If I purchase a battery which has never had the acid installed will it last in new condition for 5 or more years untill the acid is added?Anyone please?Thanks.
Battery shelf life?
- Thread starter jdaniels
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BakerBoy
It's all small stuff.
Storing dry should have little influence on the battery life, as long as acid has never been added and the cells caps were kept sealed. Lead is a stable element, the neg plate is lead, the positive plate is lead dioxide. I suspect that lead dioxide may break down a bit with water vapor, but I don't know for sure (I'm not a battery engineer).
Doesn't Battery Plus use this 'model' with their batteries (ie, ship dry, store on the shelf, then add acid upon sale)?
A couple descent technology overviews, each geared to their own interests of course:
http://yuasabatteries.com/pdfs/TechMan.pdf
http://www.batteryweb.com/manuals/techman.pdf
-John
Tucmoto ships acid separate from the battery and you install it yourself.
I don't see any reason a sealed, unfilled battery would degrade...
Mark
I don't see any reason a sealed, unfilled battery would degrade...
Mark
Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
I can't say a properly-packaged battery will last forever, but as long as the innards of the battery aren't exposed to a lot of air or contaminants and the acid is still in the bottle, it should be fine. If you've got one that old on the shelf, pull it out, charge it up and see how it does. The worst case is that you'll have to replace it. If the battery as for your ST, you've got the wrong type of battery. The charging system is designed for AGM, not conventional flooded cell.
BM: What does 9/11 have to do with it? How would shipping a battery with the acid inside or in a separate container make a difference?
--Mark
BM: What does 9/11 have to do with it? How would shipping a battery with the acid inside or in a separate container make a difference?
--Mark
Agreed,
What causes a battery to degrade/die is periods of low or uncharged condition, dry will last a long time, wet and on a trickle charge will do the same, you know how the rest of the variables fair lol.
Indeed ... but I ask you this question; why does a middle-aged married housewife have to have her Christmas gift (butane cigarette lighter) confiscated by the inspectors at the airport? Are they seeing allot on middle-aged housewives as a threat?
Many agencies are doing performing "knee-jerk" reactions since 9/11 .... this battery dilemma wouldn't surprise me in the least.
Cheers!
Bill
Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
I ask myself and others that question almost daily and have yet to find a satisfactory answer.
--Mark
Yes you can. I just got 2 YTX14 BS batteries from Tucmoto that had to activated. Funny, I tried to order the same batteries from Zanotti and was told that they could not ship them??
I ask myself and others that question almost daily and have yet to find a satisfactory answer.
--Mark
Because since no one is allowed to actually look at a person and use their own opinion as to whether a person might be a threat (that would be profiling) we must all be subjected to the same restrictive rules.
You may thank the ACLU for this...
Mark
Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
Those rules were in place long before 2001 and are there for the safety of passengers in commercial planes being used to ship hazardous cargo. Shippers will accept batteries which have been filled and sealed because battery housings are far more resistant to damage than the thin plastic bottles the acid is delivered in.
If you bought a battery for your ST, they're sealed by the manufacturer during production.
--Mark
As I said in my previous post, I just (last month) got 2 Yuasa YTX14 BS GMT batteries for an ST1100, shipped UPS, from Tucmoto and the were NOT sealed from the factory. The electrolyte was included in the same box, in a separate container. I had to fill the batteries and install the seals myself. They also have the YTZ14S for the ST1300 which is apparently factory sealed. Obviously there is some discrepancy here.
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Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
I had it in my head that the battery on the 1100 was a sealed AGM battery. If it's a flooded type, I stand corrected. If it was shipped UPS ground, those rules don't apply.
I once had to ship two quarts of highly pure methyl alcohol to a remote place where it wasn't otherwise available, and the only way to get it there was by air. The cost of adding the stuff to a much larger shipment was about $750. I think the alcohol cost about $7.50.
--Mark
You are correct, it is. I misspoke when I said GMT. I have two of them on my bench right now. One I have activated and one not. I also have the same type of battery in my VF1100S (but it's twice as big!) Had to activate that one too.
http://www.tucmoto.com/page/TMS/PROD/STOC/YU404045
The normal AGM no maintenance batteries are activated separately, but you are not supposed to open then up after. The other type (newer Yuasa, Deka etc) are sealed from the factory.
Very correct. I saw a few years ago someone who activated a 12V from a 1975 Goldwing that they had bought in the crate. It was over 30 years on that one and have heard that some old 6V on old Harleys spark up once the electrolite has been added.
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Are you sure about this? Wet flooded and AGM batteries have similar charging needs so I don't think this is true. AGMS are more tolerate to high charge current and fast charging compared to wet lead acid but the end point voltage is still 14.1 to 14.4 volts for both. Cheaper chargers that offer switchable charge profiles usually lump wet flooded and AGM together for these reasons. It is gel batteries that can be damaged when charging to AGM and wet lead acid voltages because they are not tolerate to fast charging and need end point voltage limited to 14.1 volts max. Overheat and bubble the gelled electrolyte inside and a gel battery is toast. You can take AGMS and wet cell batteries to higher voltages without damage if the amps are limited. That is how you equalize the cells in deep cycle batteries. Any submariners or cruising sailors here?
Think of AGM batteries as a wet lead acid battery with the spaces between the plates filled with a foam or fiberglass media that holds the electrolyte. That's how you can fill a dry inactive one with electrolyte at any future time.