battery misbehaving & poor performance
Battery horsing around?Anyone with battery problems?
This subject I know well. Not only did I posses a vehicle´s electrical workshop but went into
battery repairing and even made the plates the lead oxide an all other accesories for old
rubber bokes type of batteries. Specially the ones used in Buses and trucks. Then came the
plastic sealed ones every day at a lesser price and finally went out of business.
Batteries fail mainly because of the following reasons; Inside cell short. This is due to the
falling of the lead sulphide powder off the plates and then clogs the botton of the cell and it
shorts it self. This is caused mainly by age, use and abuse or over charging. Some vehicles because of
charging circuit design are more prone to battery wear than others. Shorted cells will not
adquire charge or if they do they will discharge themselves quickly .
A battery that is beginning to evidence cell short will lose it´s charge maybe within a couple
of days. Then it will gradually get worse until you may not be able to get any charge into it at
all.
Naturally on the bearer there may be all sorts of aprehentions on the mean while, and users
will like to discard other sources that may be responsible for such a bad performance on the
old lead box. These could be. Electric leak , such as Leaving the lights on or the radio etc....
I last changed my battery on my banger after seven years use and 96.000 kilometer on the
clock. It never quit on me during this time. However a mate of mine keeps changing his´s on
his golf VW every year´use.
So it is good to be aware of the age of your battery so that you may be able when to expect
posible failure.
But there is one thing that batteries are not.
That is sluggisness, or lesser vigour perfomance. They are either good or bad or in the
process of getting bad, which is a small period. generally, just like terminal cancer .
These days vehicles start very quickly therefore on the fairly new ones you don´t even need
a highly acumulative one. ¡ Oh! sorry ! I see I over did this one. Cheers Richard


