Battery care

A battery management guide. Give your battery better function and longer service life

Storage

When storing your batteries for alonger period without usage, disconnect the battery from the electrical system. Even very small currents (connected bells, alarms, etc.) will discharge the battery and cause damage in the long run.

Make sure that the battery is fully charged when set aside for storage.

Keep the battery cool (frost-free) and dry as the self-discharge is halved for every 10 degrees as the temperature decreases.

All batteries have a certain amount of self-discharge, which is reflected in the low voltage drop. If the voltage drops below 12.4 V, the battery must be charged. Batteries that are not kept fully charged risk to sulfate and lose capacity.

Keep in mind that a discharged battery can freeze at normal winter temperatures.

Care and operation

 Batteries should be mounted steadily and well ventilated.

Batteries work best in indoor temperature. Heat and cold deteriorate battery operation.

Keep the battery poles and cables clean from coatings.

Keep batteries clean and dry as moisture and dirt can lead to small currents (creep currents) on the lid and increase self-discharge.

For "openable" batteries, the electrolyte level (acid) should be checked regularly and adjusted with battery water if necessary.

Batteries should not be deep-drained. Repeated deeper discharges significantly shorten battery life.

Battery restraint gives an idea of the charging state: (After charging, batteries need to rest at rest for a day so that the voltage is stabilized before it is measured.)
 
 

Charge

The self-discharge in modern batteries is low, but batteries at rest will always slowly be discharged. This has to be compensated either by charging the battery at certain intervals or with a continuous maintenance charge.

It is important to choose a charger that is suitable for the battery to be charged.

A modern battery charger is characterized, among other things, by having:

• Temperature compensation (charger adjusts the charging voltage according to temperature).
• Charging profile adapted to battery technology - AGM / GEL or Standard (Liquid Acid Batteries).
• Charging appropriate for battery size (capacity Ah).