Battery Basics

How Do Lead Acid Batteries Work?

Lead Acid batteries have changed little since the 1880's although improvements in
materials and manufacturing methods continue to bring improvements in energy
density, life and reliability. All lead acid batteries consist of flat lead plates immersed in a
pool of electrolyte. Regular water addition is required for most types of lead acid
batteries although low-maintenance types come with excess electrolyte calculated to
compensate for water loss during a normal lifetime.

Battery Construction
Lead acid batteries used in the RV and Marine Industries usually consist of two 6-volt
batteries in series, or a single 12-volt battery. These batteries are constructed of several
single cells connected in series each cell produces approximately 2.1 volts. A six-volt
battery has three single cells, which when fully charged produce an output voltage of
6.3 volts. A twelve-volt battery has six single cells in series producing a fully charged
output voltage of 12.6 volts.

A battery cell consists of two lead plates a positive plate covered with a paste of lead
dioxide and a negative made of sponge lead, with an insulating material (separator) in
between. The plates are enclosed in a plastic battery case and then submersed in an
electrolyte consisting of water and sulfuric acid (see figure # 1). Each cell is capable of
storing 2.1 volts.

In order for lead acid cell to produce a voltage, it must first receive a (forming) charge
voltage of at least 2.1-volts/cell from a charger. Lead acid batteries do not generate
voltage on their own; they only store a charge from another source. This is the reason
lead acid batteries are called storage batteries, because they only store a charge. The
size of the battery plates and amount of electrolyte determines the amount of charge
lead acid batteries can store. The size of this storage capacity is described as the amp
hour (AH) rating of a battery. A typical 12-volt battery used in a RV or marine craft has a
rating 125 AH, which means it can supply 10 amps of current for 12.5 hours or 20-amps
of current for a period of 6.25 hours. Lead acid batteries can be connected in parallel to
increase the total AH capacity.
In figure # 2 below, six single 2.1-volt cells have been connected in series to make the
typical 12-volt battery, which when fully charged will produce a total voltage of 12.6-
volts.

Lead Acid Battery Discharge Cycle

In figure # 3, above a fully charged battery is connected to a load (light bulb) and the
chemical reaction between sulfuric acid and the lead plates produces the electricity to
light the bulb. This chemical reaction also begins to coat both positive and negative
plates with a substance called lead sulfate also known as sulfation (shown as a yellow
build-up on plates). This build-up of lead sulfate is normal during a discharge cycle. As
the battery continues to discharge, lead sulfate coats more and more of the plates and
battery voltage begins to decrease from fully charged state of 12.6-volts (figure # 4).

In figure # 5 the battery is now fully discharged, the plates are almost completely
covered with lead sulfate (sulfation) and voltage has dropped to 10.5-volts.
NOTE: Discharging a lead acid battery below 10.5 volts will severely damage it!

Lead sulfate (sulfation) now coats most of the battery plates. Lead sulfate is a soft
material, which can is reconverted back into lead and sulfuric acid, provided the
discharged battery is immediately connected to a battery charger. If a lead acid battery
is not immediately recharged, the lead sulfate will begin to form hard crystals, which can
not be reconverted by a standard fixed voltage (13.6 volts) battery converter/charger.
NOTE: Always recharge your RV or Marine battery as soon as possible to prevent loss
of battery capacity due to the build-up of hard lead sulfate crystals!
Lead Acid Battery Recharge Cycle
The most important thing to understand about recharging lead acid batteries is that a
converter/charger with a single fixed output voltage will not properly recharge or
maintain your battery. Proper recharging and maintenance requires an intelligent
charging system that can vary the charging voltage based on the state of charge and
use of your RV or Marine battery. Progressive Dynamics has developed intelligent
charging systems that solve battery problems and reduce battery maintenance.

The discharged battery shown in figure # 6 on the next page is connected to a

converter/charger with its output voltage set at 13.6-volts. In order to recharge a 12-volt
lead acid battery with a fully charged terminal voltage of 12.6-volts, the charger voltage
must be set at a higher voltage. Most converter/chargers on the market are set at
approximately 13.6-volts. During the battery recharge cycle lead sulfate
(sulfation) begins to reconvert to lead and sulfuric acid.
During the recharging process as electricity flows through the water portion of the
electrolyte and water, (H2O) is converted into its original elements, hydrogen and
oxygen. These gasses are very flammable and the reason your RV or Marine batteries
must be vented outside. Gassing causes water loss and therefore lead acid batteries
need to have water added periodically. Sealed lead acid batteries contain most of these
gasses allowing them to recombine into the electrolyte. If the battery is overcharged
pressure from these gasses will cause relief caps to open and vent, resulting in some
water loss. Most sealed batteries have extra electrolyte added during the manufacturing
process to compensate for some water loss.

The battery shown in figure # 7 above has been fully recharged using a fixed charging
voltage of 13.6-volts. Notice that some lead sulfate (sulfation) still remains on the plates.
This build-up will continue after each recharging cycle and gradually the battery will
begin to loose capacity to store a full charge and eventually must be replaced. Lead
sulfate build up is reduced if battery is given an Equalizing Charge once every 10
discharge cycles or at least once a month. An Equalizing Chargeincreases charging
voltage to 14.4 volts or higher for a short period. This higher voltage causes gassing
that equalizes (re-mixes) the electrolyte solution.
Since most RV and Marine craft owners seldom remember to perform this function,
Progressive Dynamics has developed the microprocessor controlled Charge Wizard.
The Charge Wizard will automatically provide an Equalizing Charge every 21 hours for a
period of 15 minutes, when the battery is fully charged and not in use. Our 2000 Series
of Marine Battery Chargers have the Charge Wizard feature built-in.
One disadvantage of recharging a lead acid battery at a fixed voltage of 13.6-volts is the
recharge time is very long. A typical 125-AH RV or Marine battery will take
approximately 80 hours to recharge at 13.6 volts. Increasing the charge voltage to 14.4-
volts will reduce battery recharge time for a 125-AH battery to 3-4 hours. Once a battery
reaches 90% of full charge, thevoltage must be reduced from 14.4-volts to 13.6-volts to
reduce gassing and water loss. The optional Charge Wizardautomatically senses when
a battery has a very low state of charge and automatically selects its BOOST MODE of
operation. BOOST MODE increases the voltage of a PD9100 Series converter/charger to
14.4 volts. When the battery reaches the 90% charge level, the Charge
Wizard automatically reduces the charge voltage down to 13.6 volts to complete the
charge. Again, this is a standard feature on our Marine Chargers.
Another disadvantage of recharging a lead acid battery at a fixed voltage of 13.6-volts is
that once it is fully charged, 13.6 volts will cause considerable gassing and water loss.
To prevent this from occurring the charging voltage must be reduced to 13.2-volts. The
Charge Wizard will automatically select its STORAGE MODE of operation (13.2-volts)
once the battery reaches full charge and remains unused for a period of 30 hours. This
feature is standard on all of Progressive Dynamics Marine Battery Chargers.

At a charging voltage of 13.2 volts, the converter/charger will maintain a full charge,
reduce gassing and water loss. However, this lower voltage does not provide enough
gassing to prevent a battery condition called Battery Stratification. Battery
Stratification is caused by the fact that the electrolyte in the battery is a mixture of water
and acid and, like all mixtures, one component, the acid, is heavier than water.
Therefore, acid will begin to settle and concentrate at the bottom of the battery (see
figure #8).

This higher concentration of acid at the bottom of the battery causes additional build-up
of lead sulfate (sulfation), which reduces battery storage capacity and battery life. In
order to prevent Battery Stratification, an Equalization Charge(increasing charging
voltage to 14.4-volts) must be applied periodically. The Charge Wizard automatically
selects its EQUALIZATION MODE (14.4 volts) every 21 hours for a period of 15
minutes. This Equalizing Charge feature is standard on our Marine chargers.
As you have learned, in order to properly charge and maintain a lead acid battery you
must use an intelligent charging system. Progressive Dynamics, Inteli-Power 9100
Series RV converters with a Charge Wizard installed, or one of our Inteli-Power Marine
Battery Chargers will provide the intelligent charging system your battery needs for a
long life, with low maintenance.
Answers to Common Questions about
Batteries
 
1Do lead acid batteries discharge when not in use?
All batteries, regardless of their chemistry, will self-discharge. The rate of self-discharge
for lead acid batteries depends on the storage or operating temperature. At a
temperature of 80 degrees F. a lead acid battery will self-discharge at a rate of
approximately 4% a week. A battery with a 125-amp hour rating would self-discharge at
a rate of approximately five amps per week. Keeping this in mind if a 125 AH battery is
stored for four months (16 weeks) winter without being charged, it will loose 80 amps of
its 125-amp capacity. It will also have severe sulfation, which causes additional loss of
capacity. Keep your batteries charged while not in use!
……………………………………..x……………………………x……………………………………..x…………………………………………………

 Floating Charger is used to maintain the battery voltage. It charges the

battery as similar rate of battery discharge. Example Now battery is
draining two ampere means the charger supplies 2 amperes of current.
if the battery voltage is full then the battery stops supplying current.
Like that floating charger works. At that same time Float voltage is the
voltage at which a battery is maintained after being fully charged to
maintain that capacity by compensating for self-discharge of the
battery
 Charging rate is Slow
 Mainly used to avoid over charging of battery.
 Battery chargers may stop when the battery is full. A float charger
senses when a battery voltage is at the appropriate float level and
temporarily ceases charging; it maintains the charge current at zero or
a very minimal level until it senses that the battery output voltage has
fallen, and then resumes charging
 The output voltage of the float charging is low as compared with
boosting charging.
 A float charger may be kept connected indefinitely without damaging
the battery.
 It needs soft start arrangement to avoid high initial Float current
resulting from restoration of main A.C. supply.
 It will have separate transformer, rectifier and controls etc.

Also Know About:   Electrical Panel & Types of Electrical Panels used

In Industry

Get More Electrical Concept And Interview Questions By Using This Link 
Boost Charging:

 Boost charger is used to charge the battery from zero current to

full current. which means the charger supplies, high current to the
battery. Example Now we need to charge a 12 V 100 AH battery means
with 200 Amps FLA charger means, the charger delivers maximum
allowable current to the battery, hence the battery charges fastly.
 Charging rate is high, typically full load capacity of the charger,
 During emergency when A. C. supply fails, the battery shall meet
the DC Load. Battery will be discharged after catering the load and it
will require boost charging to charge the battery immediately when
the battery working on high load requirement.
 The output voltage is high, since the battery draw high amount of
current from the charger.
 Boost charger ensures that while boost charging if AC supply fails
there shall not be any break in DC supply to load. Since this is a No
Break Power Supply System.
 It does not require to be in online continuously.

Also Know About:   Why we should not give dc supply to Transformer

Get More Electrical Concept And Interview Questions By Using This Link 

Trickle charger:

 Charging a fully battery charged battery as the rate of discharging is

called trickle charger.
 Only difference between floating charger and trickle charger is that
the floating charger has circuitry to prevent battery overcharging.
Remaining all are same as the floating