Battery Maintenance
Performing regular maintenance on your lead-acid batteries is extremely important, and can help extend the lifespan of your batteries for years and years. In fact, the number one cause of battery failure is lack of proper battery maintenance.
So what is battery maintenance, exactly?
It can be simplified down to 2 major factors.
- Water your batteries. It cannot be understated how important it is to ensure that your battery is always watered to the correct level. Extended use of your battery while it is low on water will result in a dramatic reduction in battery life, and over an extended period of time, can and will cause a reduction of service life.
There are many tools that exist to ensure your batteries are properly watered, such as our water indicator lights, or watering systems. In addition to making battery care easier, they will also help expedite the process, saving you valuable time. As well, the watering gun that we offer will help ensure that every cell in your battery has been watered to the correct height, even if you do not wish to invest in a watering system.
A battery should be watered after charge, and the water level should be approximately 1/2” above the plates of each and every cell. Over-watering your battery can result in overflow during charge, when the heat causes the water to expand, and as a result the excess water will be forced out onto the top of your battery & the surrounding area, losing some of the very important electrolyte & acid in the process.
2. Charging. Having a regular charge cycle for your batteries is extremely important. Batteries should not be charged before they have been drained to a minimum of 85% of their capacity. Frequent charging when the battery is above half charge can and will result in a reduction of service life, especially if performed repeatedly.
However, alternatively, your battery should also not be left in a fully discharged state for any length of time. Even a full charged battery that is not in use, over the course of a few weeks will slowly discharge itself until it reaches a fully discharged state.
We recommend that batteries that are not in use be given a full charge every 3 weeks - 1 month to ensure they do not rest in a fully discharged state for an extended period of time. Failure to do so can result in a reduction of service life.
For any questions, feel free to reach out to us at info@xpb.ca