Hi Bill
On (24 Oct 96) BILL BAUER wrote to Mike Nash...
 BB> two heavy metal bars running the lenghth of the batteries and
 BB> connecting to each cell. I am going to try sticking a metal welding
 BB> rod in each of two cells at a time and connect those to a voltmeter
 BB> to see if we can check the individual cell voltage as the article
 BB> suggests.
Sounds like a lot of effort. If you have to cut into the cell top to access
these bars, the result will look untidy to say the least. And those bars may
corrode from spills on top later.
There is a cell measurement done in some labs, I have neither done it nor
understood it but it involves immersing non corroding probe [platinum?] into
the fluid, and measuring the voltages between electrolyte and terminals. You
could similarly measure the voltage between #1 cell fluid and #2 cell fluid
and so on. After a while you might comprehend what was normal and what was
bad, and maybe find how to improve matters.
This apparently gives data about the state of charge on the positive plates,
and the [different] state of charge on the negative plates of the same cell.
You might think that these values should be the same, but not so. The two
kinds of plate deteriorate at different rates. Also, the development of low-
maintenance acid batteries was helped, by a deliberate use of excess capacity
on one polarity so as to reduce gas release. I forget, whether it's the
positive or negative plate that is deliberately given extra capacity.
 BB> I am also going to look at some equipment that I have run into which
 BB> purports to treat sulfated car batteries by high voltage pulse
 BB> technology.
That works on some faulty nicads of the common sizes [AAA thru D, and camera/
phone/ cordless tool types] but the pulse needs to be less than 12v per cell,
and really momentary. Leave it on for some seconds and the casing may fail.
Bang! The disease that is attacked is a very small patch of chemical growth.
Sulfation in an acid battery though is no small patch, it is widespread and
the stuff has to be converted back to acid and lead and this requires time 
nd
energy. Pulses, are very short on time and energy!
I don't know how much different their high voltage pulses
 BB> differ from my experiment of hooking a 12,000 volt neon transformer
 BB> producing 30 mills of current across a car battery. I observed
 BB> absolutely nothing happening when I did that for maybe 3 or 4 minutes,
Full marks for your imagination. An Indian rain dance might have been more
helpful!
        
 BB> but maybe I didn't give it enough time or maybe if I was to hook it
 BB> up again and let it run for maybe an hour or so I would come back to
 BB> find an exploded battery or a ruined neon transformer or
No way the battery would be harmed at 20 mA AC. Your neon trannie, is 
robably
designed for abuse like overload or short circuit. But OK it might suffer
after long connection to a battery.
 BB> There has to be some way to cut down on the hundreds of batteries
 BB> that end up going to the junk and if there is, I am going to find it
 BB> and put it to use.
There always was! It was called a crank handle. And of course, the kick start
pedal on the mobike.
Today's auto batteries are very much smaller than these might have been,
thanks to these design changes, which have kept batteries smaller than those
used in 1926 autos: today's engines are 10 or 20 times as powerful as then.
Design changes-
Auto voltage regulator,  dynamo [DC] replaced by alternator [AC], cells 
hrunk
in size for same cranking amps thanks to thin plates and thin durable
separators, quality control of cell materials ie lead, lead alloy, pastes and
acids. Plus the aforesaid development of low maintenance design.
With the pre 1960 cells, requiring regular top ups with water the upper
section of any plates that were exposed to air for want of topping up were
effectively "lost forever" and only the constantly immersed lower parts of 
he
plates were capable of being charged.
It is something of a miracle that today's auto batteries may last a cuppla
years. The loading and the neglect experienced have been well confronted by
the designers. They too had to get home in an auto!    Cheers..ALEC
... Life is one long process of getting tired
--- PPoint 1.92
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