Additional Hints For Lead Acid Batteries - Westfalia 15 30 15 Bedienungsanleitung

Additional Hints for Lead-acid Batteries
 During normal operation lead-acid batteries might generate explosive gases.
Explosive gas can be ignited by a cigarette or an open flame and can damage
the battery. Thereby acid will splash out and causes serve chemical burns!
 When handling lead-acid batteries always wear safety goggles and avoid
contact of battery acid with skin and clothing. Wear safety gloves!
 Do not smoke in the vicinity of batteries. Avoid open flames.
 Ensure sufficient ventilation! Discharged lead-acid batteries freeze at
extremely low temperatures! Never test a frozen lead-acid battery!
 Never place the battery load tester on the object to be tested! Never perform
measurements on a lead-acid battery for more than 10 seconds.
 In case of eye contact with battery acid, flush eyes for at least 5 minutes with
water and consult a physician! In no circumstances apply medication or eye
drops without asking a physician.
 The efficiency of a lead-acid battery decreases with dropping temperatures. A
fully charged battery has a capacity of 40 % at an ambient temperature of
-18 °C.
 Most batteries are damaged while over charging.
 All batteries loose their charge after some time if temperature increases. Self-
discharging of maintenance-free batteries is lower than discharging of com-
mon lead-acid batteries.
 Preferably store batteries in cool temperatures to avoid self-discharging to a
minimum.
 Attention! Do not allow a battery to freeze!
 A fully charged battery will freeze at approx. -65 °C, a half discharged battery
at -26 °C and a battery that is charged up to 25 % will freeze at -15 °C.
 A battery that has been stored uncharged for long period of time will
"sulphurize" very easily and looses its capacity because sulphur will deposit on
the plates.
 A fully charged and fault-free battery has a no-load voltage of 12.7 V or more.
A defective or discharged battery has no-load voltage of 10.5 V or less.
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