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...
Forum Discussion
Gjac,
The short answer is no.
The self discharge of a typical Lead/Acid battery is only a function of that batteries leakage rate. It has little to do with the actual capacity of that battery (cell). While it is necessarily true that high leakage (low leakage resistance) does indicate a battery in poor condition, I have seen batteries that had lost a great deal of their original capacity but still had acceptable leakage. So, the short answer is no.
A golf cart battery is a true deep cycle. It will have a terminal voltage at rest that may be less than an automotive battery's 12.6V. In your case, that bank has been sitting unattended for 2 months and is now at 12.48. I don't care where it started but that is good.
I did electric work on boats before the depression and one of my standard recommendations for boats stored for the winter was that the owner get (or I could get and he could pay me to set up) a small (5w) solar panel. This is enough to overcome the leakage of any bank that is still in serviceable condition.
Matt
The short answer is no.
The self discharge of a typical Lead/Acid battery is only a function of that batteries leakage rate. It has little to do with the actual capacity of that battery (cell). While it is necessarily true that high leakage (low leakage resistance) does indicate a battery in poor condition, I have seen batteries that had lost a great deal of their original capacity but still had acceptable leakage. So, the short answer is no.
A golf cart battery is a true deep cycle. It will have a terminal voltage at rest that may be less than an automotive battery's 12.6V. In your case, that bank has been sitting unattended for 2 months and is now at 12.48. I don't care where it started but that is good.
I did electric work on boats before the depression and one of my standard recommendations for boats stored for the winter was that the owner get (or I could get and he could pay me to set up) a small (5w) solar panel. This is enough to overcome the leakage of any bank that is still in serviceable condition.
Matt
