Battery Self Discharge
Would the rate at which a battery self discharges be a way of determining the health of a battery? I have (2) 7 year old Sam's Club GC batteries that have been sitting without charge(battery disconnec...
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The majority and I am talking about 90+% of the cases of advanced age accelerated self-discharge is caused by antimonial poisoning of the negative plates.
Self discharge is a specific symptom. The symptom is loss of charge with the ability to take a recharge and restore a good percentage of the storage capacity of the battery.
This is easily confused with self-discharge of a battery that has little capacity remaining in it, regardless of the state of charge.
By itself rate of self-discharge is limited in it's value to determine a battery's state of health. But it is definitely a component of the array of tests used in testing a battery.
Poisoned batteries gas at a much lower voltage, can use 5-times the water of a new battery and of course self discharge. The rate of discharge can approach phenomenal levels. I have seen badly poisoned batteries lose 60% state of charge in an month's time.
Self discharge is a specific symptom. The symptom is loss of charge with the ability to take a recharge and restore a good percentage of the storage capacity of the battery.
This is easily confused with self-discharge of a battery that has little capacity remaining in it, regardless of the state of charge.
By itself rate of self-discharge is limited in it's value to determine a battery's state of health. But it is definitely a component of the array of tests used in testing a battery.
Poisoned batteries gas at a much lower voltage, can use 5-times the water of a new battery and of course self discharge. The rate of discharge can approach phenomenal levels. I have seen badly poisoned batteries lose 60% state of charge in an month's time.
