Help - Batteries are draining too fast

Oct 23, 2008
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Help... my batteries are dying too fast. i live in Santo Domingo, any idea of where I could get some EDTA to renew them? Also, how do I check their capacity in Amps? How does that work? Inverter is a Trace CRII 1524, and charges steadily till it reaches 27.0 volts, and then does a floating charge.

At night, the voltage has been too fluctuant and usually ranges from 95 volts to 102 volts. The inverter just automatically goes into inverter mode, instead of continuing to charge the battery due to the low voltage. So, it keeps switching from inverter mode, to charge mode. Could that have already killed the batteries? Do I need a stabilizer? If yes, any idea on which brand is good?

Batteries don''t get hot while charging. Neither, do they have any chemical deposits. Batteries have never had EDTA treatment, and are 2 1/2 years old.

Someone told me once that EDTA is supposed to be mixed onto 1 liter of water and then added in. Am I also supposed to increase the charge capacity rate in my inverter to make the EDTA work?

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.


Thanks :)
Jake
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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Lowerthe threshold on when the inverter switches to invert. 95v ought to do it. I had our set on around 100 and the inverter was switching constantly. Too sensitive.

Just be aware some items don't like voltage below 95.
 
Oct 23, 2008
37
2
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How to switch the threshold?

Lowerthe threshold on when the inverter switches to invert. 95v ought to do it.

How do I do that in a Trace CRII 1524 inverter? It's not under warranty anymore. I would probably set it to 96 volts if I could.... but, can you use a voltmeter to do that?
 
Last edited:
Oct 23, 2008
37
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Update:

After a total discharge, the inverter re-charges the batteries within 1 1/2 hours, and then bring the inverter into the float mode.... maybe the inverter's gone bad again? any ideas?
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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How do I do that in a Trace CRII 1524 inverter? It's not under warranty anymore. I would probably set it to 96 volts if I could.... but, can you use a voltmeter to do that?
Find a local guy who knows inverters, he'd know.

Mine has a little knob on the front that adjusts the sensitivity (i.e. voltage)when the unit switches to inverter.

How many batteries do you have and how much load? You may have a seriously undersized system with low capacity.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
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Trace CR seris inverter is a very basic unit

www.ets-al.com/images/Products/Inverter/CR_Series_Manual.pdf

I found the manual at the above site for the CR series inverter from TRACE ( now Xantrex). The CR series is a very basic model with only a setting for the battery type. The OP will not be able to adjust the transfer voltage level on this model. And as mentioned it only has two stages of charging. The only control is the battery bank capacity, which should be set to the proper number for the battery bank.

It may be possible to put in a voltage regulator between street power and the inverter. The batteries could certainly be failing quickly because the charging voltage is too low to charge the batteries quickly enough. Any voltage below 110 V will charge the batteries at a slower rate and the OP mentioned voltages down under 100 volts which will hardly charge at all.

Undercharged batteries will develop problems quickly, so finding a solution is important.

I have never had any luck with EDTA, but I know some people swear by it.
I had one competitor tell me never to use the product called Battery Viagra because it also contains Sulphuric Acid (battery acid) as well as EDTA. Sulphuric acid should never be added to a battery, just distilled water (with EDTA if you care to try it).
 

trucker

Member
Mar 20, 2011
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I live on the north coast of the D.R. Our electricity goes fro 30 to 230 volts. Everyone is hooked up to 220 and has a large regulator. Mine will take 40 volts and take it to 118. If it is 240 ,it will lower the voltage to 118. Then the invertor will work very well. It the voltage is extremely high or lower than 30, it shuts of the invertor charger and just uses the batterys. We also have lots of house fires and I have come close to loosing my house twice. Get someone who really knows. Good luck.
 

Dan Spinnover

New member
Nov 1, 2010
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Someone told me once that EDTA is supposed to be mixed onto 1 liter of water and then added in. Am I also supposed to increase the charge capacity rate in my inverter to make the EDTA work?

OK, I don't know what an EDTA is. It seems that no-one mentioned this: did you check the battery water levels? Our invertor was bought used, and worked perfectly when we first got it. 6months down the road, the batteries were not charging for beans. When the invertor was on, we had luz for only 1hr. It turned out that the battery's water levels were very low. For 4 batteries, they needed a little more than 1 gallon of (special battery) water, and one of the cables needed to be replaced. All in all, it was a R.D. $300 correction.
 

guarapo

New member
Mar 29, 2011
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Help... my batteries are dying too fast. i live in Santo Domingo, any idea of where I could get some EDTA to renew them? Also, how do I check their capacity in Amps? How does that work? Inverter is a Trace CRII 1524, and charges steadily till it reaches 27.0 volts, and then does a floating charge.

At night, the voltage has been too fluctuant and usually ranges from 95 volts to 102 volts. The inverter just automatically goes into inverter mode, instead of continuing to charge the battery due to the low voltage. So, it keeps switching from inverter mode, to charge mode. Could that have already killed the batteries? Do I need a stabilizer? If yes, any idea on which brand is good?

Batteries don''t get hot while charging. Neither, do they have any chemical deposits. Batteries have never had EDTA treatment, and are 2 1/2 years old.

Someone told me once that EDTA is supposed to be mixed onto 1 liter of water and then added in. Am I also supposed to increase the charge capacity rate in my inverter to make the EDTA work?

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.


Thanks :)
Jake
You have to focus not only in the batteries, but the inverter, normally when the inverter has a technical hitch it could damage the batteries.
I?d said, You should call a technician, since you seem not to be sure what is going on.
Your energy consumption average is another important factor.
Normally 6V Batteries are 220AH, but it does not matter in this case.
If you need a highly qualified tecnico Call Neit Peralta in Santo Domingo 829-754-6690, 809-756-4223
 

FM POWER

New member
Sep 12, 2004
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www.freddymultiservice.com
Battery Viagra

I have never had any luck with EDTA, but I know some people swear by it.
I had one competitor tell me never to use the product called Battery Viagra because it also contains Sulphuric Acid (battery acid) as well as EDTA. Sulphuric acid should never be added to a battery, just distilled water (with EDTA if you care to try it).

Windguy it seems that the competitor that told you that is wrong because Battery Viagra does not contains Sulfuric Acid at all, you can test it by dropping a few drops in the floor and you'll see no reaction as Sulfuric Acids does. it is EDTA and others additives that does not contains any acids at all.
i've been using for a lot time the Battery Bb-agra ? for clients and friends.
 

wuarhat

I am a out of touch hippie.
Nov 13, 2006
1,378
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OK, I don't know what an EDTA is. It seems that no-one mentioned this: did you check the battery water levels? Our invertor was bought used, and worked perfectly when we first got it. 6months down the road, the batteries were not charging for beans. When the invertor was on, we had luz for only 1hr. It turned out that the battery's water levels were very low. For 4 batteries, they needed a little more than 1 gallon of (special battery) water, and one of the cables needed to be replaced. All in all, it was a R.D. $300 correction.

Low water levels are caused by overcharging.