Battery Watering Question

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Okay, with the new solar install and the controller capable of charging up to 60 amps in ideal conditions, I'm going to have to check and fill my battery water even more often that before, and now there are 6 batteries in the system.

The float voltage put out by the Morningstar Tristar MPPT 60 charge controller is higher than the Powermax Boondocker converter charger, at 13.5 volts, the absorption stage is higher at 14.7 volts, and the equalize stage is a whopping 15.4 volts...which I have set to manual, so I can turn off the LED lights and inverter when doing a monthly equalization of the batteries so nothing gets damaged from the higher voltage.

What this means is that I'll have to keep a watchful eye on the battery water levels.

Our battery compartment is big enough that I can get my head in there to look down into the batteries to check the water without removing them, or use a mirror and a light, but is there an easier way that is reliable?

I've read that some of you use special battery caps called something like water misers or something like that, that connect water tubes and one way stop valves in place of where the battery caps go.  Do they work well?  Are they reliable?  What is a good brand and type to get?

The main reason I'm asking this is that now that 6 batteries are wired into the system, the wiring is more complicated and its not as easy now to remove the caps for service.  Actually somewhat of a project now.

Thanks ahead of time!

Kev

[gadgetman]

watering systems with the check valves do work but they also tend to overfill the batteries. The water miser caps are ment to collect the gassing and drip it back into the battery. They are not cheap but from what I read about them they do work well. I would use them. Most folks say they seldome have to add water with those caps.


I use the watering system on my boat because I cant get to the batteries to add water without removing them. The batteries are all in boxes so the overfilling isnt a huge issue.