Re: (ET) How NOT to check your batteries...

["David Roden (Akron OH USA)" <etpost drmm net>]

> with every battery having low water in at least 1 cell, the voltage 
> had severely dropped, and keeping my ET plugged in 
> with the automatic Landis Controller, unsupervised, the charger 
> had been constantly cycling on & off over the course of countless 
> days, boiling away my batteries.

I've said it before - Harry Landis's device may have some applications in 
certain circumstances, but it's *not* a charge controller.  Its algorithm 
is 
intriguing and original, but it doesn't implement the charging 
instructions of 
any battery manufacturer.

It also has fairly minimal "smarts."  Most microprocessor based charge 
controllers have safety limits.  They can say to themselves, "Uh-oh, I've 
been 
charging for 19 hours, and not only is the battery voltage still not up to 
where 
it should be, now the voltage is actually *falling*.  I guess something's 
wrong. 
 I'd better stop the charge and turn on my 'fault' light."  The Landis 
device has 
no such safeguard. 

Of course, the original GE charger is even dumber.  ;-)

> I saw "things" floating in the water.  Is that the legendary 
> sulfation I've heard so much about?

Probably not.  Shed lead sulfate is relatively heavy and it doesn't float. 
 It 
sinks to the bottom of the cells.  If the battery gets enough vibration, 
it may 
get stirred up, and give the electrolyte a grey color.

I'm not an electrochemist, but I'd guess that your grids corroded from 
being 
exposed to air, and you're seeing some of the corrosion flaking off.

> When I bought my batteries, they didn't come with an instruction 
> manual, or even a tip sheet. 

You could buy a copy of the Curtis Battery Book One.  I think it may be 
out 
of print now, but some of the EV parts vendors may still have copies to 
offer.

You can also get an excellent introduction to the basics of lead batteries 
from Witte's "The Automobile Storage Battery: Its Care and Repair,"  
published in 1922.  It's now in the public domain and you can read the 
entire 
text on the web here :

http://www.powerstream.com/1922/battery_1922_WITTE/battery_WITTE.htm