Introduction to Battery - Battery Tutorial

The commercial use of the lead acid battery is over 100 years old. The same chemical principal is being used to create energy that our Great, Great, Grandparents may have used.

If you can grasp the basics you will have fewer battery problems and will gain greater battery performance, reliability, and longevity. I suggest you read the entire tutorial, however I have indexed all the information for a quick read and easy reference.

A battery is like a piggy bank. If you keep taking out and putting nothing back you soon will have nothing.

Present day chassis battery power requirements are huge. Look at today’s vehicle and all the electrical devices that must be supplied. Electronics require a source of reliable power. Poor battery condition can cause expensive electronic component failure. Did you know that the average auto has 11 pounds of wire in the electrical system? Look at RVs and boats with all the electrical gadgets that require power. I can remember when a trailer or motor home had a single 12-volt house battery. Today it is standard to have 2 or more house batteries powering inverters up to 4000 watts.

Average battery life has become shorter as energy requirements have increased. Life span depends on usage; 6 months to 48 months, yet only 30% of all batteries actually reach the 48-month mark. A Few Basics The Lead Acid battery is made up of plates, lead, and lead oxide (various other elements are used to change density, hardness, porosity, etc.) with a 35% sulphuric acid and 65% water solution. This solution is called electrolyte which causes a chemical reaction that produce electrons. When you test a battery with a hydrometer you are measuring the amount of sulphuric acid in the electrolyte. If your reading is low, that means the chemistry that makes electrons is lacking. So where did the sulphur go? It is resting to the battery plates and when you recharge the battery the sulphur returns to the electrolyte.

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