Monday, April 6, 2020

Bringing to Life Dead VRLA/Gel Battery

VRLA (Valve Regulated Lead Acid)/Gel Type batteries can be reasonably  brought to life from zero volts to full voltage capacity at 13.1v for a 12v rated battery by charging the battery continuously for approximately 1 1/2 weeks.   Rocket (Made in China) is the brand of VRLA/Gel battery I have used.  My own test was undertaken on 4 VRLA/Gel battery I own.  The charging voltage tested is 6 amps at 15v using automatic charger manufactured by Panther Philippines.

Unfortunately, the same procedure undertaken on a Motolite (Made in the Philippines) Solar Battery, a flooded deep cycle  battery, does not work.  At most, the Motolite battery only registers between 9v to 10v, after 2 weeks (Tested on 2 Motolite Batteries).

Notes on Lead Acid Battery

1.  Positive and Negative:  Lead Plates
2.  Separator:  Polyolefin
3.  Electrolyte:  Sulfuric Acid
4.  Charging time (Single Cell):  24 hrs at 5v (Creates Lead Dioxide in the Positive Plate
5.  Voltage Reading: 1.8 (Based on this; it will need 7 cells to create 12.6v or 8 cells which is preferred to create 14.4v for home solar use)

Note:
-  The battery cell still got very high internal resistance, most probably on the use of solid Polyolefin separator; a separate test will be undertaken to determine the cause of very high internal resistance