Re: [EVDL] Early Hawker deaths
Cor van de Water wrote:
> I have a set of AGM batteries that I know have lost water due to
> unbalanced charging... Anybody have an idea how to check if an AGM
> has sufficient water?
When I've done it, I estimated the amount of water to add by weighing
good batteries, and adding enough to bring the bad ones up to the same
weight. It takes a good scale to do this, as we're talking about 1-2
ounces difference on a 60 lbs battery.
If the battery has be very low in water for a long time, it suffers from
serious grid corrosion. The internal resistance will have permanently
increased -- even after adding water and capacity returns, it may have
too much resistance to be useful.
Too much water only seems to cause excessive gassing. It just gasses
away the excess water, or may even vent liquid if it is really full.
> I have another question about a yellow top battery: Does anyone
> know how to pry that one open to see if watering may help it
> to regain some capacity?
The cover on an Optima is glued on pretty tightly, and there are only 2
vents for all 6 cells (they all share a common air space above the
cells). What I did is to drill a hole for a #6 screw over each cell. Add
water using this hole. Then plug the hole with a nylon or stainless
steel screw.
--
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget the perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in -- Leonard Cohen
--
Lee A. Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, leeahart_at_earthlink.net
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