Battery Care & Maintenance
Lead Acid – Wet Filled
WARNING! You must wear PPE, including eye protection.
General Cleaning Instructions:
- Check that all vent caps are tightly in place.
- Clean the battery top with a cloth and/or brush and a solution of baking soda and water.
- When cleaning, do not allow any cleaning solution or other foreign matter to get inside the battery.
- Clean battery terminals/posts and the battery cable lugs using baking soda and water solution and/or with wire brush.
- Rinse with water and allow to dry.
- Reconnect the battery cables to the battery terminals and thinly coat them with an anti-corrosive spray (battery terminal protectant).
- Keep the area around batteries clean and dry.
WARNING: Cleaning procedure can/may damage flooring (i.e., driveways, concrete, etc.). Please clean in a safe area.
Step-By-Step Watering Procedure:
- Open the vent caps and look inside the fill wells.
- Check electrolyte level; the minimum level is at the top of the plates.
- If necessary, add just enough water to cover the plates at this time.
- Put batteries on a complete charge before adding any additional water.
- Once charging is completed, open the vent caps and look inside the fill wells.
- Add water until the electrolyte level is 3 - 5mm below the bottom of the fill well. A piece of rubber can be used safely as a dipstick to help determine this level.
- Clean and tighten/close all vent caps. Replace any vent caps that appear bad/damaged.
WARNING: Never add acid to a battery, deionized/demineralized water only. DO NOT OVERWATER. Water should always be added after fully charging the battery. Prior to charging, there should be enough water to cover the plates. Excess water can/may cause acid to leak and damage flooring (i.e., driveways, concrete, etc.).
Recommend cleaning instructions and watering procedure to be implemented at least once per month, or more frequently pending usage.
General Charging Instructions:
- Become familiar with and follow the instructions issued by the charger manufacturer.
- Batteries should be charged after each period of use.
- Lead acid batteries do not develop a memory and do need not be fully discharged before recharging.
- Charge only in well-ventilated areas. Keep sparks or flames away from a charging battery.
- Verify charger voltage settings are correct for your battery setup.
- Check water level (see the Watering section).
- Tighten/close all vent caps before charging.
- Prevent overcharging the batteries. Overcharging causes excessive gassing (water breakdown), heat buildup, and battery aging.
- Prevent undercharging the batteries. Undercharging causes stratification which can lead to premature battery failure.
- Do not charge a frozen battery.
- Avoid charging at temperatures above 48.8° C.
- Below is a list of additional information/items:
- Shallow discharges will result in a longer battery life.
- 50% (or less) discharges are recommended, 80% discharge is the maximum safe discharge.
- Do not fully discharge flooded batteries (80% or more). This will damage (or kill) the battery.
- any experts recommend operating batteries only between the 50% to 85% of full charge range.
- Do not leave batteries deeply discharged for any extended period of time, this will decrease their capacity and life.
- If you store your batteries for an extended period of time, be sure to fully charge them every 3 to 6 months.
- Lead acid batteries do not develop a memory and do not need to be fully discharged before recharging.
- Batteries should be fully charged after each period of use.
- Batteries that charge up but cannot support a load are most likely bad and should be tested.
- Lead acid batteries will self-discharge 5% to 15% per month, depending on the temperature of the storage conditions.
Information sourced from Battery Maintenance | Trojan Battery Company
