Re: (ET) 30 year old tool finds battery screwup.

["David Roden" <etpost drmm net>]

I've used a row of vertically mounted edgewise analog meters to monitor 
the 
modules in a battery.  This was in my 1980 Comuta-Car.

When, not if, the car's battery developed a stinker module, I could see it 
instantly, though not at night, since I never fitted illumination to the 
meter panel.

Veteran EV list correspondent Lee Hart had a better idea that immediately 
solved the illumination problem: replace the meters with LEDs.  Day or 
night, an extra-dim LED is even easier to spot than a low meter reading.

Thoughts about your reversed cell: 

NiCd cells can handle reversal much much much better than lead cells, but 
it's sure not healthy for them!

If you want to try salvaging that cell, I'd suggest taking it to zero SOC 
with a suitable resistance and then a shorting bar.  I might leave it at 
zero for a few days.  

Then carry out a commissioning charge.  A decent bench supply will work 
for 
this. 

Apply a (forward!) constant current charge of around C/20 to C/10. That 
is, 
for a 34AH cell, 1.7 to 3.4 amps.  Charge until the cell has consumed 150% 
of its rated amp-hour capacity, ie, 15h at C/10.  You can let the voltage 
rise to about 1.8 volts.  

Water within about a half-hour after the commissioning charge, while the 
cell is still warm.


David Roden - 25 Years with ETs

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