Frequently Asked Questions

General Information

Do batteries ever produce gas?
When used with a properly regulated constant voltage charging system the battery will normally not produce hydrogen gas. Occasional gassing can occur when charging at higher voltage levels or in extreme high-temperature conditions. In automotive applications, this typically will not happen if the alternator/regulator stays below 15 volts.

When should a deep-cycle battery be used?
Deep-cycle batteries are used when 50% or more of the capacity is used per cycle.  The most common use of deep-cycle batteries is in applications that require deep, repetitive drain, like powerful car audio systems, trolling motors, golf carts, electric wheelchairs, or RV house power sources.  Public safety and high-performance vehicles are other applications that call for the special characteristics of deep-cycle batteries.

Does the deep-cycle battery have a "memory"?
No. The performance of deep-cycle batteries will be reduced over time, but  deep-cycle batteries do not suffer from "memory effect" such as NiCd batteries do.

Can I hook different batteries in parallel?
No, when hooking batteries together in parallel, they should be of identical make and model and similar age.

What is a gel cell battery?
A gel battery uses a different means of separation and is better suited for deep-cycle low-rate applications vs. the AGM battery.

Sealed Lead Acid

What is a storage battery?
A reservoir that may be used repeatedly for storing energy. Energy is put into it and removed from it in the form of electricity, but it is stored as chemical energy.

What are amperes?
Units of quantity of electric current. The current forced through a resistance of one ohm by pressure of one volt is one ampere.

What are volts?
Units of force or pressure of electric current. In an industrial truck, running speed, lifting speed and controller operations are dependent upon battery voltage. The voltage of a battery depends on the number of cells. Each lead acid cell has 2 volts; a 6-cell battery has 12 volts and an 18-cell battery has 36 volts.

What are watts?
The product of volts times amps. (Volumes of electric current times pressure of electric current.) The total power is measured in watts.

What is an ampere-hour (Ah) capacity?
Product of amps multiplied by time. It refers to the volume of electricity that can be drawn from a battery. Other things being equal, higher ampere hour capacity batteries will run a truck longer than those with lower ampere hour capacities. Ah capacity of a battery depends on the number and design of plates per cell.

What Is kilowatt hour (K.W.H.) capacity?
A kilowatt is 1,000 watts. The kilowatt hour capacity is the amount of power (volts x amps x hours divided by 1,000) that can be drawn from a battery. It is the watt of kilowatt that does the work -- not amps alone.

How are batteries rated?
Lead acid batteries are rated based on a capacity given in a defined time. There is not a set industry standard for how to rate a battery.

What is electrolyte?
In lead acid batteries, it is a mixture of sulfuric acid and water. The operation of the batteries is affected by the specific gravity, quantity, purity, etc. of the electrolyte within the cell.

What is meant by "specific gravity" of battery electrolyte?
It is the weight of the sulfuric acid-water mixture compared to an equal volume of water. Pure water has a specific gravity of 1.

What is meant by battery life?
Battery life normally refers to the number of times that a battery can be charged and discharged or years of standby use.

Lithium

What is passivation?
Passivation is a chemical reaction between the lithium anode and the electrolyte, which forms a layer on the anode increasing the impedance and decreasing the rate capability of the battery.

What are the effects of passivation?
Voltage drop during high discharges and increased shelf life of the battery.

How do you eliminate passivation?
A 10 micro amp current will prevent a passivation layer from forming on the battery. If the battery is left in storage for long periods of time, a stronger current can be used to break up the passivation.