[Greenbuilding] More CO problems--equalizing solar batteries

[KTOT (g)]

I encountered another, potentially very serious, CO problem yesterday when I equalized my still-new solar batteries with the exact directions of both my solar electrician and the relevant manual.

The batteries are in an interior utility room but have a “Power Vent” that goes from above the batteries to the exterior.

I didn’t check CO while equalizing, but shortly after I turned off the generator (which ran for two hours in the equalize phase), my upstairs digital meter read over 60 (must have just recently reached as the alarms hadn’t gone off yet anywhere—I have seven CO meters/alarms in this rather small house and none had gone off yet), so I checked down in the utility room and the meter was rising towards 300! I quickly opened the utility room door and the nearby garage doors to air the room out. It took a long time for both downstairs and upstairs to clear of CO, however—the meters would go to zero, I’d close the windows/doors, then the numbers would go back up even though the generator was off, equalizing was completed by then).

I’m calling my solar electrician early this week to discuss this but I’d appreciate any thoughts/knowledge on this. The batteries are two huge industrial Deka solars so they’re not in a battery box but rather their own box. (If you know the size of these, you’ll understand what I’m saying—they do not fit in a battery box like typical L16s or other small batteries but come in their own case.)

Obviously next time I equalize I’ll watch the numbers closely and keep windows and doors open as needed but obviously I’d like to eliminate the problem. Seems to me either the Power Vent isn’t working properly, wasn’t installed properly perhaps, or something else isn’t right as even with batteries venting, I don’t think CO levels in the room should get so high.
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