LMLA BATTERY SERVICE GUIDELINES.

INITIAL FILLING & CHARGING (IFC)

General requirement The battery room should be clean, dry & cool, with proper lighting & ventilation. Batteries to be cleaned before initial filling. Matching constant current charger, should be available capable to supply requisite volt & amps. Sufficient quantity of battery grade sulphuric acid conforming to be 266 & battery grade water conforming to be 1069 should be available. Some stock of 1.400sp.gravity sulphuric acids also to be made available for adjustment after full charging, if required. Dont use the blind plugs supplied with batteries. Keep the vent plugs loose in position, to avoid explosions. Caution: do not use any metallic vessel, only use plastic vessel & protective wears. Never take open flame near cells. Never connect the cable loosely with the cells / batteries to avoid sparks & chance of explosion / melting. Making dilute Acid : If dilute acid prepared from concentrated acid at site, care to be taken. Do not use wooden or any other metal stirrer but to use plastic/lead lined wood only to avoid contamination. Compressed air can be used for mixing but care should be taken. The acid to be used after cooling, sp. Gravity corrected to 27c. Use acid fill pump or siphoning with spring loaded control lever trap, during acid filling to avoid spillage and surface / earth leakage.

Acid Filling Procedure: The battery physically for any damages/visible cracks and cleaned prior to filling of acid. Check the sp. Gravity of acid of all the jerry cans corrected to 27c prior to filling. Pour cool dilute battery grade sulphuric acid up to the max. level by acid fill pump, siphoning pipe or with funnel & jug carefully. Do not over fill to avoid spillage.

Polarity check & Rest period Procedure: Just after acid filling, to check polarity of the cells by checking the voltage of all the cells, if any cell wrongly reverses assembled. The voltage observed is not that important at this point. Also check for any leakage visible after filling. Allow 12 hours rest for the cooling; allow the plates & separators to soak acid, but not more than 24 hours. Top up again with acid, same as filling- in sp. Gravity.

Putting on First Charge Procedure: Use only DC constant current charger only for initial charging of batteries. Ensure the charger in working condition and capable of supplying requisite volt & amps required for the batteries to be charged. Take care of polarity and connect the pos. Terminal of batteries with the pos. & neg. Terminal with neg. Of the charger, respectively. Charging may be done in 2 steps or single step. In our tropical country advisable to charge in single step, specially in summer - For 2 step charging the initial current to be 10% of the C10 capacity of battery up to 2.40 VPC and followed by 5% of the C10 rated capacity of the battery up to 2.60 to 2.75 VPC. (For 500Ah battery 50 amps & 25 amps respectively). - For single step charging, the battery to be charged continuously at the current 6% of the C10 rated capacity of the battery up to 2.60 to 2.75 VPC, till the end of charging e.g. 30 amps for a 500 Ah battery till end.

Condition of Fully Charged Procedure:

To continue DC charging at constant current till the following conditions of fully charged cells are observed:

No rise of voltage for 3 to 4 consecutive hourly readings, after reaching 2.60 to 2.75 VPC. No rise of sp.Gravity for 3 to 4 consecutive hourly readings, after reaching 2.60 to 2.75 VPC. Theoretical Ah input to be kept at the back of the mind- the input to be approx. 4.5 to 5 times of the Ah capacity of the battery i.e. For a 500 Ah battery the total Ah input to be 2250 Ah to 2500 Ah. (approx.time 75 to 85 hours). Checks & Records during charging Procedure: The electrolyte temperature should not be allowed to increase beyond 50c, during charging if the temperature goes above 50c, the charging to be suspended till the temp. of electrolyte comes down to 40 c, and then only start the charging again. Record the readings of sp. Gravity, voltage and the electrolyte temp. of cells, initially every 4 hourly and every hourly, after the cell voltage reaches 2.4 VPC.

First C10 Capacity test Procedure:

After fully charging, give a rest period of 12 hours for cooling & settling but not more than 24 hours.

Connect the batteries with suitable load and conduct C10 capacity test at constant current, up to end voltage 0f 1.85 VPC e.g. For a 500 Ah battery at 50 amps for 10 hours. Take hourly readings and record the volt, sp. Gr.& electrolyte temp. Of all cells. If any cell voltage comes to 1.85 volt before 10 hours, the cell to be recharged / checked and replaced if required before taking for commissioning. Recharge after C10 Capacity test Procedure: Recharge the batteries immediately after discharge by constant current charging at 6% of the rated Ah capacity of the battery up to 2.60 to 2.75 VPC, till the batteries are fully charged- i.e. All cells are gassing freely, constant voltage, constant sp. Gr., theoretically min 130% Ah input to be given, when 100% of Ah taken out during discharge. Adjustment of Sp. Gravity Procedure: After batteries are fully charged, the sp. Gravity of the electrolyte of all cells to be adjusted to the service gravity. If sp. Gravity in cells more than service gravity corrected to 27C. Take out acid and add battery grade water, when on charge for proper mixing. If the sp. Gravity of the cells less than the service gravity at 27C take out acid and add 1.400 sp. Gr. Acid. on charge for proper mixing. After adjustment of the specific gravity, continue the charging for 1- 2 hours for proper mixing of the electrolyte. Stop the charging and allow the batteries to cool, before commissioning.

The normal failure modes of lead - acid batteries

Sulphation in cells : Over discharge Allowing a battery to stand idle Starvation

 Allowing electrolyte to fall below the top of plates Impurities Adding acid instead of water during normal service life. Buckling of plates : Over discharge Continued operation with battery in starved condition Charging at high rates Non- uniform distribution of current over the plates, due to repeated deep discharge Shedding of active materials : Normal shedding Excessive charging rate, or overcharging Charging sulphated plates at too high rate Charging only a part of the plate Deep discharge battery on normal charge. Container trouble : Rough handling: any storage battery to be handled as if made of glass, though the containers made with hard rubber, SAN or FRP. Heavy batteries should be handled by more than one person or by mechanical handling and not to be dropped / dragged. This will lead container crack/ damage. Explosion in cell: may cause due to open flame, electrical sparks and clogged vent holes.

Terminals/ connector corrosion : Too much topping water added to cells Battery poorly sealed Loose vent caps / float guide Electrolyte spillage Battery cable damaged, or loose Connecting bare wires directly to battery terminals. Loose terminal connections Non-application or renewal of petroleum jelly for protection.

Loss of capacity : Impurities in the electrolyte Sulphation Loose active materials Incorrect proportions of acid and water in the electrolyte Separators clogged Shedding Low level of electrolyte Effect of age Internal short circuit : Worn out separators Lead run Foreign material Accumulation of sediment Reversal of plates : Assembling of the cell in reverse direction. Charging a battery in wrong direction. Lagging / defective cell in battery bank will be reversed if not taken care in time Earth / surface leakage in battery : Over filling of battery water. Careless hydrometer use, spillage of electrolyte. Careless acid filling during initial filling & charging. High sp. Gravity of electrolyte : Over filling of battery water. Low sp. Gravity of electrolyte High level of electrolyte Low level electrolyte Impurities.

The importance of equalizing charge.

To ensure that every cell in a battery bank is maintained in healthy state to give enhanced life & performance it is advisable to give equalizing charge at least once in a year. Under constant potential mode during operation a passive layers form on the plates. This causes variation of sp.gravity & voltage from cell to cell. To take care the battery bank to be put on constant current charging at 6% of rated capacity up to 2.60 to 2.75VPC, followed by an extended charge for 12 to 24 hours on constant current charging at 3% of rated capacity. By this the cells are rejuvenated with fresh layer of active material, all the cells will show approx. Same sp.Gravity & voltage. As low current was given during 3% rated amps of the Ah capacity. This will not affect the activated portion of the plates, but will remove the patches of sulphate from the plates back to the solution, increasing the sp.Gravity of cells. So, it is mandatory to give equalizing charge, once in a year. ---------- END --------______________________________________________________________