I've got a few very large deep cycle batteries showing up next week, coming already full of electrolyte.



I won't be ready to put these into service for a month to 6 weeks.  In the mean time I plan on storing them in our attached garage, which is usually slightly warmer (+10-15 *F) then outside temperatures this time of year.  Is there any risk of damage from going unused in these lower temps?



Thanks,

-Slice

They will tolerate those temps if fully charged.  Otherwise, its a crap shoot.  I'd hate to see 1 or more damaged.  Use a car charger if you have to.

Keep em charged and recharge (top them off) at least once a month and they will be fine.

As others pointed out, keep them charged. The freezing point of the electrolyte is dependent on the charge level.

You'll find this table handy.

In a nutshell, 50% charge puts freezing point at -10F, and it gets more resistant to cold as you get to 100% charge,
and you really don't want to risk 25% charge or less.

Harbor Freight has a battery tender for about $10.

I'd get a couple and rotate it across your batteries and check the charge voltage when it shifts from bulk to float so you confirm the batteries are being maintained properly.

If you would post the voltages, the info would help some of us.

Then I'd get a hydrometer or preferably a refractometer [temp comp, more accurate] off ebay and monitor the SG.

IMO, if the batteries have much of a charge in them at all, they should be OK with the temperatures you reference. But be careful, your batteries are too valuable to risk.

Can you share what kind of bats and how much?

I've got a hydrometer on the way too.  The batteries are Surrette 6CS25PS 6V each, 8 of them.



I've got an iota 45A 12V charger out in the camper.  I suppose I could get an interconnect cable to hook two of them into a series then use the iota to bring them up to full charge (thanks for the table seek).





 

Nice batteries, 'Slice!  

 

Check electrolyte, make sure gravity is  at LEAST 1.250.
CHARGE them as hard as you can, hopefully they will come up to 1.265  or better. Dont be afraid to push 100 amps in them, 150 amps initial bulk charge is even better.

The charger needs to be right next to the batteries, with a long wire run, the batteries will  not get even close to the chargers voltage set-point.

With the little  45 amp IOTA, it may take  Several    DAYS to charge  one pair those batteries most of the way.
You may well  never get them to 100%

Once they are fully charged, leave them as cold as possible.  
Lead-acid batteries  DO NOT LIKE HEAT.
Self discharge rate  is very low   below freezing.
HIGH ambient temperatures  accelerate self discharge rate, and shorten battery life.

Slice, this is the charger you have I think.

http://www.civicsolar.com/sites/default/files/documents/iota20engineering20dls4520battery20charger2012v2045a20owners20manual-44122.pdf

The issue you will find is that it can't reach the voltage to 'equalize' your batteries, and I have found that to be important.

Equalizing, of course, 'balances' the cells and that's how most folks think of this 'term'. But there's a little more to it and I hope to do a topic on the subject soon.

You will need a solution for a charger that reaches approx 2.5 volts per cell and there are several ways you can go --from relatively inexpensive expedient manual methods to more pricey ones.

Take a peak under the cover of the little IOTA, I am told you will find a ten-turn pot.
Can adjust the voltage setpoint.
 In agreement with EXPY37, around 15 volts would be a good starting point,  You sure arent going to hurt those batteries with a 45 amp trickle charger. It will  probably take  a week to reach absorb voltage.
.
.
. Edit:
I see from ROLLS spec sheet that these are  820 AMP-Hours,  @ 20 hour rate. Not as big as I had imaginedk.

 Charged in series pairs, your 45 Amp IOTA  should  have no problem  bringing these up to ABSorb voltage.
   At 318 pounds per battery, you should have a nice time  assembling your battery bank.
Are you planning a 48 volt system?
What charge controller  do you have ?
Be sure whatever you have has temperature compensation. Batteries need a lot higher voltage in cold ambient temps.
.
.
My set points ( 24 volt nominal ) For ROLLS 1200 Amp-Hour batteries:
 ABSORB   29.6 volts   + temp compensation, usually  charges at 30 to 30.6 volts actual  ( 2.47 Volts per cell)
EQualize 32 Volts   which is 2.67 Volts per cell
My battery room  ranges from 25 degrees minimum in winter to 55 degrees  peak in summer.

Thanks FP.  For now I just want to keep the batteries healthy until I can put them into service.



They'll be in a 48v bank charged by a Xantrex XW 600-80 controller.  The combination of the charge controller and the inverter (Xantrex XW 6048) has a temp compensation device that's networked between the two.



Once I get everything build they'll live in my basement in an externally vented box.  I'm a little worried about pulling in cold air in the winter while the vent fan is running, but I've got some time to figure that out.  They should never really get too hot down there.  They are really heavy, so I'm going to gert a few of my buddies over to help me move them.  I've got a skid loader that goes on the front of my tractor, so I should be able to get them close.

At 318 pounds EACH, you will have a test of your buddies. .
.

A friend helps you move, a GOOD friend helps you move BATTERIES.

Slice.  Check out Steve Harris - Survival Podcast

He's also got his own web sites at Solar1234.com and battery1234.com

The info is VERY detailed, and you may have to listen 2 or 3 times to get the gist. (I had to...but I'm not too bright. Otherwise...I'd be 2-leg paddy )

I'm using some of his recommended items right now. And I'll be "fixing" my current battery set up (a mish mash of deep cycle and 6 volt golf cart batteries) based on his detailed explanation of volts, amps, and ampere hours.

You get what you pay for.  What he really needs is an NPower 2/8/12 amp Smart Charger.

For a scant 6 weeks, it's not gonna matter.

Charge 'em up before you put 'em in storage, cover them if they're outside so they don't get wet, and just let them be.

If you want, you can use a DMM to test their voltage every few weeks. You probably won't ever see them drop below 6.3 volts or so.

In cool weather, their self-discharge over that short a time period will be negligible.

Curious, I got a quote this past week for Surrette 6CS25PS  batteries for about $1250 each less shipping, taxes.

Another place quoted $1150 IIRC.

Are these prices too high? Didn't negotiate, just called them up and asked.

Did they give you shipping quotes?



I'll look tonight and shoot you a PM...

No, didn't ask.

I had to ship several pallets 2 weeks ago and got quotes from various companies and they were ridiculous without having an account, that I do with UPS freight.

So a supplier mentioned he gets quotes from CH Robinson and I called and they can ship w/ most anyone and their quote to ship w/ UPS Freight beat UPS's own quote by a mile. Almost cut it in half...

And the stuff traveled fine. About 2000 pounds. Now I have a good alternative contact and account, that makes shipping more economical.

We have a way to make a good and elegant pallet real easy and have used them many dozens of times with success.

I second this.  I don't drink all the Spirko juice, but Listen to shows 1039 & 1040 (actually all the shows with Steven Harris are good).  One thing I learned from those podcasts, and others with more experience than me have chimed in here and said the same thing--use a big enough charger.  I need to get a bigger charger, mine only goes to 10 amps. As an aside, this should tell most people why a small solar panel or two WON'T work.  For the same reason as too small a charger, a few watts of solar panels won't reliably bring the batteries up to full charge let alone equalize or desulfate the batteries.  

I'm working on putting together a 24v system with a 1100watt inverter (true sine wave--I disagree with Mr Harris there).  Right now I only have 270 watts of panels.  I plan on taking that to the maximum my mppt controller will handle around 1100 watts of panels.  

Tested them all w/ the cold weather moving in.  Every cell had a gravity between 1.25 and 1.26, and all of the batteries were between 6.3 and 6.4 volts.





Good to go?





shitty pic:







 

That's about what my Trojan L16's read now, 'Slice.  

i hate you.

Yep, you're good to go Slice...