BATTERY!!!!!!!

 I. Assuming that we all know what a battery does. Now, a couple of flashes I learned about battery.
1. What's inside of it? H2SO4 and water. Terminals are Pb and PbO , when the magic happens O particles come out of the lead terminals, SO4 particles grap the leads forming PbSO4 also called "Suphated Lead" when battery is depleted. The remaining H2 combines with O forming water. So Frankly, this means a battery being discharged is making H2O and PbSO4, and a charging one is making H2SO4 and PbO. Battery does store electricity, or current, or energy, infact it stores charges ready to flow, by how? By capacity plates, more plates, more storing area. One plate-2.1V, 6 plates-12.6 V- fully charged. 


2.  There are serviceable and untouchable battery. We are talking about serviceable, because what you do when your untouchable is dead? buy a new one. On the serviceable, we can open the casing, vents, electrolyte screws...to observe, add/remove electrolyte or water/ whatever... 
     When recharging, remember from live to dead, pos to pos, neg to ground, (neg to neg or neg to ground before pos to pos and I WONT BE RESPONSIBLE!!)
     Battery can become overcharged, easily. OCV will be wayy higher than 12.6, nt just 13.1 or .2 but near 14V. What can happen? Well too much acid, too aggressively fast flow=> excessive heat. Hence we need to discharge it. I'm not gonna tell the percentage of acid/water ratio but somewhat 75/25 if thats ok and the rest go look it up your self (dont mean to be rude).


3. When buying a new battry, pay attention to these:
Dimention
Durability
Terminal Orientation
Capacity/ CCA-how much Amps for cold cranking which is suitable for your car.


 II. OK now to the REAL test, lets take this to the practical!!!
1. Determine CCA, right on the casing of the battery eg 410 A
2. Perform a visual check
I checked everything, what noticeable was electrolytes spilling all over the cap. Cleaning it up is easy(soda/water mixture). But the real thing is to find the source of the problem. It could be the battery is overcharged(surface charge) so i thought i check the electrolyte level. Now, the level is beyond where i can see the leverage(cell). Electrolytes level too high, its easy to cause spilling. This should be removed to the correct water/acid ratio.


3.Next I check the OCV 13.9V- overcharged, . I can remove the surface charge by light-on load for about 1 min with the voltmeter across the terminals, when i turn off the load, the true OCV will reveal eg. 12.46V nearly 75% charged. This is satisfactory for the test only requires 50% charge battery. Or I can charge it to full using fast charger.


4. Testing the battery electrolyte specific gravity. What noticeable is the color of the hydrometer is not as important as the color of the liquid( clear or murky), but the green-red or white indicate the right level of the electrolyte. I also notice that the float only floats on water, but dives under acid, therefore the test is reliable to carry out.


5. With the high rate discharge test, remember to determine the load current to apply when using a load tester, by half the CCA, eg 205A (CCA 410A). The minimum voltage for cranking is 9.5, so with the load test, the battery must hold above 9.5V. Load be applied for 10sec.


6. Small little thing like radio memory lost should be backed up while measuring parasitic drain. Try to connect the Amp meter in series with the battery without disconnecting the circuit. Why Amps drain should be measured, because such a small consumer can become really consuming when your car is left sleeping for at least a night of 8 hrs a day, this is plenty of time for draining.
     Finally, i want to address the main job of the battery. When engine is off, its job is to carry all the load under its shoulder. And it is inevitably needed for the starter to crank start the engine. But when the engine is on, all the job is for the alternator, and the engine runs it. So kids, when you wanna run the big speakers in your dad's car, ask him if he wants to let go of some gas or if he is comfortable to do a jump start next time. Well i guess it is stupid anyway. So the battery, when your car can't start, it is the first thing you wanna check. Do visual, then get a volt meter to check, if cant, open it up to check the electrolyte level- this is because, it is commonly the incapability of the battery that your car can't start. Then....you can blame the starter, the alternator, whatever just check your BATT first. BIG CHEERS!!!