In this episode, George and Allen set the record straight on lead-acid batteries. They talk about the origin and history of batteries, including French physicist Gaston Plante and his invention of the rechargeable battery.
George and Allen discuss battery lifespan and challenges with different battery types over the years, as well as the importance of the maintenance of the battery and understanding why batteries fail. They emphasize that maintenance and treating the battery properly is the key to battery reliability.
Episode Highlights
08:14 – Lead is a very soft material and in the initial lead acid batteries they used pure lead plates, but these proved to be somewhat cumbersome and didn’t like to be moved.
10:10 – This led to the fact that there was a little bit of a divide between North America and the rest of the world with respect to technologies to use.
12:19 – They still had the problem with the positive plate growth. Once again, these batteries had to be very carefully charged because if they were overcharged, it gassed.
18:39 – With valve regulated lead acid batteries, adhering to the same standard for length of service, what we found out very quickly was that the 10-year life battery, which was probably the one that was launched first, wasn’t performing.
25:30 – That’s probably the biggest challenge we have is getting people to understand the environmental conditions under which these batteries are being operated is key to their life.
33:14 – People have to make sure that the battery is charged at the charge voltage recommended by the manufacturer, not by the ups company, not by the charger company, otherwise you’re going to have problems, big problems.
42:09 – There is no single measurement that you take that tells you the status of the battery. It’s a combination of all the measurements, and their interaction and how they are behaving at the time.
