The Automobile Storage Battery Part 72

Taking Batteries Out of Commission

If a battery is not to be used at all for a period not longer than about 9 months, it can be left idle if it is first treated as follows: Add sufficient water to bring the electrolyte up to the water line in all cells and then give an equalizing charge, continuing the charge until the specific gravity of each cell is at a maximum, five consecutive hourly readings showing no rise in gravity. As soon as this charge is completed, take out the battery fuse and open up one or two of the connections between cells so that no current can be taken from the battery. Have vent plugs in place to minimize evaporation.

If the battery is to be taken out of commission for a longer time than 9 months, the battery should be fully charged as above and the electrolyte poured off into suitable gla.s.s or porcelain receptacles.

The plates should immediately be covered with water for a few hours to prevent the negatives heating, after which the separators should be removed, the water poured out of the jars, and the positive and negative groups placed back in the jar for storage. Examine the separators. If they are cracked or split they should be thrown away.

If in good condition they should be stored for further use in a non-metallic receptacle and covered with water, to which has been added electrolyte of 1.220 specific gravity, in the proportion of one part electrolyte to ten of water by volume.

Putting Batteries Into Commission After Being Out of Service

When putting batteries into commission again, if the electrolyte has not been withdrawn, all that is necessary is to add water to the cells if needed, replace connections, and give an equalizing charge.

If the electrolyte has been withdrawn and battery disa.s.sembled, it should be rea.s.sembled, taking care not to use cracked, split or dried-out separators, and then the cells should be filled with the old electrolyte, which has been saved, provided no impurity has entered the electrolyte. After filling, allow the battery to stand for 12 hours and then charge, using 6 amperes for KXG-7 size and 12 amperes for the KXG-13 size. Charge at this rate until all cells start ga.s.sing freely or temperature rises to 110 F. Then reduce the charging rate one-half, and continue at this rate until the specific gravity is at a maximum, five consecutive hourly readings showing no rise in gravity.

At least 40 hours will be required for this charge. To obtain these low rates with the Delco-Light plant, lights or other current-consuming devices must be turned on while charging.

General Complaints from Users and How to Handle Them.

1. Pilot b.a.l.l.s do not come up.

This condition may be caused by

(a) Battery discharged.

(b) Weak electrolyte caused by spillage in shipment.

(c) Defective ball.

Question the user to determine whether the ball will not come up if the pilot cell is bubbling freely. Weak electrolyte or a defective ball will require a service trip to determine the one which is responsible for the ball not rising. (See page 470.)

2. Lights dim-must charge daily.

This condition may be caused by

(a) Discharged battery.

(b) Loose dirty connections in battery or line.

(c) Low cells in battery.

The user should be questioned to determine whether the battery is being charged sufficiently. In case the user is positive the battery is charged, the next probable trouble would be that there were some loose or dirty connections in either plant or battery. Have the user check for loose connections. Should it be necessary to make an inspection trip, instruct the user to give battery an equalizing charge so the battery will be fully charged when the inspection is made.

Low cells can be checked by asking the user if all of the cells bubble freely when equalizing charge is given. In case user claims several cells fail to bubble, an inspection trip would be necessary to determine the trouble. (See page 470.)

3. Cells bubbling when on discharge.

This complaint would indicate a reversed cell. (See page 483.)

4. Cells overflowing on charge.

This would mean that the cells were filled too high above water lines.

5. Engine cranks slowly but does not fire.

This would indicate over-discharged battery. Explain to user how to start plant under this condition.

6. Plant will not crank.

This might be caused by

(a) Blown battery fuse.

(b) Battery over-discharged.

(c) Loose or broken connection on battery or switchboard.

OTHER EXIDE FARM LIGHTING BATTERIES

The Exide type is shown in Figure 296. The plates are held in position both by the cover and by soft rubber support pieces in the bottom of the jar. The support pieces are provided with holes in which projections on the bottom of the plates are inserted. The cover is of heavy moulded gla.s.s. The separators are of grooved wood in combination with a slotted rubber sheet (Fig. 297). The strap posts are threaded and are clamped to the cover by means of alloy nuts. The cover overlaps the top of the jar to which it is sealed with sealing compound. The method of sealing and unsealing is practically the same as in the Exide Delco-Light Type.

Batteries with Open Gla.s.s Jars

Batteries with open gla.s.s jars, in addition to the conducting lug, have two hanging lugs for each plate. The plates are hung from the jar walls by these hanging lugs, as shown in Figs. 323 and 324. The plate straps, instead of being horizontal are vertical and provided with a tail so that adjacent cells may be bolted together by bolt connectors through the end of the tail.

1. The Exide Cell is shown in Fig. 324. It has a grooved wood separator between each positive and negative plate. The separators are kept from floating up by a gla.s.s "hold-down" laid across the top. The separators are provided at the top with a pin which rests on the adjoining plates. The pins together with the plate gla.s.s hold-downs keep the separators in Position.

To remove an element it is simply necessary to unbolt the connectors, remove the gla.s.s cover and hold-down and lift wit the element.

2. The Chloride Acc.u.mulator cell is shown in Fig. 323. It differs from the Exide only in type of plates and separators. The positive plates are known as Manchester positives and have the active material in the form of corrugated b.u.t.tons which are held in a thick grid, as shown in Fig. 325. The b.u.t.tons are brown in color, the same as all positive active material.

The separators, instead of being grooved wood, am each a sheet of wood with six dowels pinned to it.

The element is removed the same as in the Exide type.

[Fig. 323 Exide chloride acc.u.mulator cell with open gla.s.s jar, and Fig. 324 Exide cell with open gla.s.s jar]

Batteries with Sealed Rubber Jars

1. The Exide cell is shown in Fig. 326. It is a.s.sembled similar to Exide starting and lighting batteries, except that the plates are considerably thicker, wood and rubber separators are used, and the terminal posts are shaped to provide for bolted instead of burned-on connection. The method of sealing and unsealing the cells is the same as in Exide starting and lighting batteries.

All instructions already given for gla.s.s for cells apply to rubber jar cells except for a few differences in a.s.sembling and disa.s.sembling.

Care should be taken to keep the water level at least 1/2 inch above plates at all times as the evaporation is very rapid in rubber jar cells.

The temperature should be watched on charging to prevent overheating.