Dry dead battery
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Posted by John on July 10, 2008, 5:24 pm
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>>I was charging my battery over the weekend and checked it last night
>> to find the battery dead as a doornail. Upon examination, the battery >> is completely dry. I'm guessing it was overcharged and the water >> boiled away but it shouldn't've 'cause it's an "automatic battery >> charger" that's designed to stop charging when it's done... >> I don't trust ANY "automatic" charger until I've had an oppotunity to test it in the real world - by monitoring battery voltage and temperature during a charge cycle. I've seen $200US of SLA batteries (for a wheelchair) that were cooked by the supplied "automatic" charger. Needless to say, I monitored the charge voltage and temperature closely after installing the replacement units. John | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by John Fields on June 30, 2008, 5:28 pm
Please log in for more thread options >I was charging my battery over the weekend and checked it last night
>to find the battery dead as a doornail. Upon examination, the battery >is completely dry. I'm guessing it was overcharged and the water >boiled away but it shouldn't've 'cause it's an "automatic battery >charger" that's designed to stop charging when it's done... > >So, do I just add distilled H2O? Will that work? I have to walk to the >store 1.5 miles (2.5 km) away and that's a long way to carry 1 gallon >(4? L) of water... --- I'd just use tap water... JF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by terryS on June 30, 2008, 6:11 pm
Please log in for more thread options > On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:01:56 -0700 (PDT), rabiticide
> > >I was charging my battery over the weekend and checked it last night
> >to find the battery dead as a doornail. Upon examination, the battery > >is completely dry. I'm guessing it was overcharged and the water > >boiled away but it shouldn't've 'cause it's an "automatic battery > >charger" that's designed to stop charging when it's done... >
> >So, do I just add distilled H2O? Will that work? I have to walk to the
> >store 1.5 miles (2.5 km) away and that's a long way to carry 1 gallon > >(4? L) of water... >
> --- > I'd just use tap water... > > JF Depends on the tap (or well!) water. Wells and some mains water here can have some iron salts in it which can be deadly for lead acid batteries. Sounds like it 'boiled dry'! You may, by adding water, get some capacity back but I wouldn't guarantee it. Too many amps for too long a time, maybe? Someone more expert could comment on this; but isn'tan automatic charger supposed to stop when the battery potential has risen above a certain value, maybe for a certain period of time. If the battery is dry ............... ergo no potential! Therefore no automaticity? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by John Fields on June 30, 2008, 6:50 pm
Please log in for more thread options On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:11:22 -0700 (PDT), terryS
>> On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:01:56 -0700 (PDT), rabiticide
>> >> >I was charging my battery over the weekend and checked it last night
>> >to find the battery dead as a doornail. Upon examination, the battery >> >is completely dry. I'm guessing it was overcharged and the water >> >boiled away but it shouldn't've 'cause it's an "automatic battery >> >charger" that's designed to stop charging when it's done... >>
>> >So, do I just add distilled H2O? Will that work? I have to walk to the
>> >store 1.5 miles (2.5 km) away and that's a long way to carry 1 gallon >> >(4? L) of water... >>
>> --- >> I'd just use tap water... >> >> JF >
>Depends on the tap (or well!) water. >Wells and some mains water here can have some iron salts in it which >can be deadly for lead acid batteries. --- Oh well... The choice is using what's on hand or walking a couple of miles to get what might not matter anyway. --- >Sounds like it 'boiled dry'! You may, by adding water, get some
>capacity back but I wouldn't guarantee it. >Too many amps for too long a time, maybe? >Someone more expert could comment on this; but isn'tan automatic >charger supposed to stop when the battery potential has risen above a >certain value, maybe for a certain period of time. If the battery is >dry ............... ergo no potential! >Therefore no automaticity? --- Maybe. There may be a point where the pH of the electrolyte gets acidic enough, from boiloff, that the battery voltage drops to the point where it fools the charger into thinking that more current is the trick and the charger responds by giving the battery what it says it needs, and kills it. I don't know, but maybe someone who does can post something about lead-acid battery voltage VS electrolyte pH. JF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by ehsjr on July 1, 2008, 12:39 am
Please log in for more thread options terryS wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:01:56 -0700 (PDT), rabiticide
>> >> >>>I was charging my battery over the weekend and checked it last night
>>>to find the battery dead as a doornail. Upon examination, the battery >>>is completely dry. I'm guessing it was overcharged and the water >>>boiled away but it shouldn't've 'cause it's an "automatic battery >>>charger" that's designed to stop charging when it's done... >>
>>>So, do I just add distilled H2O? Will that work? I have to walk to the
>>>store 1.5 miles (2.5 km) away and that's a long way to carry 1 gallon >>>(4? L) of water... >>
>>--- >>I'd just use tap water... >> >>JF >
> > Depends on the tap (or well!) water. > Wells and some mains water here can have some iron salts in it which > can be deadly for lead acid batteries. > Sounds like it 'boiled dry'! You may, by adding water, get some > capacity back but I wouldn't guarantee it. > Too many amps for too long a time, maybe? > Someone more expert could comment on this; but isn'tan automatic > charger supposed to stop when the battery potential has risen above a > certain value, maybe for a certain period of time. If the battery is > dry ............... ergo no potential! > Therefore no automaticity? Suppose a cell was shorted - battery V wouldn't rise high enough for the automatic charger to shut off. Ed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
