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CristiMV avatar image
CristiMV asked

Your experience selling your Victron devices after upgrade

As the title says, this is not a technical question.

This is related to the value of a Victron device after 3-4 years and how much is supported or not by Victron certified installers. Please share here what was you experience.


My case....in 4 years since I have the system, I did several changes/upgrades. Normally, I've tried all the time to recuperate some of the investment by selling the "old" devices...if 2-3-4 years means old. There were cases of buyers knowledgeable and experienced to install themselves....all the others I've recommended them to contact a certified Victron installer to support. There was no single case that an installer would support them.

Now, I'm selling 8 batteries Victron Gel 220Ah, 4 years old...that were in average for the 4 years duration discharged around 5%. In total I got 1.900KWh out of them, and based on the last months reports out of VRM they have more than 96% health and an internal resistance between 3 and 4 miliohm.

One possible buyers, after discussing with a certified Victron installer was told they are not recommending these batteries, as they are old, and they can vouch only for Lithium. I would say great, but then Victron please stop selling any other type of batteries other than Lithium...or update the specs papers, and reduce the lifespan to 3-4 years.

battery
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3 Answers
ess-and-solar-solutions avatar image
ess-and-solar-solutions answered ·

@Cristian Miclea In all fairness, buying ANY batteries second hand is always a gamble and I will personally advise anybody they do so at their own peril. While there are tests you can carry out, it guarantees nothing until you put the batteries to use and under heavy load and quite frankly, I will not give you a personal reference unless I have known you personally and very well for some time at least ;) For me batteries are no different and I will not stake my business reputation on reference for a "stranger" (battery) so to speak.

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jasontav avatar image
jasontav answered ·

can you PROVE the batteries were discharged by only 5%?

can you show what temperature the batteries were operated at throughout their lifetime?

VRM might help with some of this but by no means definitive.


IMO you are better planning a system correctly for a 10 year lifespan, rather than expecting to sell used parts after 4 years to fund the next 6 years.


You should see some solar vendors in Spain, claiming their "no name/rebadged" AGM batteries have a 10 year life. Yes they do, but at float voltages, in a typical solar installation with discharge every night, they last about 2 years.

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Matthias Lange - DE avatar image
Matthias Lange - DE answered ·

I also would never recommend one of our costumers to buy 4 years old used batteries.

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