CHAPTER 2

• Batteries – Vehicles Batteries

• Lead Acid Batteries.
• The functions of Batteries.
• The construction of Batteries.
• Selection.
• Battery rating.
• Size & Terminal location.
• Maintenance and charging.
• Series and parallel charging.
 Introduction

• The battery is an electromechanical device. It convert

chemical into electrical energy.
• The battery produces electricity to operate the starting motor
and ignition system while starting the engine.

 Discharging- battery changes chemical energy into electrical

energy, Therefor the current flow out the battery.

 Charging- electrical energy is converted into mechanical

energy.
• An automotive battery is a type
of rechargeable battery that
supplies electric energy to an
automobile.

• Automotive batteries usually

provide a nominal 12V potential
difference by connecting six
galvanic cells in series.

• Each cells provide 2.1V for total

of 12.6V for full volt.
Function :

• To operate starter motor , ignition motor relays during

cranking of the engine.
• Supply all of the electrical power for the car whenever
the enrgy is not running.
• Help the charging system in providing electricity when
demand is above the output of the charging system.
• Store electrical energy for extended periods.
• Act as a voltage stabilizer that smoothen the current
through the vehicle electrical system.
• To allow dynamic memory and alarm system to remain
active the vehicle is left for a period of time.
An automobile battery contains:

1. Diluted sulphuric acid (electrolyte)

2. Positive plate
3. Negative plate

• Internally battery is separated into several cells

and each cell are several battery elements, all
this a submerged in the electrolyte.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE
• The positive plates and negative plates are each
BATTERIES
connected together by separate plate straps.

• These group of positive and negative plates are

then placed alternately, separately with fiber
mats
LEAD ACID BATTERIES
 Battery construction
Cell Element
Sepa ra tor

N eg a ti ve
Posit ive
Pl at e Group
Pl at e Group
1. Positive plates

 Lead peroxide (brown colour) as active material formed on mesh/grid connection

 Strap together to form positive plate group
 Standard car battery has 1.52 mm grid thickness-one plate less common practice.

2. Negative plates

 Pure lead (grey color) sponge lead as active material formed on mesh framework.
 Strap together to form negative plate group.
 Standard car battery has 1.40mm grid thickness.

3. Separator

 Insulated and corrosion resistant material such as PVC , paper based, glass fiber
 Must have correct pore structure from he electrolyte passage –prevent positive and
negative plate from touching.

CONSTRUCTION OF BATTERY
4. Grid

 To conduct electricity to and from active

material and to support the active material.
 Grid is made of lead +antimony –but promotes
electrolyte gassing (loss of electrolyte)
 Grid of lead+ calcium used fro maintained free
battery minimum loss electrolyte.

5 . Container

 Plastic container , corrosion resistance

material,
 It is divide into six compartment or cells
 Upper and lower electrolyte level markers are
provide on the translucent battery case
showing electrolyte level
 The plates are raised them from shorting out if
any of the active materials should happen to
fall from the plates.
 7. Cell connector :
6. Vent plug
 Heavy , cast alloy metal straps are
welded to the negative terminal of the
 Vent plug are the caps for the
one cell and the positive terminal of the
holes are used fo adding adjoining cell until all six cells are
electrolyte , connector in series.
 They are designed to separate
the hydrogen gas from the
battery and sulphuric acid mist 8. Cell partitions:
are present in the air inside the
battery by allowing the by  part of the case , the partitions separate
hydrogen gas to escape through each cell.
the vent holes.
9. Terminal posts:

 positive and negative posts (terminal) on

the case top have thick, heavy cables
connected to them. These cables
connect the battery to the vehicle
electrical system (positive ) and to
ground (negative)
 1. Performance
This indicate the battery’s capacity indirectly . The
chart shows the relationship between battery
identification codes and battery capacity. The capacity
is expressed in ampere-hours.

Width Heigth
162 127
203 127
207 175
BATTERY
204 IDENTIFICATION
176
CODE
213 182
213 222
220 278
BATTERY IDENTIFICATION
CODE
 Batteries that are made in Japan are given a battery code.

 JIS

 The code indicate the battery capacity, dimensions and

the positive of the positive terminal
Position of the positive terminal

The position of the terminal of a battery is indicated

either by R (right side), L(left side) or blank.

NS 40 Z L

Position of –ve terminal

BATTERY IDENTIFICATION
CODE
Battery
series
Discharging
model
Size of case
 CELL THEORY
 A lead –acid cell work by simple principle, when two different
metals are immersed in an acid solution , a chemical
reaction creates electrical pressure.

 Lead dioxide has a positive electrical charge , the other

metal is sponge lead . It has negative electrical charge, the
electrolyte acid solution is mixture of sulphuric acid (H2S04)
and water(H20)
BATTERY ELECTROMAGNETIC
FORCE(EMF)
 The electromotive force (EMF) generated
by one cell is approximately 2.1 V.
 Since the automobile batteries have six
cells that are connected in series, their
nominal output EMF is about 12V
ELECTROMECHANICAL
REACTION
A lead acid storage Discharging
battery can be partially
dischaged and As the battery is discharging , electrolyte
recharged many times . becomes diluted and the plate become
There are four stages in sulphate.
this discharging The electrolyte divide into hydrogen and
/charging cycle. sulphate
The hydrogen combines with oxygen from
1. Charged positive plate to from more water
A fully charged battery The sulphate combines with the lead (pb) in
contains a negative both plates to form lead sulfate
plate of sponge lead , a
positive plate of lead
dioxide and electrolyte
of sulphuric acid
  All batteries have internal
Discharged: in a fully resistance but is very low. Eg:
discharge battery , both 0.005ohm.
plates are covered with  The internal resistance of the
lead sulphate and the battery causes the battery output
electrolyte is dilute with voltage decreased
water  V=E-Ir
 V is actual terminal voltage , E
theoretical voltage , r is internal
resistance.
 Under normal discharging , fine crystal of lead
sulphate are formed on the plate s and charging
 If battery is left discharge for long period , the
crystal turns into coarse lead sulphate which are
not easily convertible
 Sulphation causes the reduction in battery Ah SULPHATION
and also slowdown the charging process
 In minor sulphation cases , extended period of
charging at low current will improve but in
serious cases the battery is condemned due to
internal short.
 Over period of time, a battery which is not used will gradually
lose its charged due to several factor;

i. Internal chemical reaction due to antimony deposit on negative plate

ii. Leakage current due to dirt and fume to form conducting path
iii. Sediment at the bottom of the battery

Self discharge at rate 0.2% to 1% of the battery Ah

per day.

iv. To avoid high temperature discharged , store in cool place

v. Charge battery every month
vi. Once fully discharge it may not fully recover.

BATTERY SELF DISCHARGED

 Wear glove and safety glasses
 Remove rings. Watched , other jewelers
 Never use spark producing tools near a battery
 Never lay tools on the battery
 When removing cables, always remove the ground cable first
 When connecting cables, always connect the ground cable last
 Do not use the battery ground terminal even checking for
ignition spark
 Be careful not to get electrolyte, put he acid into the water , not
the water into the acid.
 Always follow the recommended procedures fro battery testing
and charging and or jumping staring an engine.

BATTERIES MAINTENANCE &

SERVICE
Battery maintenance includes
 Making visual inspection ‘
 Cleaning the battery, top, terminal. And cable clamp
 Testing the battery
 Charging the battery

BATTTERY MAINTENANCE
 Cleaning battery
Battery trouble diagnosis
 The two main causes of battery
troubles are overcharging and
BATTERY VISUAL undercharging

INSPECTION 1.


Overcharging
Causes damage to the plate and
shortens battery life .
 Electrolyte leakage  The high voltage can also damage
other electrical and electronic
 Electrolyte level components
 For vent cap battery shown by frequent
 Crack case addition of water
 Loose hold down clamps  For maintenance free battery shown by
low electrolyte level.
 Loose terminal Other signs of overcharging
 Voltage >15volt
Corrosion around the terminal  Electrolyte dry too fast
and clamps can be cleaned by  Vigorous bubbles
using a battery terminal brush  Pungent smell
(with a solution baking soda  Surface always burnt
and water)
 Battery bulge
2. undercharging
 Possible caused
 Charging system malfunction
 Defective connection in charging system
 Excessive load demands on battery
 Defective battery
 Self discharged
 Excessive key off current drain

Cause of battery failure

all battery have limited life, but some condition can shorten the
system

BATTERY TROUBLE
DIAGNOSIS
1. ELECTROLYTE LEVEL:
 A low exposes active material and any sulfate
hardens and resists chemical action.
 Loss of electrolyte may be cause by a cracked
case, poor maintenance
 Severe overcharging which causes high
internal heat and excessive gassing
 Too much electrolyte is just as bad. Overfilling
dilutes the electrolytes and spillage battery
terminal.

CAUSES OF BATTERY FAILURE

2. overcharging
 by vehicle charging system or separate battery charger causes
excessive gassing and internal heat. Too much gassing can wash active
materials off the plates , as well as cause excessive water usage. Too
much heat can oxidize the positive plate material and warp the plates.

3. undercharging
 A faulty charging system will not maintain the battery at full charge.
Severe undercharging allow sulphate on the plate to become hard an
impossible to remove by normal charging . The weak electrolyte freeze
easier. The undercharged battery may fall to crank the engine.

4. cycling
 Repeated cycling, from fully charged to fully discharged and back-may
cause loss of active material from the positive plates . This reduces
battery capacity and useful life.

CAUSES OF BATTERY
FAILURE
5. TEMPERATURE
 High temperature from overcharging or engine heat
can shorten battery life
 Low temperature
 At the same time , the cold engine requires twice as
much cranking
 The electrolyte in fully charges battery will not
freeze

6. VIBRATION
 A battery must be mounted securely

CAUSES OF BATTERY FAILURE

To determine is it the battery
 Good condition or not
 Needs recharging
 Is defective and should be discarded
 To test the state of charge
 Battery load test
Electrolyte SG test: hydrometer.
 Uses a hydrometer to measure the sepcific gravity of the electrolyte
 By measuring the specific gravity to the electrolyte , it tell if the
TESTING THE BATTERY
battery is fully charged, requires charging , or must be replaced
 Read the specific gravity indicate on the float . Be sure the float is
drifting free, not in contact with the sides of top of the barrel
 It is a built , in hydrometer to show the
condition an state of charge of the battery
 A green indication means the battery is over
65% charged
 If indicator is dark , the battery is less than 65
% charged. The battery should be charged
 If the indicator is light yellow or clear , the
electrolyte level is low if it happen to
maintained –free battery. Replace the battery

CHARGE INDICATOR
CONDITION
 An accurate digital multimeter used to
check the battery open circuit voltage
1. If the battery has just been charged turn on
the headlamps for one minute to remove any
surface
2. Turn headlamps off and connect the voltmeter
across the battery terminals.
3. Read the voltmeter , fully charged battery will
have an open circuit voltage at least 12.5volt .
A dead battery will have an open circuit
voltage of less than 12.0 volts

OPEN CIRCUIT VOLTAGE TEST

 Check for battery drain or leakcurent using an
ammeter
 Connect the ammeter in series between the
battery negative terminal and ground cable
connector
 Common vehicles typically show less than 0.20
amp of current to maintain electronic
memories
 A reading of more than 0.35amp , locate an
correct the cause of excessive battery drain.

BATTERY DRAIN TEST (LEAK

CURRENT)
 A battery charger must be used if the alternator cannot charge the
battery adequately due to long period of no use
 Slow charging
 A slow charge reeds small amount of current into the battery.
Charging time is no longer about 12 hours at 10 amps
 The chemical action inside the battery is improved and the active
material a plated back on the battery plates better
 Fast charging
 A fast charger forces a high current flow into the battery for rapid
charging
 Fast charging allow engine staring in matter of minutes
 A high charging current can be uses below the gassing voltage . If
exceeded the battery starts to gas and leads to water loss in battery.
 Done for emergency case only.

BATTERY CHARGING
 Electrolyte Impurities in battery

temperature
plate area battery

State of charge.
gassing in battery

FACTOR AFFECTING CHARGING

 Temperature: as the temperature decreases the electrolyte
resists charging. A cold battery will take more time to charge
, a warm battery , less time . Never attempt to charge a
frozen battery
 State of charge: the condition of the battery active material
will affect charging, a battery that is severely discharged will
have hard sulfate crystal on its plates. The vehicle charging
system may not be able to change the battery.
 Impurities : dirt and other impurities in the electrolyte
increased charging difficulty
 Gassing: hydrogen and oxygen bubbles form at the plates
during charging . As these bubble out, they wash active
material , cause water loss and increased charging difficulty.

FACTOR AFFECTING CHARGING

 Proper connection in jump starting a dead
battery with a booster battery to prevent
sparks
 Connect cable red to the two positive terminal
 Connect one end of the jumper cable black to
the negative terminal of the battery
 Connect the other end to a good ground away
from the dead battery
 If a sparks occurs, it wont ‘t be near the
battery.

JUMP STARTING
To remove a battery
 Disconnect the ground cable from the battery
 Loosen the clamp bolt then pull the clamp from the
terminal
 If the clamp sticks, use a battery –clamp puller
 Disconnect the positive cable from the battery
 Remove the battery
To install the battery;
 Do not reverse the terminal connection
 Reconnect the positive cable first then ground cable
 Tighten the old hold-down clamps but do not over tighten

REMOVING AND PLACING

BATTERY