gel cell care

[Jaiman]

Was recently given a couple of 6v 180 Ah gel cells both are accepting charge one is loosing charge quicker than other so removed cap (a no no)and gel is starting to show signs of drying I contacted a friend who is into solar & electronics,he said to add some battery acid give it a boost charge and warm it a few times he rekons I have nothing to loose,any advice appreciated
Jaiman

[inetdog]

Was recently given a couple of 6v 180 Ah gel cells both are accepting charge one is loosing charge quicker than other so removed cap (a no no)and gel is starting to show signs of drying I contacted a friend who is into solar & electronics,he said to add some battery acid give it a boost charge and warm it a few times he rekons I have nothing to loose,any advice appreciated
Jaiman

I would not recommend that.
1. Unless the electrolyte was actually lost and not just the water from it being electrolyzed, you should add pure water and not electrolyte.
2. Unlike an AGM where the water will eventually distribute itself throughout the battery, the GEL cell may not allow for water movement.
3. You have nothing to lose, but since GEL batteries are usually close to useless for PV applications, you may not have much to gain either.

[Sunking]

I contacted a friend who is into solar & electronics,he said to add some battery acid give it a boost charge and warm it a few times he rekons I have nothing to loose,

Nothing much anyone really cares about. Just your life or home. You need to find another friend. Your friend is clueless.

[Jaiman]

an answer as useful as his (appearently)

Nothing much anyone really cares about. Just your life or home. You need to find another friend. Your friend is clueless.

Thank you for your answer as informative as it is ,if you could be a little more specific with your answer then maybe we could make a judgement on your reaction to my thread and put your argument to him ,I thought that this was the reason for a forum a place for discussion and helping out ,but I suppose each of us can choose to ignore any replies that are uninformative we know that the gel in the battery is acid based and a gel so that it does not spill,if the battery gel is drying out and we just add pure water (which does not store charge?) I'm after some constructive advice not critical comments

[Jaiman]

thank you for yor reply

I would not recommend that.
1. Unless the electrolyte was actually lost and not just the water from it being electrolyzed, you should add pure water and not electrolyte.
2. Unlike an AGM where the water will eventually distribute itself throughout the battery, the GEL cell may not allow for water movement.
3. You have nothing to lose, but since GEL batteries are usually close to useless for PV applications, you may not have much to gain either.

Thanks for your reply sounds feasible but if the water doesn't mix with gel, the other thing is how much do we put in does the gel expand as it absorbs water if so battery could end up overfull As to their suitability I just hate waste we could all throw out at the first sign of trouble then the upside of going solar would be a downside of more pollution in the munufacture of new components
Would be good to be able to talk to a manufacturer who didn't just want to sell you a new one

[inetdog]

we know that the gel in the battery is acid based and a gel so that it does not spill,if the battery gel is drying out and we just add pure water (which does not store charge?) I'm after some constructive advice not critical comments

The sulfuric acid electrolyte is a mixture of H₂SO₄ with H₂O (water) with other chemicals to make it a gel. The H₂SO₄ part does not evaporate. When excessive current is forced through the battery during charging (which is very easy to do with a GEL cell), the H₂O is converted into H₂ gas and O₂ gas, which leave the battery. All that is missing then is the water, so you do not need to add anything else back.
However, the chances that you can get the water back into the proper gel mixture and in good contact with the plates is minuscule (very small). Meanwhile there are all sorts of bad things that can happen when you try to charge the damaged battery, including fire and hydrogen explosions. There is no assurance that will happen every time of course, but is it worth the risk?
A six volt, 180AH battery is not a small thing and can hold a lot of energy.

The only kind of battery that can sometimes be rescued from abuse is a Flooded Lead Acid (FLA) battery. And even that requires caution and is often not worth the effort.

In any case, do not just throw the battery out. It should be recycled to reclaim the lead in it.

[PNjunction]

........... I contacted a friend who is into solar & electronics,he said to add some battery acid give it a boost charge and warm it a few times he rekons I have nothing to loose..

Except for the loss of time and perhaps personal safety lost. Recycle it and start anew.

You see this from time to time on AGM's too where guys will blow the seals with improper charging, and then add water back into an agm via a needle or some other way. Essentially it converts an abused agm into a poorly performing flooded battery. Waste of time unless it is the only battery you have to get off Gilligan's island.

[russ]

I contacted a friend who is into solar & electronics,he said to add some battery acid give it a boost charge and warm it a few times he rekons I have nothing to loose,any advice appreciated
Jaiman

Your friend just showed he has no knowledge whatsoever about batteries.