If the Ah capacity increases on the 2nd cycle, repeat the process until you don't see an increase in Ah. I usually give them two chances, the initial recovery cycle, then one more after a test discharge cycle. Using the same C/20 rate you use for charging is a good baseline. If after a day of 'soaking' the terminal voltage on the battery is above 14V you can try a discharge test on it and see how many Ah the battery is capable of. If after a day it's not drawing current, it's toast. It may start out drawing no current at all, but over time it should slowly rise until it hits the current limit. Connect it to the dead battery and leave it for at least a day. Set the voltage to 20V or so, and the current limit to about C/20 (1/20th of the battery's Ah rating- 350mA for a 7Ah gel). Between 50 and 80% their life remaining is just a few more cycles, less than 50%, the game is over. In practice I've found if a battery can deliver 80% of it's rated Ah, it's worth keeping.
Even if they 'test good' their cycle life is diminished and it won't take many charge-discharge cycles for these batteries to give up. Always look at the date codes, if they're at 5 years or more, walk away. 'Hamfest special' gels that have seen service in UPS's for a few years then left in someone's garage for another few years won't come back no matter what you do. The only time this drastic recovery process works successfully is on relatively new batteries that were accidentally left connected to a load for an extended period. former Computer Tech at Radio Shack Service (1992-2005). If after a day it's not drawing current, it's toast. How long would it take for a car battery to lose charge if it is not connected to anything.
If you have a sealed battery that won't immediately take a charge, it's guaranteed that it's damaged, even if you do recover it. Gel cells (like any other lead acid battery) don't live forever, no matter how well they are cared for. Their most common failure mode is either sulphation from sitting too long in a discharged state, or from a loss of electrolyte due to overcharging. That can be true for wet cell batteries, but gel cells don't do this. > the plates settling at the bottom of the cell > Most cells become shorted due to impurities from > Do you know any tricks to bring a sealed lead acid
Radio Shack and via the Internet from Amazon or.
Light codes for radio shack battery charger 05 windows#
Keeping your HT or cellphone in the car with the windows closed during the summer is a good way to keep the battery companies in business with extra sales. You may also be able to purchase replacement batteries through other suppliers (e.g., Batteries Plus. A little less than that if the weather's really hot. I replace car batteries every four years at most because that's how long they actually last. The "seven year" car batteries never last seven years. I agree trying to push batteries beyond their useful life is silly. He said, "I know you need a watch, so you better buy this watch." I asked him how he knew I needed a watch and he said, "Because if you had a watch, you'd know this is no time to be in this here neighborhood." I bought the watch and was very happy with it. It was late and night, and a bad neighborhood. But I did once buy a watch from a guy selling them on the street. ::Except I won't buy anything at Wal-Mart. That is what I do as it is cheaper to buy a second watch at Wal-Mart than to buy a battery from Radio Shack.