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Plate
Shedding
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Industrial batteries are made up of groups of 2 volt “cells”.
Each cell is made up of groups of “plates”.
Plate shedding refers to the gradual loss of active
material from a plate’s
grid, and is normal and unavoidable. This is particularly true for the
positive plates. The lead peroxide material they are composed of is a
powder-like substance, and the particles of which do not naturally hold
together. A small amount of sulphate will cement the particles together to
a considerable extent. At the surface of the plate, however, this sulphate
is soon changed to active material, and the peroxide loses its coherence.
Particles of peroxide drop from the plates, and fall into the space in the
bottom of the jar provided for this purpose. The shed material is referred
to as “sediment”.
Bubbles of gas, which occur at the end of a charge, blow some of
the peroxide particles from the plate. Electrolyte
moving about as the battery is jolted by the motion of the forklift also
washes particles of peroxide from the positive plates. Any slight motion
between positive plates and separators
rubs some peroxide from the plates. It is therefore entirely natural for
shedding to occur. The spongy lead of the negatives is much more elastic
than the peroxide, and hence very little shedding occurs at the negative
plates. The shedding at the positives explains why the grooved side of the separator
is always placed against the positive plate.
The grooves, being vertical, allow the peroxide to fall to the bottom of
the jar, where it accumulates as sediment, or "mud."
The result of shedding, provided no other troubles occur, is simply
to reduce the capacity
of the plates. The positives, of course, suffer more from shedding than the
negatives do, shedding being one of the chief weaknesses of the positives.
There is no remedy for this condition. When the shedding has taken place to
such an extent that the capacity of the battery has fallen very low, the
battery should be replaced. Also, over time, the sediment space in the
bottom of the jar becomes filled with sediment, which touches the plates.
This short-circuits the cell, of course, and a new cell must be installed.
Causes
Excessive
Charging Rate, or Overcharging: If a battery is charged
at too high a rate, only part of the current is used to produce the
chemical actions by which the battery is charged. The balance of the
current decomposes the water of the electrolyte
into hydrogen and oxygen, causing gassing. As the bubbles of gas force
their way out of the plates, they blow off particles of the active
material. When a battery is overcharged, the long continued gassing has
the same effect as described in the preceding paragraph.
Charging
Sulphated Plates at too High a Rate: In sulphated plates, the chemical
actions which take place as a battery is charged can proceed but very
slowly, because the sulphate, besides being a poor conductor, has formed
larger crystals which present only a small surface for the electrolyte
to act upon, and has also covered up much of the remaining active
material. Since the chemical actions take place slowly, the charging
current must be kept at a low value. If too heavy a charging current is
used, the battery will be overheated,
and some of the current will simply cause gassing as explained in No. 2
above. The gas bubbles will break off pieces of the sulphate, which then
fall to the bottom of the jars as "mud."
Charging Only
a Part of the Plate: If the electrolyte
falls below the tops of the plates,
and the usual charging current is sent into the battery, the current will
be too great for the plate area through which it passes, and hence gassing
and shedding will result as already explained. The same condition exists in
a battery in which one or more plates have been broken from the strap,
either because of mechanical vibration or because of impurities such as
acetic acid in improperly treated separators.
The remaining plates are called upon to do more work, and carry the entire
charging current. Gassing and shedding will result.
Freezing: If a battery
is given any care whatever, there is little danger of freezing. The
electrolyte of a fully charged battery with a specific gravity of 1.285
freezes at about 92° below zero. With a specific gravity of 1.150, the
electrolyte freezes at about 5° above zero. A frozen battery therefore
indicates gross neglect. As the electrolyte freezes, the water of the
electrolyte expands. Since there is electrolyte in all the inner parts of
the plate, the expansion as the water in the paste freezes forces the
pastes out of the grids. The expansion also cracks the rubber jars, and
sometimes bulges the cell
covers.
Loose Active
Material
This refers to a condition in which the active materials are no
longer in contact with the grid. Corrosion, or sulphation, of the grids
themselves is generally present at the same time, since the chemical
actions are shifted from the active material to the grids themselves.
Causes
Over
discharge: As a battery discharges, the lead sulphate which forms
causes an expansion of the active material. If a battery is repeatedly
over-discharged, this results in the positives shedding. In the negatives,
the spongy lead is puffed out, resulting in the condition known as
"bulged negatives”.
Plate
Buckling: As a plate grid is bent out of shape, the active
material, especially the peroxide, breaks loose from the grid, since the
peroxide cannot bend as much as the grids. This occurs in the negatives
also, though not to such an extent as in the positives. If the plates are
buckled to such an extent that the element will not go back into the jar,
the positives should be discarded. If the positives are buckled, the
negatives will be also, but not to the extent that the positives are.
In the case of the positives, there is no remedy, and the plates
should be discarded. The negatives, however, may be fully charged, and then
straightened, and the active material forced back flush with the grids by
pressings
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Last Updated: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - 10:15 PM Eastern Time.
 
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BATTERY / CHARGER BRANDS WE SERVICE: (In alphabetical order) Battery Builders / BBI batteries and chargers, Battery Handling
Systems / BHS battery handling equipment, Bulldog batteries and chargers, CEN
/ Chloride / Applied Energy Solutions chargers, Crown batteries, Deka / East
Penn batteries, Douglas batteries and chargers, Enersys batteries and
chargers, Exide batteries and chargers, General / GBC batteries and chargers,
GNB batteries and chargers, Gould chargers, Hawker / KW batteries and
chargers, Hertner chargers, Hobart chargers, Lamarche (La Marche) chargers,
North East / Northeast batteries and chargers, Power Flow batteries, Yuasa
batteries and chargers, Mac chargers, Watermaster battery watering systems, among others. We can perform warranty repairs only if authorized by
the manufacturer in advance.
WE STOCK BATTERIES DESIGNED TO FIT THE FOLLOWING LIFT
TRUCK BRANDS: Bendi,
Baumann, Cat, Caterpillar, Clark, Crown, Daewoo, Drexel, Hyster, Kalmar,
Komatsu, Linde, Mitsubishi, Motrec, Nissan, Prime Mover, Raymond, TCM,
Toyota, and Yale, among
others. If your brand is not listed, we usually stock a compatible size at
our Chicago
depot. Download our battery size charts to determine the recommended battery
size for your forklift.
OUR PRODUCTS ARE DESIGNED FOR THE FOLLOWING INDUSTRIAL
FORKLIFT TYPES / APPLICATIONS: Tugger, aircraft
tugger, scissor, turret, side loader, reach truck, narrow isle, pallet jack,
in EE (spark-proof) and EX (explosion proof) environments.
We offer batteries and chargers in
the following standard voltages: 6 cell / 12v, 12 cell / 24v, 18 cell / 36v,
24 cell / 48v. Custom sizes and configurations are available upon request.
We
carrier a full line of New, Used and Reconditioned Batteries and Chargers,
including replacement cells. We offer on-site battery testing and repair, and
rental equipment.
Shop repair services
include: Acid
adjustment (adjusts specific gravity by adding acid),
capacity testing, cell replacement, cable replacement and refurbish.
We also buy, sell, and trade new and
used batteries and chargers, scrap and damaged product.
PARTS: We sell
loose cells, positive and negative cables, hydrometers,
intercell connectors, adapter cables (series or parallel), Anderson
connectors / plugs, connector hardware, lugs, etc. We also sell charger
parts, such as rectifiers (diodes), AC and DC fuses, line contactors,
ammeters, resistors and capacitors.
BATTERY CLEANING: If your batteries are showing signs of corrosion,
we offer products to clean and neutralize acid
/ corrosion build-up. We also offer an on-site battery cleaning service, as
well as spill clean up services.
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Alaskan Specialists, Industrial Batteries - Anchorage Alaska, A.K., AK
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- Magnolia Arkansas, Ark, AR Southwest
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Florida Industrial Battery Lift Power
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Forklift Industrial Battery Supply
Gregory - Salisbury Power Louisiana, La., LA
Fork Lift
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Forklift Battery, Batteries - North
East Massachusetts, Mass., MA
Industrial Forklift Batteries, Ideal
Courtney Battery - Alpine Michigan Battery, Mich., MI
Minnesota
Industrial Battery, CSS Power A-Battery City, MN
Fork Lift Truck Battery Power
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Arrow Battery
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