BajaNomad

Question for Punta Chivatans

BajaBlanca - 4-4-2015 at 10:05 AM

Where do you get your distilled water for solar systems?

thanks in advance

Blanca

Pescador - 4-4-2015 at 10:09 AM

Batteries require distilled water and everyone hauls it down from the states. Some use treated water which tests out OK, but most haul water down when they come down.

Pompano - 4-4-2015 at 10:16 AM

Blanca, if you want to make your own, there are many easy ways to make distilled water at home.

Get the info from an Internet search...

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Distilled-Water

...or the old-fashioned way like I did:

Run into Saul's Market and buy it by the gallon. Call first to see if he still stocks it, though.

P.S. I admit that years ago, I would bring a few gallons down from San Diego, but that was in a fifth wheel with lots of cargo room.

Russ - 4-4-2015 at 10:47 AM

Yep, Saul's has it ... on once in awhile.

Bob H - 4-4-2015 at 10:54 AM

That's good Russ... it's like being almost always right! ;)

Russ - 4-4-2015 at 10:54 AM

:biggrin:

vandenberg - 4-4-2015 at 10:56 AM

I have used collected rainwater for years.
Works like a champ.
Also collected A/C condensation water for plants and batteries.:light:

[Edited on 4-4-2015 by vandenberg]

Pompano - 4-4-2015 at 11:15 AM

If Saul is out, he can get it for you on his next truck run up north.

ncampion - 4-4-2015 at 12:49 PM

Just my two cents on distilled water. According to the tech people at HUP Solar batteries, they recommend distilled water however they say that any purified water with TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) below 20 ppm is fine. I have a TDS meter and periodically test the RO bottled water that I get from the water place in Loreto and it consistently runs between 4 and 9 ppm. I have been using that in my HUP battery for three years with no ill effects. HUP also said that they will honor their 10 yr warranty using this type of water. It would be hard to haul down enough distilled water to keep up with the usage of this battery. In the summer it takes 18 - 20 liters every 6 weeks or so.

larryC - 4-4-2015 at 03:02 PM

Distilled water is fairly easy to make, similar to making moonshine. Just put some sea water or any water into a cooking pot with a lid, pressure cookers work really well for this, then out of the top run some copper tube through some cooling water and the outlet of the copper tube into a container. Light a fire under the pressure cooker and bring your raw water to a boil. The steam will travel through the copper tube and cool as it goes through the water and come out the end of the tube as distilled water. Or go to Sal's which ever is easier.:)
Larry

carlosg - 4-4-2015 at 04:01 PM

Quote: Originally posted by larryC  
Distilled water is fairly easy to make, similar to making moonshine. Just put some sea water or any water into a cooking pot with a lid, pressure cookers work really well for this, then out of the top run some copper tube through some cooling water and the outlet of the copper tube into a container. Light a fire under the pressure cooker and bring your raw water to a boil. The steam will travel through the copper tube and cool as it goes through the water and come out the end of the tube as distilled water. Or go to Sal's which ever is easier.:)
Larry


...something like this...?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYWHkNb9p88

...my next project for camping out in Baja... this video explains how to and what you need to make this portable still...

BajaBlanca - 4-4-2015 at 04:23 PM

thanks all - we recently ran out and thank goodness bajaandy was able to bring some down for us. I had no idea it was so hard to find down here....

where is Saul's?

Pompano - 4-4-2015 at 04:33 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaBlanca  


where is Saul's?


Easy to find. Just drive under the Mulege highway arch and keep going straight until you see it on the left. It's quite a few blocks...

Here's a photo of his sign that mi old amigo, Matt, made for him.




SAUL AND RAY,,.jpg - 65kB


[Edited on 4-4-2015 by Pompano]

Battery Water

Fastbird - 4-4-2015 at 08:48 PM

ncampion is Correct, the issue is TDS ( total dissolved solids) , I had the RO water I buy in Mulege tested at a lab and the TDS were very low and WAY below what US Battery specs. Check the US Battery web site, it say use distilled or treated water with less than 200 TDS. I have been using water from the RO store in mulege for years successfully in my RE L16s. If you have a source for distilled water you might have it checked for TDS!

BajaBlanca - 4-5-2015 at 07:06 AM

I will pass all this info onto Les. thanks all.

Bob and Susan - 4-5-2015 at 01:10 PM

use ONLY distilled water in batteries...
they are too expensive to treat badly

ncampion - 4-5-2015 at 01:57 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Bob and Susan  
use ONLY distilled water in batteries...
they are too expensive to treat badly


I guess you must know something that the battery manufacturers don't. How many sets of batteries have you been through?

vandenberg - 4-5-2015 at 02:04 PM

Quote: Originally posted by ncampion  
Quote: Originally posted by Bob and Susan  
use ONLY distilled water in batteries...
they are too expensive to treat badly


I guess you must know something that the battery manufacturers don't. How many sets of batteries have you been through?


Bob has a habit of displaying some K.I.A. tendencies. :P:no:

Bob and Susan - 4-5-2015 at 05:35 PM

do you think a battery manufacturer cares if you ruin your batteries...
he'll just sell you MORE!!!$$$

Baja water is really high in calcium...at least here

filtered water WILL work in batteries but it WILL cut the life of the battery

and who's doing your test for total dissolved solids for you...a pool store or a water store in mexico? : )

if you want to be "Gullible"...that's fine...
I want to see it in writing that a battery manufacturer says to use drinking water...
can you show me that..then i'll stand down

maybe next set of batteries for me will be AGM's...
things change...I can change

Gulliver - 4-5-2015 at 07:40 PM

I've been installing energy systems since 1986. Mostly on boats but also in RV's and mountaintop radio relay systems. From 67 to 74 I took care of the battery systems for Pacific N.W. Bell. These are 48 volt strings of 2 volt cells the size of washing machines that regularly last 40 years.

The moment we could get reverse osmosis water, we changed over from distilled. Mostly for convenience but with no qualms about purity. The number one killer of lead acid cells is iron. Any conductivity is bad news. Biologically, nothing is going to thrive in sulfuric acid anyway.

R.O. does a great job of removing any conductive ions. So much so that you cannot have things like brass drain plugs in an R.O. system. The water is so 'hungry' for ions that it will dissolve them.

I have been using the water from the Agua Purificada places in Baja since 1991 and my ordinary golf cart cells have been lasting longer than they should given that they are in my sailboat or under the desk in my ham shack and when they do die, it is always from some bone headed stunt on my part like over doing it on an equalizing charge or, worse, yet, letting the electrolyte level drop. Retarded.

If you monitor your cell temps and keep the plates submerged and try not to run them all the way down often, your batteries should hang in there for years and years.

If you are seeing a lot of water consumption, you might keep an eye on your voltage limits. Shouldn't be bubbling under routine cycling.

Thank you sir !!

captkw - 4-5-2015 at 07:57 PM

I have always thought that battery's are like fish,boats,and women..all men love them....but few understand them...any how heavy gassing (plate burning) should be kept to the very min. and btw needs to be safely vented.....as it can/will blow up.......carry on ....hope to meet you some day Gulliver...K&T

Bob and Susan - 4-6-2015 at 05:07 AM

geezzz...been living off the grid for awhile

batteries need to bubble...
bubbles clean the "plates"

you need to keep batteries a little "hotter" than the "factory specs"...
if you don't they go "stagnant"
don't be afraid of "boiling"

solar power only means battery power...
the solar panels charge the batteries...
battery power is converted to house current

in the "old days" 2volt batteries were considered "better" to store energy...
in the "real world" 12v is the "standard"

think 12volt

in my WHOLE life working with a "FLEET" of vehicles I've only seen one battery explode...pretty messy


Timinator - 4-6-2015 at 06:21 AM

Think strings of 2, 6, or 8 volts for 48 volt home systems. Most cost efficient and overall efficient solar systems for home power.

Pescador - 4-6-2015 at 07:34 AM

Cortez Blue posted a question as to why things on this board go to never never land so quickly. A very similar post started out on Talk Baja and it has gone for a long time and no one there had to prove they knew more than Bob and Susan who has been doing a large solar system to run his bed and breakfast for a long time. I guess the sum is the equal to all of its parts but some of the parts may well be defective.

Gulliver - 4-6-2015 at 08:32 AM

The phone company systems I took care of were 48 volt strings (standard everywhere) and each cell weighed perhaps 800 pounds. No way were they going to combine cells! There were also strings that added up to 130 volts for old vacuum tube stuff and teletype circuits.

Needless to say all of the tools we used near these strings were completely insulated not just because of electrical shock possibilities but because a dropped tool on the connecting buss (4" x .5" copper bars) would produce a catastrophic arc.

Also no metal watch bands or rings worn for obvious reasons.

We recorded the individual cell voltages and monitored the temperatures but seldom went near them with a hydrometer. I was maintaining cells in 1970 that had been service since the depression.

watches and rings

captkw - 4-6-2015 at 08:42 AM

Funny that you mentioned that..I stopped wearing them many,many years ago as I was always taking them off.. Today I don't own any...not good around electrical for the arm,hand.....its all in the Details.....