I find that there is a water/ acid deposit on top of our batteries after a week or so on the charger. There is a acid component to the (spillage) and over time there will be a acid loss. The batteries are not overfilled. Under what circumstances should acid be added to batteries to replace losses. Comments? cheers.
Battery acid loss
- Thread starter Brahmany
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A good quality charger should not be boiling off the batteries. Check your float voltage setting and make sure it is putting out only 13.2 - 13.4 volts on float.
One should never add tap water to the batteries, they will always carry chemicals and minerals that will shorten the battery life. Always use distilled water. If you never add water to your batteries you are undercharging them and will shorten the life. If you always add lots of water you are overcharging the batteries and will shorten their life. You need a charging system that will allow charging at the maximum acceptance rate for your battery bank, and float at the required voltage for your batteries once full charge has been achieved. Finding a small amount of fluid around the caps is not unusual, find a lot is a sign of a problem, especially if it is a single cell that is always wet. Chuck
Don't fill your wet batteries all the way up to the ring. Just an inch over the plates is enough, and that'll reduce spilling from heeling over, and acid deposits on top of the batteries. If you never have to add water, your charger is not charging the batteries enough.
So does that mean I should never hear anything going on inside the battery when it's being charged? The reason I ask is that Verboten came with one of those little black (Guest?) chargers hard wired for use when the boat is in the driveway; there's also a plug in the cabin to run a lamp or heater. The one time I tried it this summer it sounded like the battery acid was starting to boil after about 15 minutes. Once I realized what was going on I yanked the power, let the battery cool, then switched over to the portable charger.
I run a solar panel most of the time so this was just an attempt to be sure I had a full charge before we headed off the the San Juans. Still, it would be nice to be able to use the 110 plug when I'm doing repairs/projects on the hard, but not if having the charger run too is going to kill the battery.
If a battery is under 80% of full charge (my guesstimate) some gassing noise is normal. Violent bubbling- no.
The real test is to measure the charging voltage. On float, which means the batteries are nearly fully charged, the terminal voltage should be 13.2-13.4V. When the batteries are being brought up from a lower state of charge, a charger that features bulk and absorption phases can put out higher voltages in the range up to about 14.2V. An equalization phase is probably about 14.4-14.6V and that voltage is only applied for a couple hours. These voltages only apply to flooded wet cells.
The bottom line- you need a decent ($30) digital voltmeter to evaluate your battery charging.
The real test is to measure the charging voltage. On float, which means the batteries are nearly fully charged, the terminal voltage should be 13.2-13.4V. When the batteries are being brought up from a lower state of charge, a charger that features bulk and absorption phases can put out higher voltages in the range up to about 14.2V. An equalization phase is probably about 14.4-14.6V and that voltage is only applied for a couple hours. These voltages only apply to flooded wet cells.
The bottom line- you need a decent ($30) digital voltmeter to evaluate your battery charging.
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