sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information uses for used telco batteries

I am currenly working for a company that does subcontracting work for other companies and one of the projects we will be doing is changing out telco battiers for new ones. I would like to know what is the typical useage life of these batteries and what style are thay ie, lead acid, gell cell ? And would thay be suitable for a solar cell system for a residence?

Lastly I wonder what the chances are of me getting the nod to take some of these away. That may be of course the policy of the company.

What?

If they're like the ones I've seen in the past, they are single 2.2volt lead-acid cells that are 2 X 2 Square and 3-4 feet tall. All measurements are in FEET. These things are huge.

And, you can bet they are worn out, plates are shot, seperators swollen, and acid levels low. Telcos don't throw stuff away until it is used up, worn out, or totally obsolete!

Stay away from these things unless you have a recyclers license. When you realize they're junk, you are gonna have 1 BIG problem getting rid of them legally!

John C. (Not Garand)

The chances of being allowed to take any are very, very slim, especially if they are the lead acid variety. They are classified as a hazardous material. The telephone company can only allow certified haulers to dispose of them. I know an teleco engineer who go in big trouble over an innocent mistake.
They could be either type. Central Office batteries are typically lead acid. They can either be square cells, as described by Lightninghorse, or they can be round cells, canned shaped. The phone companies charge them at a little less than 2.2 volts per cell, for a float voltage of around 52 volts for a 24-battery string. You need a special jack to safely move them around. There are gel cells that are used at remote sites such as SLC96 or Litespan. In either case, they’re probably not must good if the telephone company is replacing them.

Are you talking about the FIOS backup batteries that keeps the phone line in service during a power failure?

Are you thinking of the large cells found in Central Office power rooms :confused:

I was just informed these are the large 2 volt kind that cost a fortune. Thay are being replaced by gell cell batteries. If I can get my hands on some nice 100 amp hour gel cells that would be great.

I’ve seen a pretty large number of good employees tossed out while they still seemed to be useful!

Come to think of it, a good portaband and tossing the guts in the landfill and they would make great aquariums.

Of course, you might have to be extra careful to give it a baking soda wash to neutralize the pH.

Carl

You don't know fear until you're in a CO when one unit explodes....You air out the environment and proceed to neutralize the acid when another one goes off 6 feet from you. It'll make real religious man out of you for about 30 seconds.