Definition and Operation Principle of Lead Acid Battery

Invented in 1859 by French physician Gaston Plante, lead acid battery has been used for over 140 years, which turns out that it is very reliable and dependable. Most people always know they are often used in cars and golf carts, but how many people their definition and operation principle?

What is the lead acid battery?  A battery is a device in which chemical energy is transformed into electrical energy. That energy can be used in a controlled manner.

What’s more, how do these batteries work? In a normal battery we have three basic elements: one plate made of lead, an electrolyte of sulfuric acid and another plate made of lead oxide. When the battery is discharged, the sulfuric acid in the electrolyte reacts with the lead and lead oxide releasing electricity, forming lead sulfate. This leaves a watery electrolyte solution. When a battery is completely discharged, what is left is lead sulfate and water. When you start recharging the battery, the lead sulfate is broken apart by the electric current. This returns the system to the original elements: lead and lead oxide on the plates and sulfuric acid in the electrolyte, for the most part.

We said for the most part because an incomplete recharge is going to leave behind some lead sulfate. The next time you use the energy from the battery, the newly formed sulfate is going to attach to the left over sulfates making stronger sulfates. The problem is that a normal battery recharge is not going to be able to break them down completely. So you will have more and more sulfates that now are not breaking up and gradually are shortening the life of your batteries.

For the owners of lead acid battery, some general basic knowledge is very important to prolong the life. The maintenance tips are no exception. Maintaining your lead acid batteries, you need to check them on a regular basis to be sure they are getting charged. Use a hydrometer to check the specific gravity of your lead-acid batteries. If batteries are cycled very deeply and then recharged quickly, the specific gravity reading will be rower than it should be, because the electrolyte at the top of the battery may not have mixed with the “charged” electrolyte.

Check the electrolyte level in wet-cell batteries at least four times a year and top each cell off with distilled water. Do not add water to discharged batteries. Electrolyte is absorbed when batteries are discharged. If you add water at this time, and then recharge the battery, electrolyte will overflow and make a mess.

If you want to know more about lead acid battery, you can just visit Leoch International, which is an excellent manufacturer of lead acid battery. The company is a public company which has over 10 year’s history and it is very reliable and dependable. The office website is http://www.leoch.com. If you are interested in the company, you can search for more information in the internet.