Preface: a practical understanding of lead acid batteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 section one: battery basics and safety about this book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
Lead acid batteries are relatively simple in design. Dissimilar metal plates are immersed in an electrolyte solution consisting of sulfuric acid and water. These are then insulated from each other with a permeable, non-conductive material, which allows the transfer of ions. The transfer of ions occu...
About this book if you’re looking for more than everyday information about batteries, read on. Maybe you’re a retailer, the expert whose battery knowledge and recommendations guide customers every day. Or a service technician or dealer – the person vehicle owners turn to with questions. Or maybe you...
Let’s look first at battery basics: what a battery is and how it works. Lead acid batteries are used as a power source for vehicles that demand a constant and uninterruptible source of energy. Just about every vehicle today does. For example, street motorcycles need lights that operate when the engi...
What’s different? First there’s cranking power: yumicron has more because yumicron batteries boost plate surface area with thin, high-tech separators that make room for two extra plates in each cell. Yumicron also has a special intercell connector that minimizes resistance to further maximize power....
The industry standard for motorcycles, snowmobiles and riding mowers, our conventional battery is anything but conventional. This workhorse is engineered to protect against seepage and corro- sion... Withstand vibration... And deliver high cranking power, even when the weather’s dealing its worst. I...
Sealed vrla sealed vrla (valve regulated lead acid) means a battery that’s per- fect for people who have better things to do than battery mainte- nance! Our permanently sealed vrla battery never needs refilling; however, it still needs periodic charging. Ideal for motorcycles, scoot- ers, atvs, ridi...
As with anything, with batteries you have to know what you’re doing. Batteries can be dangerous. But they don’t have to be if some simple safety precautions are followed. Basically, working with batteries poses two hazards: potentially explosive gases that are given off during charging, and sulfuric...
Selecting the proper battery points to remember ❐ check current applications book or microfiche for right replacement battery. ❐ there may be two or more “right” batteries – choose by performance needs. ❐ double check numbers before activation and installation. High cc model year performance sealed ...
About sensors many of today’s motorcycles use batteries equipped with sensors. They’re either built in the battery, or packed with it. A sensor is a “low fuel” warning light. It tells you when you’re getting low – in this case, on electrolyte. The sensor causes a warning light to flash, signaling th...
3. Let battery stand for at least 30 minutes. Move or gently tap the battery so that any air bubbles between the plates will be expelled. If acid level has fallen, refill with acid to upper level. Note: this is the last time electrolyte should be added, but distilled water should be added as require...
As we mentioned earlier, an electrochemical action within the battery produces electricity. To understand it, let’s look inside a battery again: you’ll see cells made up of lead plates. Some plates are positive charged. Others are negative charged. There’s also the electrolyte – a sulfuric acid solu...
Batteries have a natural tendency to discharge. There are a number of reasons why: self-discharge, high temperatures, drain from electrical accessories on a vehicle, and short trips that aren’t enough to recharge the battery. Self-discharge: self-discharge goes on all the time. It’s a battery fact o...
Let’s see what happens as the two work together to discharge a battery: the battery, starting out 100% charged, has a 30ma discharge rate from electrical accessories on the motorcycle. At an average outdoor temperature of 77°f a lead- antimony battery loses about half its capacity in only 12 days du...
Ampere-hour and cold cranking amps there are two battery ratings you need to know: capacity, or ampere-hour rating, and cold cranking amps, or cold start rating. Ampere-hour rating (in the yuasa applications book it’s abbreviated as ah) is a battery’s ability to deliver current for an extended perio...
4. Check electrolyte level and add distilled water if necessary. Don’t add acid – only water. Before any tests, charge the battery so the water and electrolyte mix. 5. Check the vent tube. Make sure it’s not kinked, pinched or otherwise obstructed. On a motorcycle, it should exit away from the drive...
Battery testing methods of checking battery condition state of syringe digital 5-ball charge hydrometer voltmeter hydrometer 100% charged w/sulfate stop 1.280 12.80v 5 balls floating 100% charged 1.265 12.60v 4 balls floating 75% charged 1.210 12.40v 3 balls floating 50% charged 1.160 12.10v 2 balls...
Chargers and charging there’s a simple rule of thumb about batteries, and if you’re a dealer or a mechanic, you know that people ignore it all the time: for a battery to operate the way it’s supposed to, it has to be fully charged before it’s used... And kept fully charged throughout its life. A cha...
Taper charger: similar to the trickle charger, the automatic taper charger charges at a fixed voltage. As the battery’s voltage increases with the amount of charge, the current drops accordingly. A drawback of both the automatic taper and trickle chargers is speed... They don’t have it. As the chart...
D o n ’t . We don’t recommend it, and here’s why: only the surface area of the batter y plates can be quick charged. A lower current charges the batter y more uniformly. That means better p e r f o r m a n c e . A l s o , e x c e s s i v e c h a r g i n g r a t e s increase the chance of overheating...
21 batteries don’t demand a lot of attention. But not giving your battery the attention it needs can leave you stranded... Or poorer by the cost of a new battery. How often should you maintain a battery? About monthly under usual conditions. However, recharging is necessary when lights get dim, when...
Points to remember ❐ monthly maintenance and testing are a must. ❐ most important: make sure battery is charged and fluid level is correct. ❐ disconnect cables or pull battery for storage. ❐ keep fully charged to prevent sulfation and freezing. Freezing: it shouldn’t bother you – unless a battery is...
Sealed vrla battery construction new generation battery technology vrla batteries… and what makes them special. Features the sealed vrla battery is the battery for vehicles that may be stored for long periods (riding mowers, personal watercraft, or scooters or cycles during the off-season, for examp...
Points to remember ❐ gas recombinant technology produces a more compact battery. ❐ after activation, no need to check electrolyte or add water. ❐ sealing strip is permanently inserted — it’s never removed. ❐ gas is recombined in the battery; there’s no vented gas and vent tube. 24 the basic discharg...
25 ● use only the electrolyte container that comes with the battery. Sealed vrla battery electrolyte is a higher concentration of sulfuric acid. All sealed vrla battery electrolyte containers aren’t the same. Each contains the proper amount of electrolyte for its specific battery. ● always wear plas...
Remember: unlike a conventional battery, the sealed vrla battery won’t be topped off during its life. Never pry off sealing caps: it’s dangerous and damaging. ✘ 4. Check the electrolyte flow. Keep the container in place for 20 minutes or longer until it empties completely. If no air bubbles are comi...
How healthy is your sealed vrla battery? Since a sealed vrla battery is sealed – and the sealing caps are never removed – you won’t be able to check the state of the charge by the old hydrometer-and-specific-gravity test. Rather, use a voltmeter or multimeter to measure dc volt- age. It should be of...
(10 hour rate discharge characteristics) te rminal v oltage (v) 2c 1c 0.6c 0.4c 0.2c 0.1c 28 think about what types of vehicles a sealed vrla battery goes into: most aren’t like the family car, driven day-in, day-out. They’re probably used once in a while, or maybe even stored for weeks or months at...
29 lead-calcium technology definitely slows self-discharge, but a combination of heat and idleness will still drain a sealed vrla battery, like the conventional one. You’ll find step-by-step charging instructions later in this section. Constant self-discharge is a fact of life for all batteries. The...
Charging instructions for newly activated sealed vrla batteries 30 charging a newly activated sealed vrla battery 5 section sealed vrla batteries sealed vrla batteries require an initial charge. If you are using a constant current charger, refer to the standard (std.) charging method printed on the ...
The single most important thing to maintaining a sealed vrla battery is don’t let it sit discharged: keep it fully charged. A sealed vrla motorcycle battery should be kept to near fully charged for peak performance. In fact, it can need charging more often than a car battery because it’s probably no...
32 batteries with voltage below 11.5v may require special equipment and procedures to recharge. In charging an overdischarged battery having a terminal voltage of 11.5v or lower, its internal resistance may be too high to charge at a normal charge voltage. Therefore, it may be necessary to raise the...
Acid sulfuric acid, used to describe the electrolyte or liquid in a cell. Active materials materials in a battery that react chemically to pro- duce electrical energy: they are lead peroxide (positive) and sponge lead (negative). Activation making a dry cell func- tional by adding electrolyte. Agm a...
Cast-on strap a multiple connec- tor that had been cast onto the plates directly in a combination mold/burn- ing jig; contrasts with burning of plates and prefabricated straps. Cathode an electrode through which current leaves any non-metallic conductor. Specifically, an electrolytic cathode is an e...
Dry charged battery plates that have been subjected to the dry charg- ing process. Dry charging manufacturing process in which tank-formed battery plates are washed free of acid and then dried. Efficiency the ratio of the output of a cell or battery to the input required to restore the initial state...
Hydrometer a device used to mea- sure density or specific gravity of elec- trolyte solutions. Hydroset curing process for plates that oxidizes the lead paste, reducing free lead to a few percent of total. Initial voltage the closed circuit voltage at the beginning of a dis- charge. It is usually mea...
Negative terminal the terminal from which current flows through the external circuit to the positive terminal when the cell discharges. Ohm a unit of electrical resistance. Oil of vitriol concentrated commer- cial sulfuric acid, abbreviated ov or o.V. Open circuit the state of a battery when not con...
Short circuit current the current that flows when the two terminals of a cell or battery are inadvertently con- nected to each other. Side terminal sli battery design with two through-the-container current connections on one side instead of two posts on top. Sli battery a battery for automotive use ...
Volt efficiency the ratio of the average voltage of a cell or battery during discharge to the average volt- age during subsequent recharge. Voltage the difference in electrical potential that exists between the ter- minals of a cell or battery or any two points of an electrical circuit. Voltage rang...
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