Spare battery 'maintenance' ?

[Colin Lindsay]

29 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:

dont need a pacemaker but a inflator might have a calling 

Pete

No, there are real girls, don't need inflated first.

[Unkel Kunkel]

Have 2  x CTEK  5.0.

I think if you are  going to plug something in like this, and then just leave it on for months and months on end, you  have to have a high degree of confidence in  what you have chosen.

They aren’t cheap, ( and I did have one fail, years back, which was annoying)  but considering they are on all the time, the daily cost  isn’t going to be high.

And

..batteries are quite expensive.

 

 

[Unkel Kunkel]

Can we finally bury this nonsense about car batteries on concrete?
I goes back to the 1920’s  - before even Bakelite.

Battery casings were made form Vulcanite - hard pressed and treated rubber.. There may have been a theoretical argument about  earth leakage via dirty vulcanite casings.

Batteries  are little chemical plants  and the rate of reactions  are very much influenced by temperature.- reduces substantially by by each 0.5C drop.

Ie ..keep 'em cool..but not  too cool ..

There was a. legitimate concern about  the effects of the battery acid on the concrete during storage or charging i.e.Sulphuric acid, H2SO4 “ dissolves” concrete, fizzing off CO2.

[1969Mk3Spitfire]

Slight thread drift, if I may………..

I have an application that uses a bank comprising 4 x 110 Ahr batteries and I replaced them, after 8 years of service, earlier this year.

Subjectively, I think that they have already lost a lot of their capacity so I’m planning to test them, individually.

For load, I have wired two 55W H7 bulbs. This should draw about about 9 amps.

I have a DC Clamp meter and I’m planning to record voltage versus time to determine AHr capacity.

Reading the thread, will these bulbs simply get too hot and fail? Any other suggestions for a more suitable load?

I’m planning to take the batteries to 12.2v which should equate to 50% of their capacity.

[ahebron]

Unkel Kunkel got in before me.
Most batteries don't like being too cold or too hot so remember the 3 bears and get them just right, a UK winter cold concrete floor will not be good for it.
And yes battery acid on concrete is not good

21 minutes ago, 1969Mk3Spitfire said:

Slight thread drift, if I may………..

I have an application that uses a bank comprising 4 x 110 Ahr batteries and I replaced them, after 8 years of service, earlier this year.

Subjectively, I think that they have already lost a lot of their capacity so I’m planning to test them, individually.

For load, I have wired two 55W H7 bulbs. This should draw about about 9 amps.

I have a DC Clamp meter and I’m planning to record voltage versus time to determine AHr capacity.

Reading the thread, will these bulbs simply get too hot and fail? Any other suggestions for a more suitable load?

I’m planning to take the batteries to 12.2v which should equate to 50% of their capacity.

Headlight bulbs will not get hot and fail, they stay on for hours at night in a vehicle inside an enclosed glass housing fixed to a metal body that is banging and crashing along the road.  Bulb wiring is the main problem using too small cable and under rated badly attached connectors, holders will generally only fail if they are old. Bulbs off a battery will most likely be receiving 12 volts dc max which will then decay, on a vehicle they should receive approx 13.5 volts if the wiring is good, lower voltage will be less stress on the filament.
And try not to touch the bulb glass with your fingers as you will see the fingerprint once the glass gets hot, an alcohol wipe will remove them before you turn them on or use a clean rag when handle them.