Living Off-Grid 101 - Upkeep and Maintenance

Written by: Randy Anderson, Technical Sales & Training Manager

Generally, our systems don’t require a lot of maintenance, however the one component that will need be maintained in any off-grid system is the flooded batteries. If you have flooded batteries, they're going to need to be watered on a regular basis. Some of the batteries have clear cases that you can easily see the levels, and others you need to open the caps on to see the water levels. But ensuring that batteries are topped off, that the plates are fully submersed all the time is number one importance with flooded batteries.

Terminal connections is the other important maintenance consideration. They need to be checked and re-torqued on a regular basis. I would say at least once a year. It's a good idea to also re-torque any other cable or bolt connections on the system, and that should be one of the few connections. Surprisingly, enough even though there's not a lot of movement there, there is some harmonic vibration and those bolts or nuts can come loose.

And finally you want to make sure that the electronic components are free of any dirt and debris. We’re referring to the inverter charger and charge controller. They can be fan cooled so you want to make sure there's no manual sitting on top or underneath to restrict airflow. Also, if there's any rodent nests or anything like that around there, make sure those are cleaned away. Essentially you don't want those devices sucking up any contaminants, getting dirt and debris on the board, which can cause early failure.

This post marks the end of our Living Off-Grid 101 series. We hope you learned a lot over the last 12 posts and videos. If you have any questions about any of the content from the series, or you want to know more, head over to our contact page and shoot us a message!

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