Opening raylitte 1660amp battery cases

[russ_drinkwater]

I showed my ignorance and trust when we initially purchased the cells (We got our money back after a few weeks when I tested the cells and put them on charge and they crashed under load and was making a claim through our court system, so we got the money refunded).
When raylittes are developing trouble the positive terminal starts to swell/bulge from the inside from pressure from growth when the structure is breaking down. All part of learning and I should not be so trusting as it has cost me a lot of money through business over the years  ,  . They were off a 48 volt system with a 12 kw array feeding it. Obviously, the batteries had had an absolute canning. Still the internal structure is not designed to be strong and withstand heavy usage. As I stated before if the positive plate were plante style the batteries most likely would be still serviceable.
If I can retrofit solid plates into even 12 volts of cells I will be super happy and test them out amperage wise.

[Resthome]

Posting for Russ hopefully I get his comments with the correct photos  .  Russ if I got them backwards let me know an I can edit your comments.

First shot is the negative plates showing the results of stratification, but still an all not too bad a condition when compared to the positive plates. These negative plates will/can be repasted for years of extra service.

[Resthome]

Posting for Russ.

Second is the fabric tubes holding the positive plates.

[Resthome]

Posting for Russ

Third is the negative plates which we left attached to the buss bar.

[Resthome]

Posting for Russ

Fourth is the plates and spacers as we withdrew the contents of the cell and sulfation can be seen.

[Resthome]

Posting for Russ

Fifth is the decomposed positive plates showing the crumbled alloy material within the tubular jackets.

[Resthome]

Posting for Russ.

Sixth is the rough cut job I did with the electric soldering iron, lol.

[BobWhite]

Wow thats not quite what I would have expected  

[clockmanFrance]

Nice pics.......

Sadly it brought back memories of some of my batts that were just mush.

You said the tub was thin, is it serrated/ridged on the inside?  Thickness of the tub walls please.?

I have not worked with those Surrete 1660amp batteries, what are the dimensions of the tub. ?

Thanks.

[Vic]

YES,  thanks for the photos Russ and John ...

The Surrette model number is shown in that last pic  --  the one showing the rough-cut at the top of the battery.

It looks to be a 2C  ...25.  This IS a 25-plate 2V battery,  so that must be the part number/model number.

The construction does not look like anything that I've seen from Surrette.

Russ,  do you know the original application that these batteries were designed for?   And do you know the Date Code?

Thanks,   Vic

[russ_drinkwater]

The tubs are 2mm thick and  IMO are ummmm crap compared to those used on trojans. Also there is no internal or external ribbing for increased structural integrety.There are 2 of these cells in a further heavy tub and this is what they rely on for strength 
I will have to have a look at the remaining cells to get the parts number off them and will measure them up. I know the 2 batteries in the yellow tub weigh in at approx 135kgs! If that helps? Yes the cells are 2.25 volts.
Those style of raylites are all that I have seen here in australia, as some are bigger/heavier and others are smaller/lighter.
Those particular cells came from a standalone  48 volt system approx 50 kms from where I live and I think from memory the owner has about 12kw of array and a 7kw plus selectronics inverter.
Where will the date code be?
Honestly I was genuinely shocked and disappointed with the construction of the positive plates.
The external exclusion sleeve is a good idea. I have broken a few pieces of the positive plates and they are brittle similar to linotype.
If the positive plates were made from high quality pure lead sheets then the batteries would IMO still be going and in good condition.
Yes I know the positive plates have to cope with most of the abuse. But if you look at the negative plates in the photos you will see that there is no damage to the grid work and they are a much softer form (pure lead I suspect) of lead. I have misplaced my battery builder book atm  .
The new trojans I purchased have a much different appearance when looking at the top of the grids. From what I can see they are approx 5 mm thick in the trojans (positive plates) and the negative plates are the same basic structure as those used in the raylites.
The trojan plates appear (I am not going to cut the top off my new cells, ok!) to be solid across their width.

[russ_drinkwater]

Hi, again.
This is what they look like!

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/childers/garage-sale/batteries-deep-cycle/1103196500?utm_source=criteo&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=LF-

Follow the link to the add on our gumtree and check out the photos.
Russ

[Vic]

Hi Russ,

Thanks for the Link to the ad for the batteries that you now have.  I assume that the ad is for the exact batteries that you have begun to dissect.

The ad does mention Raylite brand of batteries,  and searching for Raylite,  sites,  like the following one come up,  with batteries that look exactly like the ones shown in the pics from the gumtree ad:

http://www.alcobatt.com.au/page/raylite-batteries/

In a quick search,  cannot find the relationship between Raylite,  and Surrette.

Surrette batteries do look similar to some of the Raylite ones,  but,  just could not find how the two companies might be linked together.

Here is a pic of some Surrette 5000 series batteries.  The 4KS25P  is a similar looking,  and similar size battery to what was in the ad on gumtree:

http://rollsbattery.com/renewable_energy/

The Surrette battery site operates a bit strangely,  so the above link may not work too well ...   FWIW.
EDIT:  Here is a pic of the 4KS25 Surrette,  which has similar specs to the one that Russ is working on:

http://www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/4KS25P.pdf

Thanks for any clarification that you might be able to add on Raylite,  verses Surrette.
Vic

[russ_drinkwater]

Ooooops, my bad it isssssssssssssssss raylitte cells I will correct all my posts!

[Westbranch]

I think you have to change the original post.... mind you the header on this say Raylitte... when I click REPLY but in the forum form it still says Surette.... hmm they both have 2 t's in the name...??

OOPPS too fast to respond, now it is changed...