The Automobile Storage Battery Part 12

Dead Cells

1. Worn out Separators. The duties of separators are to prevent the plates from touching each other, and to prevent "treeing," or growth of active material from the negative to the positive plates. If they fail to perform these duties, the battery will become short-circuited internally. The separator troubles described on page 81 eventually lead to short-circuited cells.

2. Foreign Material. If a piece of lead falls between plates so as to later punch a hole through a separator, a short circuit will result.

Great care should be taken in burning plates on the straps to prevent lead from running down between plates, as this lead will cause a short circuit by punching through the separator.

3. Acc.u.mulation of Sediment. The active material which drops from the plates acc.u.mulates in the "mud" s.p.a.ce in the bottom of the jar. If this rises until it touches the bottom of the plates, a short-circuit results. Usually it is advisable to renew the positives in a battery which has become short-circuited by sediment, since the sediment comes largely from the positives, and if they have lost enough active material to completely fill the sediment s.p.a.ce, they are no longer fit for use.

4. Badly sulphated plates and separators, impurities which attack the plates.

Loss of Capacity

A battery loses capacity due to a number of causes. Some of them have already been considered.

1. Impurities in the Electrolyte. These have already been discussed.

2. Sulphation. This also has been described.

3. Loose Active Material, as already described. The active materials which are not in contact with the grids cannot do their work.

4. Incorrect Proportions of Acid and Water in the Electrolyte. In order that all the active material in the plates may be utilized, there must be enough acid in the electrolyte, and also enough water.

If there is not enough acid, the battery will lack capacity. If there is too much acid, the acid when the battery is fully charged will be strong enough to attack and seriously damage the plates and separators. Insufficient amount of acid may be due to replacing, with water, electrolyte which has been spilled or which has leaked out. Too much acid results from an incorrect proportion of acid and water in the electrolyte, or from adding acid instead of water to bring the electrolyte above the plate tops, and causes sulphation, corroded plates, and carbonized separators.

The remedy for incorrect proportions of acid and water in the electrolyte is to give the battery a full charge and adjust the gravity by drawing off some of the electrolyte and replacing it with water, or 1.400 specific gravity electrolyte, as the case may require.

5. Separators Clogged. The pores of the separators may become filled with sulphate or impurities, and thus prevent the proper circulation of the electrolyte. New separators must be put in.

6. Shedding. The capacity of a battery naturally decreases as the active material falls from the plates, since the amount of active material which can take part in the chemical actions that enable us to draw current from the battery decreases.

7. Low Level of Electrolyte. Aside from the loss of capacity which results from the sulphation caused by low electrolyte, there is a loss of capacity caused by the decrease in the useful plate area when the electrolyte is below the tops of the plates. Only that part of the plate surface which is below the electrolyte does any work, and the area of this part gradually decreases as the electrolyte falls.

8. Reversal of Plates. If one cell of a battery has an internal short circuit, or some other defect which causes it to lose its charge, the cell will be discharged before the others which are in series with it, and when this cell is completely discharged, the other cells will send a current through it in a discharge direction, and the negative plates will have a coating of lead peroxide formed on them, and will a.s.sume the characteristics of positive plates. The positives will be reversed also.

This reversal may also be the result of charging a battery in the wrong direction, on account of reversed charging connections. The remedy for reversed plates, provided they have not become disintegrated, is to give them a long charge in the right direction at a low rate.

9. Effect of Age. A battery gradually loses capacity due to its age.

This effect is independent of the loss of capacity due to the other causes. In the negatives, the size of the grain increases its size, giving the plates a granulated appearance. St.i.tch plates are called "granulated" negatives. The spongy lead cements together and loses porosity.

Loss of Charge in An Idle Battery

It has been found that if a charged battery is allowed to stand idle, and is not charged, and no current is drawn from it, the battery will gradually become completely discharged and must be given an occasional "freshening" charge.

Now, as we have learned, when a battery discharges lead sulphate forms on each plate, and acid is taken from the electrolyte as the sulphate forms. In our idle battery, therefore, such actions must be taking place. The only difference in this case is that the sulphate forms without any current pa.s.sing through the battery.

At the lead peroxide plate we have lead peroxide paste, lead grid, and sulphuric acid. These are all the element-, needed to produce a storage battery, and as the lead peroxide and the lead are touching each other, each lead peroxide plate really forms a short circuited cell. Why does this plate not discharge itself completely? A certain.

amount of discharge does take place, and results in a layer of lead sulphate forming between the lead peroxide and the grid. The sulphate, having high resistance then protects the lead grid and prevents any further action. This discharge action therefore does not continue, but causes a loss of a certain part of the charge.

At the negative plate, we have pure spongy lead, and the grid. This grid is not composed entirely of lead, but contains a percentage of antimony, a metal which makes the grid harder and stronger. There is but very little difference of potential between the spongy lead and the grid. A small amount of lead sulphate does form, however, on the surface of the negative plate. This is due to the action between the spongy lead and the electrolyte.

Some of the lead combines with the acid to form lead sulphate, but after a small amount has been formed the action is stopped because a balanced chemical condition is soon obtained.

Thus only a small amount of lead sulphate is formed at each plate, and the cell thereby loses only a small part of its charge. In a perfectly constructed battery the discharge would then stop. The only further action which would take place would be the slow evaporation of the water of the electrolyte. The loss of charge which actually occurs in an idle charged battery is greater than that due to the formation of the small amounts of sulphate on the plates, and the evaporation of the water from the electrolyte.

Does an idle cell discharge itself by decomposing its electrolyte? We have a difference of potential of about two volts between the lead and lead peroxide plate. Why is the electrolyte not decomposed by this difference? At first it might seem that the water and acid should be separated into its parts, and hydrogen liberated at the negative plate. As a matter of fact, very little hydrogen gas is set free in an idle charged cell because to do so would require a voltage of about 2.5. At two volts, so little gas is formed that the loss of charge due to it may be neglected entirely.

The greatest loss of charge in an idle battery results from conditions arising from the processes of manufacture, internal troubles, and leakage between terminals. The grids of a cell are an alloy of lead and antimony. These are mixed while in a molten condition, and are then allowed to cool. If the cooling is not done properly, or if a poor grade of antimony is used, the resulting grid is not a uniform mixture of antimony and lead. There will be areas of pure lead, with an air hole here and there. The lack of uniformity in the grid material results in a local discharge in the grid. This causes some loss of charge.

If the active material completely fills the s.p.a.ces between the grids, the acid formed as the cell is charged may not be able to diffuse into the main body of the electrolyte, but forms a small pocket of acid in the plate. This acid will cause a discharge between paste and grid and a coating of lead sulphate forms on the arid, resulting in a certain loss of charge.

In general any metallic impurity in a cell will cause a loss at the lead plate. When a cell is charged, the current causes the metals to deposit on the lead plate. Local cells are formed by the metallic impurity, the lead plate, and the acid, and these tiny cells will discharge completely, causing a loss of charge. This has already been described on page 76.

Another cause of loss of charge in an idle cell is leakage of current between the terminals on the outside of the battery. During charge, the bubbles of gas which escape from the electrolyte carry with them minute quant.i.ties of acid which may deposit on the top of the battery and gradually form a thin conducting layer of electrolyte through which a current will flow from the positive to the negative terminals.

This danger may be avoided by carefully wiping any moisture from the battery. Condensation of moisture from the air, on the top or sides and bottom of a battery will cause the same condition. This will be especially noticeable if a battery is kept in a damp place.

The tendency for crystals of lead to "tree" over from the negative to the positive plates is well known. An idle battery is one in which this action tends to take place. Treeing will occur through the pores of the separators and as there is no flow of electrolyte in or out of the plates, the lead "trees" are not disturbed in their growth. A freshening charge causes this flow to take place, and break up the "trees" which would otherwise gradually short circuit the cells.

Section II

Shop Equipment Shop Methods

CHAPTER 11.

CARE OF THE BATTERY ON THE CAR.

Any man who goes into the battery repair business will gradually learn by experience what equipment he finds necessary for his work. Some men will be able to do good work with comparatively little equipment, while others will require a somewhat elaborate layout.

[Fig 38.]

Fig. 38. Typical Work Room Showing Bench About 34 Inches High, Lead Burning Outfit, Hot Plates for Melting Sealing Compound and Hand Drill-Press for Drilling off Inter-Cell Connectors.

There are some things, however, which are necessary, and the following lists are given to help the repairman select his equipment. The man with limited capital will be unable to buy a complete equipment at the start, but he should add to his equipment as fast as his earnings will permit. The repairman may be able to "get-by" with crude equipment when his business is very small, but to make his business grow he must absolutely have good equipment.

The following list gives the various articles in the order of their importance. The first seven are absolutely necessary, even for the poorest beginner. The others are also essential, but may be bought as soon, as the money begins to come in. Some of the tools must also be bought before opening doors for business, such as the putty knife, screwdrivers, pliers, and so on. Each article, which requires explanation, is described in detail, beginning on page 100.