Battery charging

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chrishelen

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Hi, I took my 110ah battery home yesterday for a charge,after 3 hrs the charger indicated the battery was fully charged.

This morning i tested the cells with a hydrometer, all were covered with fluid, and they read on average 132.00.

A fully charged battery, i am informed comes out at 126.00 a cell. do i need to add some distilled water to dilute the fluid a touch?

I dont have a voltage meter handy.
 
1.265 is normally about fully charged. I'd wait 24 hours and see if the SG drops to that. It looks as if it has not settled to its proper level yet.
 
A typical SG when fully charged is around 1275. This will drop to around 1250, 1260 after a few hours when that battery has fully gassed off.
 
If the battery level is such that it needs topping up then top it up so that it is at the correct level. Otherwise don't worry about it.

Was the battery cold when you tested it. If so the SG will be high. IIRC the quoted SG figures are for 60F

If you do top the battery up allow a good while and a period of charging for the distilled water to mix fully with the acid before re-tetsting
 
VicS said:
If the battery level is such that it needs topping up then top it up so that it is at the correct level. Otherwise don't worry about it.

Was the battery cold when you tested it. If so the SG will be high. IIRC the quoted SG figures are for 60F

If you do top the battery up allow a good while and a period of charging for the distilled water to mix fully with the acid before re-tetsting
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How do i know it needs topping up? the fluid covers the plates so is that ok? also when i tested the SG the battery was at room temp, out in the kitchen,(dont tell swmbo).
 
chrishelen said:
How do i know it needs topping up? the fluid covers the plates so is that ok? also when i tested the SG the battery was at room temp, out in the kitchen,(dont tell swmbo).
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Provided the plates are covered its OK but modern batteries usually have some form of level mark. My boat battery has max and min marks but not very helpful on the outside of a black opaque case :mad:
 
VicS said:
Provided the plates are covered its OK but modern batteries usually have some form of level mark. My boat battery has max and min marks but not very helpful on the outside of a black opaque case :mad:
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Cant find any marks on this batt,it was brand new last year.
 
chrishelen said:
How do i know it needs topping up? the fluid covers the plates so is that ok? also when i tested the SG the battery was at room temp, out in the kitchen,(dont tell swmbo).
Click to expand...

SWMBO used to put her finger in to see if it was wet, until I explained that although she was adding water, the battery contents were quite a strong acid! :eek:
 
chrishelen said:
Cant find any marks on this batt,it was brand new last year.
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Was it a factory filled and charged one or shipped dry and commissioned locally? If the latter then I would say the commissioning distributor used the wrong gravity acid. Not at all uncommon.
If it was factory filled I would go back and query with supplier if you can.
1320 is too high and will promote corrosion and shorten life. I've never heard of any manufacturer going above 1280 in flooded batteries, some SLAs use 1300.
If you're quite sure it is steady at that level - at 20-25 deg temperature - I would bring it down to 1260-1280 by adding water and if necessary removing some acid.
Is it a well known make? Any specification on wesbite?
After adding water you must make sure the acid is mixed as it will stratify. You can rock the battery back and forth or give it a boost charge.

Can you borrow another hydrometer to check yours against?
 
Got it from force 4 last year all charged up ready to go, Its a Wetline 110ha.
tested the SG today and it is still steady at 132.00 ish. will get another hydrometer and try and see what results i get.
Thanks.
 
Wetline is a Unipart label. Impossible to tell who makes them. Quite possibly they use several suppliers. However if a second hydrometer verifies your readings I would query with supplier.
 
rafiki_ said:
There should be a telltale marker in each cell that should be covered by about a quarter of an inch.
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There could be a tab or ledge sticking out above the level of the plates, which should just be 'awash'.
It is for use by the auto-fill bottles that you just tip the nozzle in and rest it on the ledge - it stops filling when the acid reaches the nozzle and blocks the air. Easy to make.
 
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