2nd PowerWall Battery - Life is GOOD!

It seems I got my single battery PowerWall in January 2019.

 https://wmckemie.blogspot.com/2019/01/powerwall-install.html

After two very painful years of having uninstalled spare PW batteries in stock but unused, I FINALLY succeeded!  

Since shortly after the original install, I realized I need at least two batteries to semi-gracefully get through longer term power failures.  I asked several installers to do the upgrade, including the one that did the install.  All declined or offered exorbitant pricing.  I used an installer (instead of Tesla) because Tesla seemed snowed under with demand.  Later, I had a pretty significant failure:

https://wmckemie.blogspot.com/2021/02/powerwall-failure.html 

https://wmckemie.blogspot.com/2021/05/powerwall-lives.html

Several installers as well as Tesla refused to make a service call.  As detailed in the above, I ended up fixing it myself.   That's as I finally had to do to get a second battery installed.    My PW ended up out of service for several months.

I first ordered a PowerWall when they were first offered,  Was that about 2015?  When the PWs finally became available years later, Tesla refused to install as well as refused to service.  I still have that PW on order from Tesla.  I ended up buying a package of three batteries plus the gateway from a Tesla driver that earned the PW as an incentive for selling a bunch of cars.  The guy I bought from was unable to get Tesla to do an install or get installers to install stuff not purchased from the installers.  

Recognizing that the batteries likely had a limited shelf life, I was semi-frantic to get them working and charging before they became depleted.  I found installation instructions and became familiar with what was necessary.  I eventually got one installed but it failed to work.  A chance encounter with a Tesla Energy service person offered a clue:

https://wmckemie.blogspot.com/2022/01/supercharger-service-in-columbus.html

I first did not realize that each battery on a multiple battery system should be wired so that the two split phase wires needed to go to the same AC power connections on the battery.   For most 240vac wiring, that is not a concern.  Each battery must be on it's own breaker so there is opportunity to make that mistake.

11/20/22

I just got my 3rd PW battery installed and working a couple of weeks ago.  Quite a comfort!  With the three, a low use night leaves me with about 85% of the charge about the time the sun comes up.  Heating (and likely cooling) will bring the morning state of charge down to about 70%.  I might conclude that I can last about three days of grid-down AND minimal sunlight.  Twice that long if I can forego heating and cooling.  When we have decent sun, the batteries get fully charged well before the end of the day.   That is, I can get through LONG periods of grid-down as long as we have a decent sun day every couple of days.

I have a 4th battery that I apparently have killed.  I hope to dig into it and decide if it has a future.