—
Serviced. Serviceable are only classic lead-acid batteries (see "Type"): they are easy to distinguish even externally — by the presence of removable plugs that give access to internal containers with electrolyte. The latter is a mixture of sulfuric acid and water, and with each charge, some of this water "boils away" (decomposes into oxygen and hydrogen and volatilizes). This is especially intense when overcharging or charging at high voltage. Battery maintenance consists in periodically replenishing the water in the electrolyte — without this, lowering its level leads to damage to the plates due to contact with air, which irreparably degrades battery performance. On average, maintenance should be carried out 1-2 times a year (15-20K kilometers for a passenger car) and these terms usually coincide with the terms of scheduled maintenance. However, this value may vary depending on the features of both the battery itself and its operation; more detailed information is usually contained in the instructions for specific models. "Refilling" should be done exclusively with distilled water, because. even a relatively small amount of foreign matter can damage the wafers.
—
Unattended. As the name suggests, these batteries do not require the maintenance described above; this is achieved in a number of ways, in particular by filling the electrolyte with a margin for the entire service life or using a gel (se
...e "Type"). With clear advantages due to ease of use, maintenance-free batteries at the same time have one drawback: they are much more sensitive to deep discharge (capacity decreases), and, accordingly, they tolerate cold and long periods of inactivity worse.In this case, polarity refers to the location of the terminals on the battery. Traditionally, it is called by the location of the “+” terminal when looking at the battery from the front side (or, in the case of side terminals, from the side closer to which they are located).
-
+ left. In relation to passenger cars, this polarity in the CIS countries is often called “direct” or “ours”. At the same time, in trucks (see “Purpose”) the situation is the opposite - the left “plus” is a European standard.
-
+ on the right. In passenger cars, the right “plus” is typical mainly for European models, for which this polarity in the CIS countries received the unofficial name “euro”, or “reverse” (as opposed to the domestic “direct”). In truck batteries the opposite is true.
- + right / + left. This marking means that this battery model is available with both right and left “plus” (see above), and you can choose the option depending on the car model.
Note that the above division into “direct” and “reverse” polarity is not absolute, and in any case, before purchasing a battery, this parameter in your car should be clarified separately.
