Grand Apagon - Electricity (not) in Spain

The were most likely KS-20472 BELLCELL lead-acid battery cells, originally made by Western Electric, or European equivalent. These are 2.2 volts per cell.

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Joe

Those I saw were prismatic, not cylindrical.

Back in the mid 80's I read a review of lead acid battery manufacturing technology which listed the Western Electric round cell design as the most reliable by far, with some batteries testing at higher capacity after 20 years in backup service than when new - benign environment and low cycles noted - and average service life well over 10 years. The high reliability is mostly due to the horizontal stack of symmetrical round plates which can expand and contract due to charge/discharge with very low stress. The other key is pure lead bus and plate grids made possible by the low stress design - the lead-antimony alloy used in vertical plate batteries for strength and low cost (recycled lead) corrodes much more rapidly.

Reminds me of one of the 2 major east coast blackouts, where the transmission line lost due to an incorrect relay setting would have been a minor incident except for the failure of an automatic switch to transfer to the available and adequate alternate source due to long dead backup batteries.

Glen

That was a different theft, eh? Different thieves, city, all. :-)

Yes, of course. Around here we have many flat roofed houses. Many of those use aluminum foil with asphalt. If well done, it could hold a pool.

Indeed!

Maybe just a big unit, and wiring around the place. Red coloured sockets. Lilke in computer centres.

:-D

...

At my garage they have some gadgetry that I have not seen to test batteries. I saw the one at the battery shop. I assume they put some calibrated load on the battery and measure both voltage and current, and make some estimate on battery life. The one at my garage has a printer, I got the paper slip somewhere.

OK. Later production is rectangular, largely to improve packing density in the battery room.

The key was the nested alternating conical battery plates that allowed the plates to grow and shrink without shorting.

Joe

The intense sun dries it up soon :-)

Ah.

Why not remove those three UPS, and connect the loads direct to the main UPS? :-?

Indeed :-)

I see. That, I do not remember.

There was a set of articles in the Bell System Technical Journal on the evolution and design of those batteries, which were a considerable advance in their day. If we can find the issue number, these articles are free.

Joe

Ok...

I'd just use a cable extender.

Ok, that's a powerful reason :-)

The paper slip says they tested 12.4 volts and 279A.

I copy the text of the slip,

???813 (part of the paper ripped out by the stapler) FGA V1.00 EU

....

PRUEBA BATERíA CORRECTA-CARGUE

VOLTAJE 12.40V MEDIDO 279 A(EN)

CODIGO PRUEBA (test code) XXXXXXXXX

CLASF 360 A(EN) TEMPERATURA 20°C (temp)

UBICACIÓN BAT. EN EL VEHICULO (battery is on the vehicle) UBIC PRUEBA BORNE ARRIBA (terminal up ?) TIPO DE BAT. NORMAL/AUTO

Then there are two graphs. One is health, which shows about 75%, and another is "EDC", which marks 75%.

I had a place near the beach with such a flat roof. No pines over there.

Sure, yes. My extenders have multiple receptacles, typically 3, and 5 metres. There are many choices in the supermarket or in Amazon. Many have a switch. Some of them have surge protection and filtering.