 Interstate,Brutus Inv.
#3 Kid/WBjr 4/6 Sanyo 200 watt multilayer 4/6 P
#4 Kid/WBjr 4/6 Sanyo 200 watt multilayer 2S 2/3 P

Westbranch

Dave in my reading it stated that for storage, it is best to store them discharged.   0.7 / 0.8V is above 50%.... not so bad....
KID FW1811 560W >C&D 24V 900Ah AGM
CL150 29032 FW V.2126-NW2097-GP2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3Px4s 140W > 24V 900Ah AGM,
2 Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr, NetGr DS104Hub
Cotek ST1500 Inv  want a 24V  ROSIE Inverter
OmniCharge3024  Eu1/2/3000iGens
West Chilcotin 1680+W to come

tecnodave

WB,

I haven't pried the cell connecting straps off yet. The voltage readings are for the 5 cell battery. I'm just tickling them to see if they respond. They were in service until 4-5 years ago when our spur line operator flaked out and dumped hundreds of propane tank cars on the main line to Santa Cruz, effectively shutting down rail service. The county which owns the rail right of way ran them out of town. The old dinner train sits in the rail yards waiting for the new owner to refrib the passenger cars into mini diners. These will be used at stationary locations so the old electrics need to be stripped out and modern wiring installed.
#1 Classic 150 12 x Sharp NE-170, 2S6P, 24volt L-16 Rolls-Surette S-530, MS4024 & Cotek ,  C-40 dirv.cont. for hot water
#2 Classic 150 12 x Sharp NE-170, 2S6P, 24 volt L-16 Interstate,Brutus Inv.
#3 Kid/WBjr 4/6 Sanyo 200 watt multilayer 4/6 P
#4 Kid/WBjr 4/6 Sanyo 200 watt multilayer 2S 2/3 P

Westbranch

Got you Dave.  Will poke around the olld  HD for those old emails... somewhere...???
KID FW1811 560W >C&D 24V 900Ah AGM
CL150 29032 FW V.2126-NW2097-GP2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3Px4s 140W > 24V 900Ah AGM,
2 Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr, NetGr DS104Hub
Cotek ST1500 Inv  want a 24V  ROSIE Inverter
OmniCharge3024  Eu1/2/3000iGens
West Chilcotin 1680+W to come