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

["Jeremy Gagliardi com" <jeremy gagliardi com>]

I don't know what separator damage is.

David Roden wrote:
>> 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.

Stirred up?  The water was bubbling.  Could that do it?

The water was a bit greyish.

--
Jeremy Gagliardi
E20
Potomac, Md

>----Original Message----
>From: rjkanary nauticom net
>Date: Aug 6, 2007 16:19 
>To: <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
>Subj: Re: (ET) How NOT to check your batteries...
>
>He may be seeing the result of separator damage. Time will tell. :(
>
>RJ
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "David Roden (Akron OH USA)" <etpost drmm net>
>To: <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
>Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 1:25 PM
>Subject: Re: (ET) How NOT to check your batteries...
>
>
>>> 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
>>
>>
>>
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>> 
>
>
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