The Automobile Storage Battery Part 27

Specific gravity will not rise to 1.280. This may be due to the plates not taking a full charge, or to water having been used to replace electrolyte which has been spilled. To determine which of these conditions exist, make cadmium test (see page 174) on the positives and negatives, also measure the voltage of each cell. If these tests indicate that the plates are fully charged (cell voltage 2.5 to 2.7, Positive-Cadmium 2.4 volts, Negative-Cadmium minus 0.15 to 0.20 volts), you will know that there is not enough acid in the electrolyte. The thing to do then is to dump out the old electrolyte, refill with 1.300 electrolyte and continue the charge until the specific gravity becomes constant. Some adjustment may then have to be made by drawing off some of the electrolyte with a hydrometer and adding water to lower the gravity, or 1.400 acid to bring it up.

Remember that specific gravity readings tell you nothing about the plates, unless it is known that the electrolyte contains the correct proportions of water and acid. The cadmium test is the test which tells you directly whether or not the plates are charged and in charging a battery the aim is to charge the plates, and not merely to bring the specific gravity to 1.280.

If the specific gravity will not rise to 1.280 and cadmium tests show that the plates will not take a full charge, then the battery is, of course, defective in some way. If the battery is an old one, the negatives are probably somewhat granulated, the positives have probably lost much of their active material, resulting in a considerable amount of sediment in the jars, and the separators are worn out, carbonized, or clogged with sediment. Such a battery should not be expected to give as good service as a new one, and the best thing to do if the tests show the battery to be more than half charged, is to put it back on the car, taking care to explain to the owner why his battery will not "come up" and telling him that he will soon need a new battery. Remember that improperly treated separators, or defective separators will cause poor Negative-Cadmium readings to be obtained.

If a fairly new battery will not take a full charge, as indicated by hydrometer readings and cadmium tests, some trouble has developed due to neglect, abuse, or defect in manufacture. If all cells of a fairly new battery fail to take a full charge within 48 hours, the battery has probably been abused by failing to add water regularly, or by allowing battery to remain in an undercharged condition. Such a battery should be kept on the line for several days more, and if it then still will not take a full charge the owner should be told what the condition of the battery is, and advised to have it opened for inspection.

If one cell of a battery fails to take a charge, but the other cells charge satisfactorily, and cadmium tests show that the plates of this cell are not taking a charge, the cell should be opened for inspection. If one cell of a battery charges slowly, cut the other cells out of the line, and charge the low cell in series with the other batteries on the charging line.

If all cells of a battery, whether new or old, will not take even half a charge, as indicated by hydrometer readings (1.200), the battery should be opened for inspection.

If the gravity of a battery on charge begins to rise long before the voltage rises, and if the gravity rises above 1.300, there is too great a proportion of acid in the electrolyte. The remedy is to dump out the electrolyte, refill with pure water and continue the charge at a lower rate than before, until the specific gravity stops rising.

Then charge for ten hours longer, dump out the water (which has now become electrolyte by the acid formed by the charging current), refill with about 1.350 electrolyte and continue the charge, balancing the gravity if necessary at the end of the charge.

If a battery becomes very hot while on charge at a rate which is not normally too high for the battery, it indicates that the battery is badly sulphated, or has a partial short-circuit. Ga.s.sing generally goes with the high temperature.

If you can detect a vinegar-like odor rising from the vent holes, you may be absolutely sure that the separators used in that battery have developed acetic acid due to not having received the proper treatment necessary to prepare them for use in the battery. The electrolyte should be dumped from such a battery immediately and the battery should be filled and rinsed with water several times. Then the battery should be opened without loss of time, to see whether, by removing the separators and washing the plates thoroughly, the plates may be saved.

If the acetic acid has been present for any length of time, however, the plates will have been ruined beyond repair, the lead parts being dissolved by the acid.

If the electrolyte of a battery on charge has a white, milky look, there may be impurities which cause numerous minute bubbles to form, such bubbles giving the electrolyte its milky appearance. The milky appearance may be due to the use of "hard" water in refilling, this water containing lime.

The electrolyte as seen with the acid of an electric lamp or flashlight should be perfectly clear and colorless. Any sc.u.m, particles of dirt, any color whatsoever shows that the electrolyte is impure. This calls for dumping out the electrolyte, filling and rinsing with pure water, refilling with new electrolyte and putting the battery back on the charging line. Of course, this may not cause the battery to charge satisfactorily, which may be due to the troubles already described.

Should it ever happen that it is impossible to send a current through a charging circuit go over all the connections to make sure that you have good contact at each battery terminal, and that there are no loose inter-cell connectors. If all connections to the batteries are good, and there are no loose inter-cell connectors, cut out one battery at a time until you start the current flowing, when you cut out some particular battery. This battery should then be opened without further tests, as it is without a doubt in a bad condition.

The conditions which may exist when a battery will not charge, as shown especially by cadmium tests, are as follows:

(a) The battery may have been allowed to remain in a discharged condition, or the owner may have neglected to add water, with the result that the electrolyte did not cover the plates. In either case a considerable amount of crystallized sulphate will have formed in the plates. Plates in such a condition will require a charge of about a week at a low rate and will then have to be discharged and recharged again. Several such cycles of charge and discharge may be necessary.

It may even be impossible to charge such a battery, no matter how many cycles of charge and discharge are given. If the owner admits that his battery has been neglected and allowed to stand idle for a considerable time, get his permission to open the battery.

(b) The battery may have been overheated by an excessive charging rate, or by putting it on a car in a sulphated condition. The normal charging rate of the generator on the car will over heat a sulphated battery. Overheated plates buckle their lower edges cut through the separators, causing a short-circuit between plates.

(c) The pockets in the bottoms of the jars may have become filled with sediment, and the sediment may be short-circuiting the plates.

(d) Impurities may have attacked the plates and changed the active materials to other substances which do not form a battery. Such plates may be so badly damaged that they are brittle and crumbled. Acetic acid from improperly treated separators will dissolve lead very quickly, and may even cause an open circuit in the cell.

(e) The conditions described in (a), (b), and (c) will permit a charging current to pa.s.s through the battery, but the plates will not become charged. It is possible, of course, but not probable, that a condition may exist in which all the plates of one or both groups of a cell may be broken from the connecting straps, or inter-cell connectors may be making no contact with the posts. In such a case, it would be impossible to send a charging current through the battery.

Acetic acid from improperly treated separators, and organic matter introduced by the use of impure water in refilling will attack the lead of the plates, especially at the upper surface of the electrolyte, and may dissolve all the plate lugs from the connecting straps and cause an open-circuit.

(f) The separators may be soggy and somewhat charred and blackened, or they may be clogged up with sulphate, and the battery may need new separators.

(g) The spongy lead may be bulged, or the positives may be buckled.

The active material is then not making good contact with the grids, and the charging current cannot get at all the sulphate and change it to active material. The remedy in such a case is to press the negatives so as to force the active material back into the grids, and to put in new positives if they are considerably buckled.

(h) One of the numerous "dope" electrolytes which are offered to the trustful car owner may have been put in the battery. Such "dopes"

might cause very severe damage to the plates. Tell your customers to avoid using such "dope."

The conditions which may exist when the plates of a battery take a charge, as indicated by cadmium tests, but the gravity will not come up to 1.280 are as follows:

(a) There may be considerable sediment in the jars but not enough to short circuit the plates. If the battery has at some time been in a sulphated condition and has been charged At too high a rate, the ga.s.sing that resulted will have caused chips of the sulphate to drop to the bottom of the jars. When this sulphate was formed, some of the acid was taken from the electrolyte, and if the sulphate drops from the plates, this amount of acid cannot be recovered no matter how long the charge is continued. If the owner tells you that his battery has stood idle for several months at some time, this is a condition which may exist. The remedy is to wash and press the negatives, wash the positives, put in new separators, pour out the old electrolyte and wash out the jars, fill with 1.400 acid, and charge the battery.

(b) Impurities may have used up some of the acid which cannot be recovered by charging. If the plates are not much damaged the remedy is the same as for (a). Damaged plates may require renewal.

(c) Electrolyte may have been spilled accidentally and replaced by water.

(d) Too much water may have been added, with the result that the expansion of the electrolyte due to a rise in temperature on charge caused it to overflow. This, of course, resulted in a loss of some of the acid.

The causes given in (c) and (d) may have resulted in the top of the battery case being acid-eaten or rotted. The remedy in these two instances is to draw off some of the electrolyte, add some 1.400 acid and continue the charge. If plates and separators look good and there is but little sediment, this is the thing to do.

If Battery will not hold a Charge. If a battery charges properly but loses its charge in a week or less, as indicated by specific gravity readings, the following troubles may exist:

(a) Impurities in the cells, due to the use of impure water in the electrolyte, or in the separators. Some impurities (see page 76) do not attack the plates, but merely cause self-discharge. The remedy is to dump out the old electrolyte, rinse the jars with pure water, fill with new electrolyte of the same gravity as the old and recharge. If this does not remove impurities, the battery should be opened, the plates washed, jars cleaned out, new separators put in, and battery rea.s.sembled and charged.

(b) There may be a slow short-circuit, due to defective separators or excessive amount of sediment. If preliminary treatment in (a) does not cause battery to hold charge, the opening of battery and subsequent treatment will remove the cause of the slow short-circuit.

Suggestions

1. Make sure every battery is properly tagged before going on line.

2. Determine as quickly as possible from day to day, those batteries that will not charge. Call owner and get permission to open up any such battery and do whatever is necessary to put it in good shape.

3. As soon as a battery charges to 1.280-1.300, the voltage is 2.5-2.7 per cell and the cadmium readings are 2.4 or more for the positives and -0.15 to -0.20 for the negatives and the gravity voltage and cadmium readings do not change for five hours, remove it from the line as finished and replace it with another if possible. Go over your line at least three times a day and make gravity, temperature, and cadmium tests.

4. Make a notation, with chalk, of the gravity of each cell each morning. Do not trust to memory.

5. Remove from the line as soon as possible any battery that has a leaky cell and neutralize with soda the acid that has leaked out.

6. Batteries that are sloppers, with rotten cases, and without handles are sick and need a doctor. Go after the owner and get permission to repair.

7. Keep the bench orderly and clean.

8. Remember that if you have a line only partly full and have other batteries waiting to be charged you are losing money by not keeping a full line.

9. Leave the Vent Plugs in When Charging. The atmosphere in many service stations, where the ventilation is poor, is so filled with acid fumes that customers object to doing business there.

The owners of these places may not notice these conditions, being used to it, or rather glory in being able to breathe such air without coughing or choking, but it certainly does not invite a customer to linger and spend his money.

The remedy for such a condition is to leave the vent plugs in place on the batteries that are charging so that the acid spray in the gas from the battery condenses out as it strikes these plugs and drips back into the cells, while the gas pa.s.ses out through the small openings in the plug.

The plugs need only be screwed into the openings by one turn, or only set on top of the vent openings to accomplish the result.

This takes no additional time and more than repays for itself in the saving of rusted tools and improved conditions in the battery room and surroundings. In charging old Exide batteries, be sure to replace the vent plugs and turn them to open the air pa.s.sages which permit the escape of gases which form under the covers. If you wish to keep these air pa.s.sages open without replacing the plugs, which may be done for convenience, give the valve (see page 21) a quarter turn with a screwdriver or some other tool.

10. If the electrolyte from a battery rises until it floods over the top of the jar, it shows that too much water was added when the battery was put on charge, the water rising to the bottom of the vent tube, thereby preventing gases formed (except those directly below the vent hole) from escaping. This gas collects under the covers, and its pressure forces the electrolyte up into the vent hole and over the top of the battery. In charging old U.S.L. batteries it is especially necessary to keep the air vent (see page 20) open to prevent flooding, since the lower end of the vent tube is normally a little below the surface of the electrolyte.

Remember, do not have the electrolyte come up to the lower end of the vent tube.

NOTE: To obtain satisfactory negative cadmium readings, the charging rate should be high enough to give a cell voltage of 2.5-2.7.