Battery shelf life

[mgookin]

Just wait one year and buy batteries then.

 

[broadgage]

The best option is probably not to purchase or supply the battery until shortly before it is required for use.

If this is not possible, then I would agree with the suggestion to fit a small PV module and charge controller, these are cheap and widely sold.

The shelf life of lead acid batteries without charging is rather variable, it depends on the ambient temperature, and on what you require the battery to do at the end of the shelf life or storage time.

There is a lot of difference between expecting a long stored battery to start an engine without prior charging, and between expecting the battery to accept a charge from a line powered battery charger and THEN start an engine.

The size of the battery relative to the engine size is also very relevant.
If the generator set supplier recomends a 400 AH battery, then this will only reliably start the engine if well charged and in good condition.
If however the user has fitted a 1,000 AH battery, then that is likely to start the engine even if partly discharged and in marginal condition.

 

[petersonra]

We use 12V, 120 to 180AH low maintenance lead acid battery for generators. For some cell tower sites, the generator is supplied prior to obtaining POCO supply. So the battery sits idle along with the generator some times more than a year. When time finally comes for commissioning the tower, it used to see the battery dead beyond revival and the supplier stated only one year warranty. But the battery shelf life now a days is two years. Your opinion please.

my opinion is to buy a better battery or one with more capacity.

or find a way to keep it charged.

if those are not an option wait until you actually need it to buy it and install it.

 

[kwired]

If this is a remote cell site or even in a urban area you would not have to worry about the generator. In a years time someone will take it and use it somewhere unknown to you.

Cell sites are target #1 for crack heads. They take everything that is not bolted down. In DFW area alone Verizon Wireless has on average 4 to 5 cells sites a week hit with copper thieves.

OP is in India, don't know if that situation is common there or not.

Just wait one year and buy batteries then.

I was going to suggest that, seems as though everyone in the last few posts agrees with that concept to some extent.

 

[dereckbc]

OP is in India, don't know if that situation is common there or not.

If that is the case then I would certainly would not let a genset set in a crate or installed outside in a tropical environment without running once a week. I would put it in dry storage and install when needed.

 

[Sahib]

Thanks, guys for your remarkable suggestions.
I want to submit one more question.
Sometimes the battery may be revived by very slow charging to reverse the sulphation process already set in in the idle lying battery. I want to know how long after the battery sits idle this slow charging strategy effective. Thanks.

 

[dereckbc]

Sometimes the battery may be revived by very slow charging to reverse the sulphation process already set in in the idle lying battery.

Not possible once lead sulfate crystals have hardened. They can only be dissolved while they are in the soft gel stage. After that it is over.

 

[GoldDigger]

What about the magical devices that use high frequency pulses to vibrate the crystals into submission? I understand they also repel gophers and mosquitoes.

Tapatalk!

 

[Besoeker]

What about the magical devices that use high frequency pulses to vibrate the crystals into submission? I understand they also repel gophers and mosquitoes.

Could be useful here............

 

[kwired]

What about the magical devices that use high frequency pulses to vibrate the crystals into submission? I understand they also repel gophers and mosquitoes.

Tapatalk!

I have more interest in the repelling action than I have in reviving a battery at this time, the gophers raised hell with my yard last year, and one of these years the mosquitoes will probably return, last two or three years have been dry enough they weren't a widespread problem like they sometimes are.

 

[ceb58]

I was going to suggest that, seems as though everyone in the last few posts agrees with that concept to some extent.

We had the same problem with our generators being shipped in in bulk and setting on the riggers yard for a year or more before being installed. The batteries would some times take a charge but would not last long. We had it written in our contractor with the supplier that the MFG. would ship the generator with out a battery and they would bring a new battery to install at the time of start up.

 

[Sahib]

The subject battery was put on a trickle charge of 3A for around two weeks. Lo and behold. The battery is now able to start the generator and is in usable condition. Probably, the trickle charging was able to reverse the sulphation process in the supposedly dead battery:

Sometimes the battery may be revived by very slow charging to reverse the sulphation process already set in in the idle lying battery.

 

[GoldDigger]

Most professionals who work with lead acid batteries feel that there is no practical way to reverse sulfation damage.
The best that could happen would be the breakdown of a layer that reduced the surface conductivity of one of the electrodes the battery might be able to deliver starting current again, but the capacity of the battery would still be permanently reduced.

Tapatalk!