Why is lead used in a storage battery?

Can a 5 Yr Old/Brand New Sealed Lead Acid12v Deep Cycle Battery be Revitalized?

• These battereys were specifically made for solar storage by the Power Battery Company and have the terminals for that application. They are 85 amps and supposedly about 5 years old. They were purchased brand new with the factory charge and sat on wood shelves and never used. They have 6 round vent caps, are bright red, weigh about 40 to 45lbs and look brand new. I tried a trickle charge for 3 days and it didnt work I popped off the caps and found that about 2/3 to 3/4 of the liquid had evaporated.The lead inside the battery was very clean wit no visible buildup - I topped them off with water and again the trickle did not work.Can these batterys be salvaged or are they junk? What about changing the electrolyte?

• Answer:

  Hi houndogman... In addition to brix24-ga's lengthy comment, let me refer you to Bill Darden's extensive website on 'CAR AND DEEP CYCLE BATTERY FAQ': http://www.batteryfaq.org/ As to the specifics, the main cause (repeated 3 times) of premature battery failure is: "Water Loss! (Car) and Sulfation! (for batteries not used weekly)" "Sulfation from water loss, undercharging, electrolyte stratification, excessive temperatures or prolonged periods of non-use account for approximately 85% of the deep cycle and starting battery failures that are not used weekly, vehicle charging systems based on driving habits (short trips with high loads leaving the battery constantly undercharged)." Water loss can occur even in sealed "maintenance-free" batteries, so refillable batteries are recommended in hot climates. Much more on the page: http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/carfaq12.htm "16.1. How Can I Tell If my Battery Has Permanent Sulfation?" "Chances are that your battery has some permanent sulfation, if it will not 'take' or 'hold' a charge and exhibits one or more of the following conditions: - If your wet (flooded) Standard (Sb/Sb) or wet (flooded) Low Maintenance (Sb/Ca) battery has been not been recharged for over three months, especially if the temperature in the storage area was consistently over 77 degrees F (25 degrees C). (Six months for wet Maintenance Free (Ca/Ca) or one year for VRLA AGM or Gel Cell.) - While recharging in a well ventilated area, the ammeter does not drop to below 2% (C/50) of the twice the amp hour capacity of the battery divided by the charging rate in hours and the battery is warm or hot. For example, if you have a 50 AH battery and a ten amp charger, a discharged battery should be fully charged within 10 hours (2 x 50 AH/10 amps = 10 hours). - If the Specific Gravity is low in all cells after the battery been on a charger for a long time. - If the temperature compensated absorption charging voltage is correct and the battery is gassing or boiling excessively. - Poor performance or low capacity. - When the SoC measured by a hydrometer, which is more accurate, does not materially agree with the SoC measured by a digital voltmeter" Much more on the page: http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden//carfaq16.htm#sulfation 16.3. How do I recover sulfated batteries? http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden//carfaq16.htm#recover Finally: "I will be happy to try and answer your lead-acid battery and charging questions. Historically, over 80% of the questions I receive have already been answered in the FAQ posted on this Web site, so please check it first. Some of the e-mails I receive do not have a valid return address, so please inclose a valid "Reply To:" e-mail address in your message and include a "Subject:" that will not be blocked by your spam filter or firewall. All e-mail received with a virus, spam or worm will be automatically deleted. For comments, suggestions, broken link notifications or questions, please e-mail Bill Darden at [email protected] or [email protected]" http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/ I learned of this excellent site by way of researching a previous question. Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog established through the "Request for Clarification" process. sublime1-ga