Battery - a reservoir of energy

The battery is the source of electricity in the car. This makes it possible to repeatedly collect and deliver cargo.

In modern cars, the battery is precisely matched to the type and power of the internal combustion engine, the power of lighting and other on-board equipment.

The starter battery is a set of elements connected electrically and closed in separate cells placed inside a plastic case. The cover has terminals and inlets closed with plugs that provide maintenance and exit of gases emitted into the cell.

Battery classes

Batteries are produced in several classes, differing in manufacturing technology, materials used and price. The standard lead-antimony grade offers satisfactory quality at an affordable price. The middle class ranks higher. The differences lie in the internal structure and the best parameters. Batteries come first the plates of which are made of lead-calcium alloys. They reach the highest parameters and require no maintenance. This means that water consumption is reduced by 80 percent compared to standard batteries. Such batteries are usually equipped with the following systems: explosion protection, leakage protection and an optical charge indicator.

Parameters

One of the most important values ​​characterizing a battery is its nominal capacity. This is the electrical charge, measured in amp-hours, that a battery can provide under certain conditions. Rated capacity of a new battery that is properly charged. During operation, due to the irreversibility of some processes, it loses the ability to accumulate a charge. A battery that has lost half its capacity must be replaced.

The second important characteristic is the download volume. It is expressed in the discharge current specified by the manufacturer, which the battery can deliver at minus 18 degrees in 60 seconds up to a voltage of 8,4 V. High starting current is especially appreciated in winter, when the starter draws a current of about 200-300 V. 55 amperes. The starting current value can be measured according to the German DIN standard or the American SAE standard. These standards provide for different measurement conditions, for example, for a battery with a capacity of 266 Ah, the starting current according to DIN is 423 A, and according to the American standard, as much as XNUMX A.

Damage

The most common cause of battery damage is active mass dripping from the plates. It manifests itself as a cloudy electrolyte, in extreme cases it turns black. The reasons for this phenomenon may be overcharging the battery, which causes excessive gas formation and an increase in the temperature of the electrolyte and, as a result, the loss of mass particles from the plates. The second reason is the battery is dead. The constant consumption of high inrush current also leads to irreversible damage to the plates.

It can be assumed that in winter the battery loses about 1 percent of its capacity and inrush current before a temperature drop of 1 degree C. So in winter the battery can be 50 percent “weaker than in summer” due to temperature difference. Manufacturers of lead batteries indicate the durability of these devices at 6-7 thousand operations, which in practice translates into 4 years of operation. It is worth knowing that if you leave a car equipped with a fully functional battery with a capacity of 45 ampere hours on the side lights, then it will take 27 hours to fully discharge, if it is a low beam, then the discharge will occur after 5 hours, and when we turn on the emergency gang, the discharge will last only 4,5, XNUMX o'clock.

For a car, you should buy a battery with the same electrical parameters, shape and dimensions, and the corresponding size of the pole terminals as the original. Please note that battery manufacturers prohibit the addition of activating liquids to the electrolyte.