(f) The separators may be soggy and somewhat charred and blackened, or they may be clogged up with sulphate, and the battery may need new separators.
(g) The spongy lead may be bulged, or the positives may be buckled. The active material is then not making good contact with the grids, and the charging current cannot get at all the sulphate and change it to active material. The remedy in such a case is to press the negatives so as to force the active material back into the grids, and to put in new positives if they are considerably buckled.
(h) One of the numerous "dope" electrolytes which are offered to the trustful car owner may have been put in the battery. Such "dopes" might cause very severe damage to the plates. Tell your customers to avoid using such "dope."
The conditions which may exist when the plates of a battery take a charge, as indicated by cadmium tests, but the gravity will not come up to 1.280 are as follows:
(a) There may be considerable sediment in the jars but not enough to short circuit the plates. If the battery has at some time been in a sulphated condition and has been charged At too high a rate, the gassing that resulted will have caused chips of the sulphate to drop to the bottom of the jars. When this sulphate was formed, some of the acid was taken from the electrolyte, and if the sulphate drops from the plates, this amount of acid cannot be recovered no matter how long the charge is continued. If the owner tells you that his battery has stood idle for several months at some time, this is a condition which may exist. The remedy is to wash and press the negatives, wash the positives, put in new separators, pour out the old electrolyte and wash out the jars, fill with 1.400 acid, and charge the battery.
(b) Impurities may have used up some of the acid which cannot be recovered by charging. If the plates are not much damaged the remedy is the same as for (a). Damaged plates may require renewal.
(c) Electrolyte may have been spilled accidentally and replaced by water.
(d) Too much water may have been added, with the result that the expansion of the electrolyte due to a rise in temperature on charge caused it to overflow. This, of course, resulted in a loss of some of the acid.
The causes given in (c) and (d) may have resulted in the top of the battery case being acid-eaten or rotted. The remedy in these two instances is to draw off some of the electrolyte, add some 1.400 acid and continue the charge. If plates and separators look good and there is but little sediment, this is the thing to do.
If Battery will not hold a Charge. If a battery charges properly but loses its charge in a week or less, as indicated by specific gravity readings, the following troubles may exist: