Gdetrailer wrote:StirCrazy wrote:Gdetrailer wrote:Lwiddis wrote:
Two and a quarter gallons of water for topping off six batteries?
Or way overfilled them..
I only need to add 18 oz for my pair of 6V GC2s (about 3 oz per cell) once per yr which gets the water level to just below (IE not touching) the plastic fill rings..
If you are filling until the water touches or is higher than the bottom of the fill rings you are way over filling.
Basically you only want to have enough water to cover the plates, but not touch the fill rings.
Anything higher up the fill rings results in electrolyte being boiled out at a higher rate which then coats the tops of the battery with acid fumes which attacks your connections.
My first set of GC2 gave me 9 yrs of service, never had to clean or grease the terminals. As those batteries aged, they did use a bit more water, maybe 4 oz per cell at yr 9.
weird, I was always told to fill them to the bottom of the tube but not to block off the slots. mine lasted 15 years doing that, but I topped them off 4 times a year and they did use more water towards the end.
It's called "headroom".
Gives more open space for any electrolyte that may be bubbling or boiling to not find it's way up into the tube and ultimately to the cap.
If you fill it until it is touching the bottom of the tube, the splashes or even bubbles that happen within the tube will break inside the tube. Resulting in fine mist of electrolyte (acid) within the tube and ultimately on the underside of the cap. Any slight pressure build up inside the cell can force the fine electrolyte mist into the cap and ultimately is forced outside into the air around the battery.
The distance between the tops of the plates and the bottom of the tubes allows for more temperature expansion and contraction of the electrolyte with less acid vapor being released. The acid vapors have much more area to condense and drop back into the liquid.
Here is a photo I took of my current batteries 2yrs after I installed them..
Terminals stay clean, never had any corrosion issues under the terminals. There isn't any grease or sprays on those terminals to seal them.
Those are a replacement set of batteries, the first set gave me 9yrs but still had capacity left, they power my home fridge conversion and I didn't want to take a chance that 9 yr old batteries might not have quite enough life left for my use. I suspect that I could have easily gotten 11-12 yrs but my food safety comes first.
There is no hard set rule that says one must fill up to the bottom of the tube..
But there is one rule that needs to be followed, never let the electrolyte fall below the tops of the plates.. Just need enough over top of the plates that prevents the plates from ever being exposed to air.
ya thats what mine looked like after almost 16 years, the slots up the sides of the tubes are to prevent what you are talking about, I was taught to always fill it to the very bottom of the tube but to never go higher or cover the slots. this could be wrong but it gave you a consistant way to judge your level and I have been doing it for 40 years now.. well aside from in my camper it is LFP now haha, but the 5th is still CG2
StirCrazy wrote:Gdetrailer wrote:Lwiddis wrote:
Two and a quarter gallons of water for topping off six batteries?
Or way overfilled them..
I only need to add 18 oz for my pair of 6V GC2s (about 3 oz per cell) once per yr which gets the water level to just below (IE not touching) the plastic fill rings..
If you are filling until the water touches or is higher than the bottom of the fill rings you are way over filling.
Basically you only want to have enough water to cover the plates, but not touch the fill rings.
Anything higher up the fill rings results in electrolyte being boiled out at a higher rate which then coats the tops of the battery with acid fumes which attacks your connections.
My first set of GC2 gave me 9 yrs of service, never had to clean or grease the terminals. As those batteries aged, they did use a bit more water, maybe 4 oz per cell at yr 9.
weird, I was always told to fill them to the bottom of the tube but not to block off the slots. mine lasted 15 years doing that, but I topped them off 4 times a year and they did use more water towards the end.
It's called "headroom".
Gives more open space for any electrolyte that may be bubbling or boiling to not find it's way up into the tube and ultimately to the cap.
If you fill it until it is touching the bottom of the tube, the splashes or even bubbles that happen within the tube will break inside the tube. Resulting in fine mist of electrolyte (acid) within the tube and ultimately on the underside of the cap. Any slight pressure build up inside the cell can force the fine electrolyte mist into the cap and ultimately is forced outside into the air around the battery.
The distance between the tops of the plates and the bottom of the tubes allows for more temperature expansion and contraction of the electrolyte with less acid vapor being released. The acid vapors have much more area to condense and drop back into the liquid.
Here is a photo I took of my current batteries 2yrs after I installed them..
Terminals stay clean, never had any corrosion issues under the terminals. There isn't any grease or sprays on those terminals to seal them.
Those are a replacement set of batteries, the first set gave me 9yrs but still had capacity left, they power my home fridge conversion and I didn't want to take a chance that 9 yr old batteries might not have quite enough life left for my use. I suspect that I could have easily gotten 11-12 yrs but my food safety comes first.
There is no hard set rule that says one must fill up to the bottom of the tube..
But there is one rule that needs to be followed, never let the electrolyte fall below the tops of the plates.. Just need enough over top of the plates that prevents the plates from ever being exposed to air.
