During the operation of the car, various parts, elements of the chassis and body are subject to corrosion. Battery terminals are no exception, which often become covered with plaque after some time. This occurs due to poor contact between connections and exposure to aggressive substances. White deposits and rust on the battery contacts prevent normal operation of the battery. In some cases, the battery is poorly charged from the generator and cannot start the engine.
When this problem occurs, it is important to find the cause and eliminate it. In addition, it is necessary to clean the electrical contacts and tighten the connections. It is important to do this in a gentle way so as not to harm the integral structure of the car’s electricity source.
Types of batteries
All types of batteries are miniature power plants that supply energy to the electrical system of automobile transport. Despite the many modifications, they can be divided into 2 main groups:
- Service. There are not many such batteries to be found on the market, as they require careful care. However, maintained batteries have a long service life. They have special pipes with which you can control the density of the electrolyte, adding it if necessary.
- Maintenance free. Produced by almost every company. In such models there is no need to control the electrolyte. Maintenance-free batteries are equipped with a special valve to remove excess gas. From time to time, such devices need to be recharged.
Regardless of the type of battery, you need to know a number of rules for caring for such equipment. This will help increase its service life and ensure uninterrupted and high-quality operation.
Car battery restoration
The first step is to measure the initial voltage.
Next, we will conduct a test with a load fork.
I have long noticed an increase in self-discharge, so today it was generally discharged. It would be a good idea to check the density of the electrolyte.
Once the battery has been identified and the diagnosis has been made, we move on to recovery. Using a hydrometer, drain the electrolyte from above as much as possible. As you can see, its color is dark.
Now we turn the battery over and drain the remainder into a bucket. This must be done especially carefully and the body must be rotated when draining so that the row of can openings is horizontal. This must be done so that the outgoing streams of electrolyte do not short-circuit with each other.
Well, here it is completely black with a lot of impurities.
Now you need to find a capacity for the battery. I took the basin.
Using running water, rinse all jars with plain water. Fill to the top.
This will remove any remaining electrolyte and black deposits. Next, take baking soda, you will need 400-500 grams.
We dilute it with 5 liters of ordinary water in a canister. And mix well.
Fill each compartment to the brim.
Everything starts to boil. Add to the compartments where a lot of soda solution has spilled.
Let's wait 15 minutes until the reaction is completely completed. And drain the solution.
Next, thoroughly rinse all the jars with tap water again.
Surface cleaning
It is imperative to monitor the cleanliness of the device. Its surface needs to be cleaned from time to time. For this purpose, you can use a 10% solution of ammonia or soda ash.
Soak a soft, clean cloth in the substance, and then gently wipe the battery with it. This procedure will help remove dust particles, residual oil mixtures and other types of contaminants.
You should also pay attention to the terminals. Elements must not oxidize. A similar problem can be identified by a dense layer of scale, which negatively affects the contact of the battery with the car.
You can correct the situation by cleaning the battery terminals with ammonia. After applying the product, scale can be easily removed with ordinary sandpaper.
If there are doubts about the effectiveness of this method, then you can use special preparations that allow you to wash the battery.
You should also check the cleanliness of the pins from time to time. You can clean them together with the terminals. It should be remembered that drops of diesel fuel, washer fluid, oil or gasoline should never fall on the surface of the battery case. Such chemical compounds can not only damage the plastic from which the battery is made, but also cause a fire. If the substance does get on the battery, it must be wiped off as soon as possible with a dry cloth.
Work progress
For washing you will need:
Completely discharge the battery in a way that is convenient for you. If the jars are not closed (i.e. there is no sediment at the bottom), then a special design or a rubber bulb can be used to remove the old electrolyte.
As for the design, the point is debatable, since experts do not recommend tilting the battery more than 45 degrees, since crumbled elements of the plates can short-circuit the latter.
But this does not stop our people, especially since many manage to drill holes in the battery case to drain the electrolyte, for washing.
At the final stage, add distilled water again and let it sit for 3-4 hours.
If you understand that there is sediment (the jar is closed), then you should not turn the battery over, as this will only worsen the situation.
Here, at the first stage, the liquid is extracted with a rubber bulb, then the battery is disassembled, cleaned of sediment and old electrolyte, assembled and sealed. Whether it is worth doing this, everyone decides for themselves.
Storage and fixation
If the vehicle will not be used for quite a long time, then it is necessary to provide the battery with optimal storage conditions in advance.
The device must be turned off and removed from the car, since sub-zero temperatures can render it unusable. It is advisable to store the battery in a sufficiently warm and dry room. But you don’t need to place it next to heat sources, otherwise the device will quickly discharge. Deep discharge of the device can negatively affect its condition. To prevent problems, it is advisable to recharge the battery every 3-4 months. So, the device will last as long as possible.
To ensure the safest and most reliable use of the device, it must be properly secured. To check the fixation, you can try to move the battery by hand, turning off the engine first.
It must be taken into account that if the terminals are incorrectly secured, the charging process may be disrupted. Thus, a crooked plane and poorly installed terminals often become the reasons why the car constantly stalls. This affects not only the convenience, but also the safety of vehicle operation.
What does internal battery cleaning do and when to do it?
During battery operation, lead sulfate is deposited on the plates. This is a normal phenomenon from the point of view of the occurrence of electrochemical reactions - during discharge, sulfate and water are formed, during charging - lead, its dioxide and sulfuric acid. If the reactions proceeded symmetrically, then lead sulfate would be completely dissolved. But in practice this does not happen; part of the PbSO4 does not participate in the reaction and is deposited on the battery plates. The useful area of the electrode is reduced, the battery capacity and current output are reduced. If these effects become noticeable and interfere with the normal operation of the battery, you can try to desulfate the battery. One option is washing with a soda solution.
Lead sulfate is practically insoluble in water, but reacts with sodium bicarbonate - baking soda, which can be purchased in grocery stores.
Features of care
The charge level in a car battery must be regularly monitored.
To do this, you can use a voltmeter. But you need to check the readings with the engine off. If the voltage drops noticeably, the battery needs to be recharged. In winter, car battery care should be especially careful. We must not forget that often the cause of problems with car activation is low-quality fuel or oil, as well as injectors and spark plugs. But repeated attempts to start the engine can lead to a deep discharge of the battery.
It is necessary to increase the load on the battery gradually. Also, after turning off the car, be sure to turn off all electrical equipment.
When starting the engine, you do not need to immediately turn on the radio and lights - the battery should run idle for at least 5-7 minutes. In winter, this period should be about 20 minutes.
Maintenance-free batteries require systematic cleaning of the gas valve. In addition, when charging this type of battery, you need to close all its holes.
Serviced models need to adjust the electrolyte level, especially in hot weather. If the level of the substance in the battery decreases, you need to add distilled water.
Don't go wrong with density
Before adding new electrolyte after washing the battery, analyze what situation led you to these actions, because a mixture of sulfuric acid and distilled water is sold with different densities - from 1.2 to 1.28 g/cm3. Which one should I fill?
For example, in winter the battery was discharged, was located outside and, as a result of a drop in density, the electrolyte froze. Of course, in this situation the car will not start.
At this moment, the battery is in a state of deep sulfation of the negative plates.
What does the driver do in this situation? That's right, it warms up the little one in a warm place and measures the density of the liquid, which is usually low 1.15 g/cm3. This leads to the erroneous idea of replacing the fluid by filling it with the same one, but with a higher density. And here, as a rule, a mistake is made.
An important point is not taken into account - the density of the old electrolyte. As a rule, in winter, with a fully charged battery, it is 1.27 g/cm3. A liquid with a density of 1.15 g/cm3 was drained. Where is the remaining 0.12 g/cm3? And they are on the negative plates in the form of sulfated plaque.
A person remembers the figure of 1.27 g/cm3 and, accordingly, buys an electrolyte with the same density for winter.
After new fluid has been poured into the battery, the latter usually charges immediately. So what's going on? As a result of charging and desulfation, the remaining 0.12 g/cm3 leaves the plates and is added to the total density of 1.27 g/cm3, resulting in a total of 1.39 g/cm3, and this is a figure close to the density of the correction electrolyte.
Therefore, in the case given as an example, it would be necessary to simply conduct a CTC of the battery.
Or, if the charger allows, turn it on a cyclic mode of short-term charge and discharge to bring the density of the liquid to real. You also need to connect some kind of electricity consumer to the battery, for example, a headlight lamp.
The high density of sulfuric acid negatively affects the condition of the plates and in this aggressive environment they begin to quickly crumble.
Therefore, after washing the battery, in order to avoid the situation described above (our battery is discharged), first fill in electrolyte with a density of 1.20 g/cm3.
To increase the density, electrolyte is added, to decrease - distilled water. Pure sulfuric acid is never used.
Modern cars cannot do without batteries. This important structural element has not undergone much change over several decades. And all modifications are aimed at increasing the service life and reducing the size of the device. But in order for even an old battery to last as long as possible, you need to know about the rules of battery care. In this case, the device will last about 5-7 years.
Charging rules
When the battery is used regularly, it is automatically recharged by the generator, but during long periods of inactivity it requires additional recharging.
It is also necessary in case of problems with the generator. Lead-acid batteries need to be recharged only with constant electric current. For this purpose, rectifiers are used to regulate the charging current and voltage. It is also necessary to take into account the configuration of the device for recharging. For example, to charge a 12 V battery, the supplied voltage should be no more than 16 V, otherwise it will be problematic to fully charge the device.
Charging the battery is carried out according to the following scheme:
- The device is removed from the car. If this happens in winter, then it must be immediately brought indoors.
- Then the battery is connected to the charging device in accordance with the instructions.
- Before applying power, you need to double-check that all connections are correct and secure.
- The charging process must be monitored.
- After the procedure, you need to disconnect the device from the network and disconnect the battery.
- Disconnection must be started from the negative contact.
- After this, the battery can be reinserted into the car.
Car battery care is not very difficult. But if you follow a few simple rules, you can significantly increase their service life.
Clear signs of plate sulfation
The most obvious sign is that the battery is not holding the load. That is, when measuring the voltage at the terminals, the voltmeter shows a fully charged battery, but when a load is connected, the voltage drops significantly. The second sign is rapid self-discharge. For example, you haven’t used the car for 3 days. Come to the garage and try to start it. And the battery is so discharged that even the electronics do not show their values.
All these phenomena do not occur immediately, but come gradually, usually after 3-5 years of battery operation.
