Service
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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.
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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.Starting power (EN)
Battery starting power measured according to EN standard. According to this standard, the starting power is the maximum power that a battery at an electrolyte temperature of -18 °C can produce for 30 s without the voltage dropping below a certain level (for standard 12 V batteries - not lower than 7.2 V). The term “starting” appeared because this mode of operation is similar to starting an engine, when the battery has to supply high power power to the starter for a short time.
The recommended starting power value is generally related to the weight category of the machine: the heavier it is, the more powerful the power is usually needed to start. And many manufacturers directly indicate recommended values in the characteristics of a particular vehicle model. If the battery is purchased as a replacement, then the general rule is this: its starting power should be no less than that of its predecessor.
Note that in practice there may be designations for starting power according to 3 more standards: SAE (USA), DIN (Germany) and TU (GOST 959-91). The first is almost identical to EN, and DIN and TU are quite easy to convert to EN and vice versa: they are similar to each other, and each of them gives a number approximately 1.7 times smaller than NE. That is, for example, to replace a 200 A battery according to the specifications, you should look for a model with a power of at least 340 A (200 * 1.7) according to EN.
Charge indicator
Has
a charge indicator on the battery.
Such an indicator displays the current charge level and allows you to generally assess the state of the battery literally at a glance, without additional actions and diagnostic equipment. In some models of serviceable batteries, the indicator can signal not only the need for charging, but also the need to add water to the electrolyte (for more details, see "Maintenance").
