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dollars and will be found a great convenience. Cells may be tested individually and as a battery. The proper time to take a reading of a storage battery is immediately upon stopping or while the engine is running. A more definite determination can be made than after the battery has been idle for a few hours and has recuperated more or less. A single cell should register more than two volts when fully charged, and the approximate energy of a three-cell battery should be about 6.5 volts.

If the voltage is below this the batteries should be recharged and the specific gravity of the electrolyte brought up to the required point. If the liquid is very low in the cell new electrolyte should be added. To make this fluid add about one part of chemically pure sulphuric acid to about four parts of distilled water, and add more water or acid to obtain the required specific gravity, which is determined by a hydrometer. According to some authorities the hydrometer test should show the specific gravity of the electrolyte as about 1.208 or 25 degrees Baumé when first prepared for introduction in the cell, and about 1.306 or 34 degrees Baumé when the cell is charged.

The following table gives the corresponding specific gravities and Baumé degrees:

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The appended conversion formula and table of equivalents will

be found of value in changing the reading of a hydrometer, or

acidometer, from terms of specific gravity to the Baumé scale or vice versa.

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Either voltage or gravity readings alone could be used, but as both have advantages in certain cases, and disadvantages in others, it is advisable to use each for the purpose for which it is best fitted, the one serving as a check on the other. Voltage has the great disadvantage in that it is dependent upon the rate of current flowing. Open-circuit readings are of no value, as a cell reads almost the same discharged as it does charged.

Loss of Battery Capacity.-When a battery gives indication of lessened capacity it should be taken apart and the trouble located. If the cell is full of electrolyte it may be of too low specific gravity. The plates may be sulphated, due to lack of proper charge or too long discharge. The cells may need cleaning, a condition indicated by short capacity and a tendency to overheat when charging. Sometimes a deposit of sediment on the bottom of the cell will short circuit the plates. If the specific gravity is low and the plates have a whitish appearance, there being little sediment in the cells, it is safe to assume that the plates are sulphated. Sediment should be removed from the cells and the plates rinsed in rain or distilled water to remove particles of dirt or other adhering matter.

Sediment in Cells.-The rate at which the sediment collects depends largely upon the way a battery is handled, and it is therefore necessary to determine this rate for each individual case. A cell should be cut out after, say, fifty charges, the depth of sediment measured and the rate so obtained used to determine the time when the battery will need cleaning. As there is apt to be some variation in the amount of sediment in different cells, and as the sediment is thrown down more rapidly during the latter part of a period than at the beginning, it is always advisable to allow at least one-fourth inch clearance. If the ribs in the bottom of the jars are 134 inches high, figure on cleaning when the sediment reaches a depth of 11⁄2 inches. Before dismantling a battery

for "washing," if practical, have it fully charged. Otherwise, if the plates are badly sulphated, they are likely to throw down considerable sediment on the charge after the cleaning is completed.

There have been many complaints of lack of capacity from batteries after washing. Almost without exception this is found to be due to lack of a complete charge following the cleaning. The plates are frequently in a sulphated condition when dismantled, and in any case are exposed to the air during the cleaning process, and thus lose more or less of their charge. When reassembled, they consequently need a very complete charge, and in some cases the equivalent of the initial charge, and unless this charge is given the cells will not show capacity and will soon give trouble again. This charge should be as complete as that described elsewhere in connection with the initial charge.

Dangers of Flushing.-"Flushing," or replacing evaporation in cells with electrolyte instead of water, is a most common mistake. The plates of a storage battery must always be kept covered with electrolyte, but the evaporation must be replaced with pure water only. There seems to be a more or less general tendency to confuse the electrolyte of a storage battery with that of a primary cell. The latter becomes weakened as the cell discharges and eventually requires renewal. With the storage battery, however, this is not the case, at least to anything like the same degree, and unless acid is actually lost through slopping or a broken jar it should not be necessary to add anything but water to the cells between cleanings. Acid goes into the plates during discharge, but with proper charging it will all be driven out again, so that there will be practically no loss in the specific gravity readings, or at least one so slight that it does not require adjustment between cleanings. Thus, unless some of the electrolyte has actually been lost, if the specific gravity readings are low, it is an indication that something is wrong; but the trouble is not that the readings are low, but that something is causing them to be low, and the proper thing to do is to remove the cause and not try to cover it up by doctoring the indicator. The acid is in the cells, and if it does not show in the readings it must be in the form

of sulphate, and the proper thing to do is to remove the cause of the sulphation if there is one, and then, with proper charging, drive the acid out of the plates and the specific gravity readings will then come back to the proper point. The too-frequent practice in such cases is to add electrolyte to the cells in order to bring up the readings which, as already explained, are only the indication of the trouble, and this further aggravates the condition, until finally the plates become so sulphated that lack of capacity causes a complaint. This practice of adding electrolyte to cells instead of water seems to be becoming more and more common.

Sulphation, Cause and Cure.-When plates are sulphated, to restore them to their original condition it is necessary that the battery be given a long, slow charge at about a quarter or a third of the normal charging rate. This should be continued until the electrolyte has reached the proper specific gravity and the voltage has attained its maximum.

It should be understood thať sulphating is a normal as well as an abnormal process in the charge and discharge of storage batteries, and the difference is in the degree, not the process. The abnormal condition is that ordinarily referred to by the term. In normal service sulphating does not reach the point where it is difficult to reduce, but if carried too far, the condition becomes so complete that it is difficult to reduce and injury results. A very crude method of illustrating the different degrees of sulphating is to consider it as beginning in individual particles uniformly distributed throughout the active material. Each particle of sulphate is then entirely surrounded by active material. The sulphate itself is a non-conductor, but, being surrounded by active material, the current can reach it from all sides and it is easily reduced. This is normal sulphate. As the action goes further the particles of sulphate become larger and join together and their outside conducting surface is greatly reduced in comparison with their volume, so that it becomes increasingly difficult to reduce them, and we have abnormal sulphate.

Slow Charge Cures Sulphation.—The general cure for sulphating is charging, so that a cell, having been mechanically restored, the electrical restoration consists simply in the proper charging.

Sulphate reduces slowly, and on this account it is a good plan to use a rather low current rate. High rates cause excessive gassing, heating, and do not hasten the process appreciably, so that it is the safer as well as the more efficient plan to go slowly. A good rate is about one-fifth normal. The length of charge will depend upon the degree of sulphating. In one actual case it required three months' charging night and day to complete the operation, but this was, of course, an exceptional one. The aim should be to continue until careful voltage and gravity readings show no further increase for at least ten hours and an absolute maximum has been reached. In serious cases it may be advisable to even exceed this time in order to make absolutely sure that all sulphate is reduced, and where there is any question it is much safer to charge too long rather than to risk cutting off too soon. A partial charge is only a temporary expedient; the cell, still being sulphated, will drop behind again.

The Gould Storage Battery Company give a number of characteristics by which cells in poor condition may be recognized in addition to the usual hydrometer readings. The common causes of plate deterioration are also given. The plates may be of poor color; the color of a wet positive plate in good condition varies from a rich dark brown (almost black) if the plate is fully charged to a reddish, fairly dark brown if discharged. A light grayish coating on the positive plates is not a bad indication, if by rubbing with a clean stick or piece of hard rubber a good color is evident immediately under the surface. The color is much lighter for dried plates. The wet negatives are of a light slate gray if charged and somewhat darker if discharged. When dry they are considerably lighter, and may even be somewhat yellowish if allowed to heat in drying. If the color of the plates is not as described they are probably considerably sulphated. If the cell voltage is markedly lower on discharge or higher on charge than it should be, sulphating is also indicated. If the acid strength is low, the cell should be investigated for short circuits or sulphated plates. Always be sure that the sediment does not touch the plates. It must be removed as soon as there is danger of this occurring.

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