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I am a former long term E20 owner planning to get another as
soon as I can. I am also a telco engineer with a lot of experience with
stationary lead- acid batteries.
One of the recommendations made within the last few years by
the battery manufacturers was to "throw away the hydrometers."
This wasn't because of the fact that they didn't work- they
work very well. The rationale was that even under controlled (utility type work
rules) conditions, the contamination by dirt from frequent hydrometer use was
more damaging to battery life than "not knowing" the specific gravity of each
cell. In other words, the preventive maintenance was causing the problem it was
supposed to prevent.
Instead of hydrometer use, the recommendation was for more
frequent equalizing (or, no equalizing- just float them higher) charge and
careful watch on electrolyte levels. If a bad cell is suspected, it can be found
by using a digital meter across each cell under a moderate test load- the bad
cell will have a lower voltage. Or, if the battery has been discharged, the
cells can be individually checked under normal charge- the bad cell will have a
higher voltage avross it.
I took this advice on the Elec-trak as well as on the telco
batteries. Results? Had very little trouble with anything. As Fox would say, "I
believe."
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