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The Battery Builders Guide

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WHEELOCK MOUNTAIN Publications

by Phillip Hurley
copyright 2008 Phillip Hurley all rights reserved

illustrations and e-book design copyright 2008 Good Idea Creative Services all rights reserved ISBN-10: 0-9710125-6-3

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ISBN-13: 978-0-9710125-6-1 is an imprint of Good Idea Creative Services Wheelock VT USA

Wheelock Mountain Publications

Table of contents
How to use this e-book ..................iv

An INTRODUCTION to WORKING with BATTERIES

Safety Recommendations for Battery Builders Protective equipment .....................4 Rehearse for safety .......................5 Safety for lead burning ..................7 Mixing chemicals safely ..................7 An Introduction to Lead Acid Batteries

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The chemistry of lead acid batteries .. 12 Charging .................................... 13 Types of lead acid batteries .......... 14 Hybrid batteries the ultrabattery ... 16 Life cycle of pasted vs. solid plates ... 19 Alloys vs. solid lead for battery plates ........................ 20

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Battery Components Battery case ............................... 22 Plates ....................................... 24 Straps ........................................ 24
Terminal posts and intercell connectors ................ 25

DESIGNING BATTERIES

Basic Battery Design System voltage ........................... 29 Packaging the battery .................. 29 Amp-hour capacity ....................... 29 Choosing plate type ..................... 30 Electrolyte and specific gravity ...... 32 Battery cases ............................. 33

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Table of contents

Estimating Cell and Battery Output Cell Voltage ................................ 38 Amp-hour capacity ....................... 38

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Estimating output by weight of sheet lead ............................. 39 Solid plate output table ................ 40 Design parameters and characteristics of pasted plates....................... 41 Calculate amp-hour capacity by volume ............................. 42 Pasted plates output table ............ 43 Calculate weight of active material ... 44 Calculate amp-hour capacity by weight .............................. 44

Design parameters and characteristics of Plante plates ........................ 38

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Electrolyte
Measuring specific gravity ............ 45 Desirable range of sulfuric acid concentration ......................... 46 Electrolyte preparation ................. 48 Mixing electrolyte solution ............ 50 Determining electrolyte volume ...... 52 Calculate the specific gravity range ... 52 Calculate the total weight of electrolyte per cell .................. 53 Calculate the volume of electrolyte per cell .................. 53 Specific Gravity Table A ................ 54 Specific Gravity Table B ................ 56

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Table of contents
REBUILDING and RECYCLING BATTERIES
Reconditioning and Rebuilding Batteries Reconditioning vs rebuilding ........ 59 Assessing discarded batteries ...... 60 Reconditioning ........................... 61 Battery reconditioning by charging ... 62 Water treatment .......................... 64 Rebuilding batteries ..................... 66 Battery malfunctions .................... 66 Recycling Battery Parts
What battery parts can be reused or recycled? .......................... 72

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Recycling lead for battery building ... 73 Opening the battery case ............. 81 Applying heat .............................. 83 Draining the electrolyte ................ 77 The mechanical approach ............. 82 Assess the condition of the lid ....... 83

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Repairing case covers .................. 90 Processing negative plates for reuse ............................... 91

Separating the groups of plates ..... 86

LEAD CASTING

Tools for Melting and Casting Lead Stoves for melting lead ................. 94 Crucibles .................................... 95 Heat and splash protection ........... 97 Other miscellaneous useful tools ... 98

Lead for Foundry Work Melting new lead ......................... 99 Melting salvaged lead ................ 101

Making Molds for Lead Casting Making forms ............................ 105 Mold platforms .......................... 108 Table of Contents continued on the next page

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Table of contents
Making molds for lead casting, continued Release agents ........................ 110 Plaster of paris ......................... 111 Mixing plaster ........................... 112 Pouring the mold ....................... 113 Removing the pattern and form ... 113 Cleaning and curing the mold ...... 115

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Pouring the Lead Practice pouring ........................ 118 Using flux ................................. 119 Casting straps without slots ........ 120 Casting straps with slots ............ 121 Aligning the mold ...................... 123 Melt and pour ........................... 125 Finishing Castings Casting Connectors and Seals Connecting rods ........................ 131 Casting pocket nuts ................... 133 Casting sploot seals .................. 137

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WORKING with SHEET LEAD
Tools for Working Sheet Lead Smoothing sheet lead ................ 162 Making the cuts ......................... 164 Making Plates from Lead Sheet Smoothing the lead .................... 166 Finishing the plates ................... 177 Table of Contents continued on the next page

Casting Plates Methods for casting plates .......... 141 Making a plate mold .................. 142 Release agent .......................... 145 Melting the lead ........................ 145 Measuring lead for the melt ........ 146 Level the stove .......................... 147 Simple plate mold ...................... 153 Finishing the casting .................. 154 Casting plates without a mold ..... 155

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Adding Plate Texture
Surface treatment for Plante plates .. 178

LEAD BURNING

Preparing Plates from the Burning Rack Making Plate Grids from Sheet Lead

PASTED PLATES

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Mixing and Applying Paste Using a binder .......................... 186 Mixing in the electrolyte ............. 187 Paste formula and preparation ..... 188 Safety procedures ..................... 189 Set up the work area ................. 192 Pasting container ...................... 192 Prepare the grid plate ................ 193 Measuring the ingredients ......... 193 Prepare the dry ingredients ........ 195 Adding wet ingredients ............... 196 Pasting the plates ...................... 198 Curing and drying the grids ........ 199

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Plate Burning Rack Design and function ................... 202 Side slider rims ......................... 205 Combs ..................................... 205 Leveling feet ............................. 208 Tools ....................................... 210 Materials .................................. 211 Tools for Lead Burning Torches .................................... 212 Putty for lead burning ................. 213 Preparing surfaces for burning .... 214 Cleaning the work pieces ........... 214 Lead wire ................................. 216 Post molds ............................... 216 Table of Contents continued on the next page

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Burning Lugs onto Plates Burning lugs ............................. 218 Laying in a melt ........................ 223 Burning Plates into Groups Set up components in the rack .... 224 Prepare the components ............ 226 Set up heat shield cloth .............. 227 Set up the containment dam ....... 227 Final check ............................... 230 The burn .................................. 231

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BATTERY ASSEMBLY
Plate Separators
Materials used for separators ...... 236 Separator shape ........................ 236 Mesh ....................................... 238 Ribbing .................................... 237 Making sleeve separators ........... 239

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Battery Assembly Assemble the elements .............. 247 Fit and install the elements ......... 249 Install the cover ........................ 254 Add the electrolyte .................... 257

CHARGING and FORMING

Plate Forming

Forming and charging basics ...... 259 Designated vs. actual voltage ...... 259

Forming for Plante plates ........... 259 Forming cycles .......................... 260 Discharging .............................. 261 Initial charging for pasted plates .. 264

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Equipment for Forming and Charging Charging from the grid ............... 265 Manual chargers ....................... 266 Smart chargers ......................... 267 Charging multiple batteries ......... 267 Chargers for either grid or solar .. 268 Solar chargers .......................... 269 Charging and Forming Procedure Sequence for charging ............... 273

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Discharging sequence for forming Plante type plates ................ 276 Next cycle for forming ................ 277 Safety during forming and charging.. 278 Gassing ................................... 278 Electrolyte levels ....................... 280 Final charge ............................. 277 Equalization charges .................. 279

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Formulas for working with batteries . 285 Tests, performance characteristics and statistics ...................... 286

Wiring and Connectors

APPENDIX
Resources

Safety clothing and equipment guidelines ............ 291 Compliance Codes .................... 292 Safety equipment and clothing .... 293 Material Data Safety Sheets ....... 293

Materials and Tools Resin codes ............................. 294

O ther Titles of Interest ....... 301

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An Introduction to Lead Acid Batteries

spongifying the lead on each plate, which enhances the performance of the cell. The porous sponge plates of Plantes experimental cell produced about 7.25 amp-hours per pound of lead and had an efficiency of about 72%. Plante continued experimenting and improving on his lead acid cell for the next twenty years. Although the Plante batteries worked very well, they were not viable as a commercial offering because the process for forming the plates took a long time.

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A solid plate, with scoring to increase surface area.

In 1881 mile Alphonse Faur developed a different process for plate preparation and drastically reduced the time it took to make plates. Rather than forming the solid plates by the tedious process of charging and decharging through many cycles over many days, Faur filled grids with the appropriate chemical compounds so that the batteries could be put into service after one initial charge. This made the manufacture of lead acid batteries an economical enterprise, as they could be mass A pasted Faur plate produced at a fast rate.

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An Introduction to Lead Acid Batteries

Terminal posts and intercell connectors
Terminal posts are the visible lead posts that you see on batteries. The number of terminal posts on a battery can vary. Most consumer batteries have two: one positive and the other negative. Most individual battery cells within a case are

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Internal intercell connections

connected in series (positive to negative) to add voltage. The cells are connected via intercell connectors which can either be external or internal.

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Terminal posts for external connections

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Basic Battery Design

Case covers need to fit well and be sealed, and have ports with caps for filling and venting. If you make your own covers, recycled caps can be used, which can save you some fabrication work. Or, you can purchase new caps like the flip-top vented caps shown in the photo.

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Case covers can be sealed with Viton caulk and then epoxied to retain the cover to the case. If heat is used for sealing or unsealing, here are the melting points for some commonly used materials:
p p p p

Polypropylene 320F

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New vented flip-top caps for a recycled case lid

High density polyethylene 248F to 266F Low density polyethylene 221F to 239F Polyvinyl chloride 413F

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Recycling Battery Parts

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When everything is ready and in place, unscrew the caps from the battery cover and place the caps in a plastic container for cleaning. Next, twist off the terminals with a pair pliers. Terminals are easily removed in this manner. Place the terminals in a receptacle for cleaning and melting.

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Recycling Battery Parts

Removing the battery elements
Once the lid is off the case, remove the elements from the battery. If they have intercell connections, the elements will be attached to each other through the cell wells. To get the elements out of the cells you need to cut the intercell connecting rods. I usually use a thin chisel to bend the strap attachments away from the cell walls so that I can get at the connecting rods with the chisel. Then, hammer the chisel gently to sever the connecting rod between the intercell connectors. However you can do it, each element needs to be disconnected from the others so that you can remove it from the cell well. Once the intercell connectors are cut, pull each element from the case. In some batteries the plates will have expanded so much that they become tightly retained in the case. To test for removal, grab both of the group straps and pull straight upward. If they do not budge you may need pliers to grab the group straps. If the case tends to move upward as you pull the plates, you can use your feet to hold it in place while you lift the element.

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Making Plates from Lead Sheet

The scribe lines are deepened with the linoleum knife, being careful not to stray from the scribe line. The linoleum knife deepens the cuts quite well if you work slowly.

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The fanout knife is used to finish the cuts.

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Burning Plates into Groups

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The burn

Burning the lugs to the strap is pretty straightforward. Start by melting the protruding lug tops down to the surface of the strap and then melt the lugs and strap together in one continuous melt. If you need to add lead to voids or to even out the surface you can do so with the welding wire while burning.

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Battery Assembly
Adjust and align the holes in the intercell connectors with the holes in the cell walls and slip the threaded lead rods through the connectors and cell wall.

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Test the pocket nuts on the threaded rods to see if the connection is tight. If they are a bit loose, add a thin lead connecting seal over the threads (see page 137). Press the seals onto the threads. Be careful not to drop the seals into the cell well, otherwise you will have to remove the element and retrieve the lost seal.

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Wheelock Mountain Publications:

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Solar Supercapacitor Applications by Phillip Hurley Practical Hydrogen Systems by Phillip Hurley Build Your Own Fuel Cells by Phillip Hurley

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Wheelock Mountain Publications is an imprint of Good Idea Creative Services 324 Minister Hill Road Wheelock VT 05851

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