{"id":511,"date":"2017-02-17T23:31:36","date_gmt":"2017-02-17T23:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghls.org\/ghlsv1\/?page_id=511"},"modified":"2021-05-04T13:53:51","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T13:53:51","slug":"batteries-their-care-and-feeding","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.ghls.org\/ghlsv1\/reference-info\/batteries-their-care-and-feeding\/","title":{"rendered":"Batteries \u2013 Their Care and Feeding . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

A Compendium Of Battery Information<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

Downloadable article as a PDF by clicking here<\/a>.<\/h3>\n

First, a little history \u2013<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Although Alessandro Volta in Italy is usually credited with being the inventor of the\u00a0modern battery (Silver-Zinc), ancient cells have been discovered in Sumerian ruins,\u00a0origin around 250 BC.. or maybe 400 AD – there is some dispute over the exact age.\u00a0The first evidence of batteries comes from archaeological digs in Baghdad, Iraq. \u00a0his\u00a0first “battery” was dated to around 250 (?) B.C. and was used in simple operations to\u00a0electroplate objects with a thin layer of metal, much like the process used now to plate\u00a0inexpensive gold and silver jewelry [This is also debated, the current put out by these\u00a0batteries is very small, so they may have been no more than a witch doctors props to\u00a0amaze patients with electrical tingles].<\/p>\n

The jars were found in Khujut Rabu just outside Baghdad and are composed of a clay\u00a0jar with a stopper made of asphalt. Sticking through the asphalt is an iron rod\u00a0surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with vinegar or even grape juice – or any\u00a0other electrolytic solution – the jar produces about 1.1 volts. The actual term \u00a0“battery”\u00a0was coined by Benjamin Franklin to describe an array of static charged glass plates\u00a0(sort of a primitive capacitor). He used the term battery, as that term was \u00a0common at\u00a0the time for a group of guns or artillery.<\/p>\n

Batteries were re-discovered much later, in 1800 in Italy by a man named Alessandro\u00a0Volta after which the unit of electrical potential was named, the volt. His original\u00a0battery consisted of discs of Zinc and Copper in a large glass tube separated by\u00a0cardboard. The French inventor, Gaston Plante developed the first practical Lead-Acid\u00a0rechargeable storage battery in 1859. In 1881 Faure discovered a way to make a\u00a0Lead “paste”, which greatly improved the capacity of batteries. This is basically the\u00a0same method and chemistry used in most batteries today.<\/p>\n

Most early batteries were used for telegraphs, and research and development was\u00a0slow until the automobile came along. Some of the first cars were electric, and relied\u00a0on these rather primitive batteries to get around. With the suddenly increased demand\u00a0for rechargeable batteries, the modern battery started to take shape. One of the first\u00a0commercial car batteries was made with an Oak wood case with Red Cedar plate\u00a0separators. A variety of other woods were used, but Cedar was most common. The\u00a0cases were dipped in asphalt, assembled, and then the top was glued, tied, screwed,\u00a0or latched on. Up until around 1916 it was quite common to have these batteries\u00a0repaired, so they had to be easy to take apart. A few “luxury” batteries also used glass\u00a0cases, and a variety of what we would consider strange materials were tried by some\u00a0manufacturers – including kiln fired clay and heavily waxed leather. Needless to say,\u00a0reliability was not a strong point, and neither was safety.<\/p>\n

Rubber plate separators were introduced by Willard Battery Company in 1915. Shortly\u00a0after, Willard and several other companies started using hard rubber cases. These\u00a0were common in car batteries until the invention of easily molded plastics, like\u00a0Bakelite, prior to WW2. The first gelled VRLA battery was made in 1958, and\u00a0Polypropylene cases became common in the mid to late 60’s. In 1980 the first AGM\u00a0(absorbed glass mat) battery was invented, mainly for military use. Up until the early\u00a090’s AGM batteries were very uncommon outside the military, but then around 1991\u00a0Concorde battery began selling its military line of batteries to the civilian market. Accu\u00a0Oerlikin and several other manufacturers followed soon after.<\/p>\n

What is a battery?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are two classes of batteries, primary and secondary. No idea why they are\u00a0called that, but primary cannot be recharged, secondary can be. A battery, in concept,\u00a0can be any device that stores energy for later use. A rock, pushed to the top of a hill,\u00a0can be considered a kind of battery, since the energy used to push it up the hill
\n(chemical energy, from muscles or combustion engines) is converted and stored as\u00a0potential kinetic energy at the top of the hill. Later, that energy is released as kinetic\u00a0and thermal energy when the rock rolls down the hill. Common use of the word,\u00a0“battery,” however, is usually limited to an electrochemical device that converts\u00a0chemical energy into electricity, by use of a galvanic cell. A galvanic cell is a fairly\u00a0simple device consisting of two electrodes (an anode and a cathode) and an
\nelectrolyte solution. Batteries consist of one or more galvanic cells.<\/p>\n

A battery is an electrical storage device. Batteries do not make electricity, they\u00a0store it, just as a water tank stores water for future use. As chemicals in the battery\u00a0change, \u00a0electrical energy is stored or released. In rechargeable batteries this process\u00a0can be repeated many times. Batteries are not 100% efficient – some energy is lost as\u00a0heat and chemical reactions when charging and discharging. If you use 1000 watts\u00a0from a battery, it might take 1200 watts or more to fully recharge it. Slower charging\u00a0and discharging rates are more efficient. A battery rated at 180 amp-hours over 6\u00a0hours might be rated at 220 AH at the 20-hour rate, and 260 AH at the 48-hour rate.\u00a0Typical efficiency in a lead-acid battery is 85-95%, in alkaline nickel-iron and nickel cadmium\u00a0batteries, it is 65% or less.<\/p>\n

It is important to note that most of the batteries commonly used in deep cycle\u00a0applications are lead-acid. This includes the standard flooded (wet) batteries, gelled,\u00a0and AGM. They all use the same chemistry, although the actual construction of the\u00a0plates etc can vary considerably. Nickel cadmiums, nickel-iron, and other types are\u00a0found in some systems, but are not common due to their expense, availability, – they\u00a0are generally only used in very unusual or demanding applications, such as aircraft,\u00a0transit vehicles, ships, etc.<\/p>\n

Major Battery Types<\/h3>\n

Batteries are divided in two ways, by application (what they are used for) and\u00a0construction (how they are built). The major applications are automotive, marine, and\u00a0deep-cycle. Deep-cycle includes solar electric, backup power, RV and boat “house”\u00a0batteries. The major construction types are flooded (wet), gelled, and AGM (Absorbed\u00a0Glass Mat). AGM batteries are also sometimes called “starved electrolyte” or “dry”,\u00a0because the fiberglass mat is only 95% saturated with sulfuric acid and there is no\u00a0excess liquid<\/p>\n

Flooded may be standard, with removable caps, or the so-called “maintenance free”\u00a0(that means they are designed to die one week after the warranty runs out). All gelled\u00a0are sealed and a few are “valve regulated”, which means that a tiny valve keeps a\u00a0slight positive pressure. Nearly all AGM batteries are sealed valve regulated\u00a0(commonly referred to as “VRLA” – Valve Regulated Lead-acid). Most valve regulated\u00a0are under some pressure – 1 to 4 psi at sea level.<\/p>\n

Lifespan of Batteries<\/h3>\n

The lifespan of a battery will vary considerably with how it is used, how it is\u00a0maintained and charged, temperature, and other factors. In extreme cases, it can vary\u00a0to extremes \u2013 good batteries can be killed in less than a year by severe overcharging,\u00a0but a large set of surplus telephone batteries that sees only occasional (5-10 times\u00a0per year) heavy service can be over 25 years old. Gelled cells will be destroyed in one\u00a0day when overcharged with a large automotive charger. Golf cart batteries have been\u00a0destroyed without ever being used in less than a year because they were left sitting in\u00a0a hot garage without being charged. Even the so-called “dry charged” (where \u00a0you add\u00a0acid when you need them) have a shelf life of at most 18 months, as they are not\u00a0totally dry (actually, a few are, but hard to find, the vast majority are shipped with
\ndamp plates).<\/p>\n

These are some general (minimum – maximum) typical expectations for batteries if used\u00a0in deep cycle service:<\/p>\n