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Battery Maintenance:
Installing Flow-Rite Millennium SPW

Batteries are the biggest, perhaps the only real pain-in-the-butt component of your solar electric power system.  Aside from the initial installation and programming, the electronic components such as charge controllers and inverters pretty much take care of themselves.  But flooded lead-acid batteries require regular inspection and maintenance, and that includes occasional cleaning.

My usual routine is to swab the outer battery case with a solution of baking soda and warm water.  CAUTION!  Regardless of what you use to clean your batteries, never let any of the cleaning solution get into the battery cells, not even a drop!  So the first step is to be certain that the cell caps are firmly in place.  I like to use a small paint brush to apply the baking soda solution and brush it around the nooks and crannies that exist on top of the battery.  It's easy to see the soda solution reacting to stray deposits of acid solution.  When all the bubbling stops, simply wipe up all the liquid mess and then put your clothes in the washer in case you got something corrosive on them.

When everything is dry, you might notice some crusty white deposits left by the soda solution.  I'm not the type who washes my car every weekend, so I'm also not too picky about the aesthetics of my batteries.  The baking soda deposits help neutralize any stray acid, and causes no harm.  But now and then it is time to do a real thorough job of cleaning, so break out the old clothes, protective gear, and some rubber gloves.  Don't cut corners on safety!  In this case, I was installing a Flow-Rite single-point-watering system on my Solar One batteries, so it was a good excuse to do a detailed battery cleanup.  I like to use common dish soap and warm water to clean the batteries, and I apply it with a plastic scrub brush and a small paint brush.  Most liquid soaps are slightly alkaline, so it works well for cleaning but also neutralizes acid to some degree.  I also use a small wire brush to clean up the connection points.


The first step is to get all your tools and supplies together.  A cordless drill with a wire brush may come in handy, but be sure to charge up the battery.  You will need to shut down your power system and turn off the battery main breaker or remove the main fuse.  Always use care when working on your batteries, and be sure you don't cause any short-circuits with tools, flashlights, etc.

With a Solar One battery set, the first step is to remove the main battery cables and then remove all of the cell interconnects.  These are metal bars that bolt to the cell terminals.  With other battery brands, you will be removing the interconnect cables.  In the first photo, some of the interconnect bars have been removed.


My next step was to clean up the interconnects.  First thing is to give them a good scrub in the soap solution to remove any corrosive deposits.  Then I chose to use a wire brush on my cordless drill to really brighten them up and remove any oxidation or corrosion.  If your battery set uses interconnect cables, you'll want to wire brush the metal terminals on the ends of the cables.









Low-resistance connections are important to trouble-free system performance, so cleaning everything up to "like new" condition should be done every couple of years.  Be careful when using any type of brush, because brushes tend to "flip" particles and liquid droplets as you use the brush.  That's important to consider when you are working with corrosive materials.


Getting everything clean and neutralized was my next task, so lots of soap and water and some careful brushing did the trick.  With Solar One batteries, excess liquid flows down into the bottom of the steel enclosure, so you want to avoid flooding the cell tops with too much liquid.  Getting the liquid back out of the steel enclosure requires you to lift out at least one of the cells, a job for two people in most cases.  A little liquid in the case won't hurt anything and seems inevitable anyway, but it takes a long time to evaporate out.









  Here we see the tops of the cells when everything is cleaned up.  I used a small wire brush, much like a toothbrush, to scrub the cell terminals where they make contact with the interconnect bars.  It is important that both the interconnects and the terminals are shiny-bright for the best electrical connection.  Now it is time to assemble the interconnects back to their original configuration.  Be certain that all of the connections are nice and tight.  Some people recommend using an anti-oxidant coating on the connection points after assembly, while other people think it's okay to apply the coating to the surfaces before the connection is made.  Some experts suggest using a commercially available anti-oxidant, while others say that common vaseline works just as well. This is an ongoing debate.  I find that all of these choices are very messy when applied to a Solar One battery set, and I have been successful with keeping the connections clean and tight without any anti-oxidant at all.  For other battery brands, I favor vaseline applied after connections are made, and recommend that for batteries that require interconnect cables.  Vaseline works well and is less messy than the commercial products.

At this point most of the work is done!  Connect the main battery cables.  Re-install the interconnects.  Make sure that ALL connections are tight and secure.  Remove the green flip-caps and install the Flow-Rite Millennium SPW valve/caps in their place.  Connect the tubing, install the red caps on the empty hose connectors, and the project is finished!  Installation of the SPW system takes only about 30 minutes for the battery set shown. Photos below show how it looks when everything is in place.  For more information about the Flow-Rite SPW system, click HERE.

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