How much can you discharge a lead acid battery?

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a lead acid battery will self-discharge at a rate of approximately 4% a week. A battery with a 125-amp hour rating would self-discharge at a rate of approximately five amps per week.



In this regard, how do you discharge a lead acid battery?

Specifically, if you want to fully discharge a typical car battery (12V, 60 A hr), all you need is a 20 ohm, 10 W resistor (or equivalent), and connect it across the battery terminals. Leave it connected for about 4 days, and with a voltmeter verify that the voltage is zero.

Similarly, what happens when a lead acid battery discharges? Basically, when a battery is being discharged, the sulfuric acid in the electrolyte is being depleted so that the electrolyte more closely resembles water. At the same time, sulfate from the acid is coating the plates and reducing the surface area over which the chemical reaction can take place.

Correspondingly, how much lead is in a battery?

The amount of lead in a car battery is 21.4 lbs.

How do you bring a dead lead acid battery back to life?

Bring Dead Lead Acid Battery to Live Again

  1. Step 1: Preparing the Battery. 3 More Images.
  2. Step 2: Fill the Water Inside the Battery.
  3. Step 3: Mix Water With Acid and Charging.
  4. now pull the wasted water from the top of 3 holes by the syringe and let the battery charging.
  5. 39 Discussions.

29 Related Question Answers Found

Should I add water or acid to my battery?

It's important to note that battery owners should never add sulfuric acid to their battery. During normal operation batteries will only consume water – and not sulfuric acid. When your battery's electrolyte is observed to be low, filling the battery with water will keep the battery healthy and safe for use.

How do you restore a 12v lead acid battery?

How to Revive Old Lead Acid Batteries
  1. Step 1: You Will Need. -Multimeter.
  2. Step 2: Measure Battery Voltage. Connect multimeter to your battery and check voltage.
  3. Step 3: Inspect the Cells. Place paper towels on your working areas.
  4. Step 4: Add Water.
  5. Step 5: Turn on Your PSU.
  6. Step 6: Testing Battery.
  7. Step 7: Edit: 28.04.

What should a 12 volt battery read when fully charged?

When the battery is not being charged and not delivering charge to a load, this is the rule of thumb. For a 12 volt, leadacid battery, the voltage measured between these two points should be between 11 and 13 volts. The closer the voltage is to 13 volts, the closer the battery is to being fully charged.

Is it OK to fully discharge a lithium ion battery?


Modern devices use Lithium Ion batteries, which work differently and have no memory effect. In fact, completely discharging a Li-ion battery is bad for it. You should try to perform shallow dischargesdischarge the battery to something like 40-70% before recharging it, for example.

What is discharging a battery?

When you discharge that battery, you are reversing the charging process and using the potential electric energy to drive other electric components. This state is called battery discharging, as the opposite to battery charging. The discharging current depends on power consumption of the device.

Can you use battery lead for bullets?

DO NOT use lead batteries to cast bullets. It is the wrong "kind" of lead and you will waste alot of time trying to get it to work. Get your lead from another source.

What are the advantages of lead acid batteries?

Lead acid batteries with electrodes modified by the addition of Calcium providing the following advantages: More resistant to corrosion, overcharging, gassing, water usage, and self-discharge, all of which shorten battery life. Larger electrolyte reserve area above the plates. Higher Cold Cranking Amp ratings.

What are scrap car batteries worth?

On this page you will see not only todays scrap price, but also the average prices of scrap car batteries over the last 30 days.

Current Prices for Scrap Metal.
(Last Modified: February 29th, 2020, 7:10 am)
Metal/Material Current Price
500-750 MCM (Bare Bright Inside) $1.67/lb

What is the ratio of acid to water in a battery?


The correct ratio of water to sulfuric acid in battery electrolyte is approximately: 80 percent water to 20 percent sulfuric acid.

Why do lead acid batteries die?

The primary reason for the relatively short cycle life of a lead acid battery is depletion of the active material. These conditions are found under: Corrosion, Shedding and internal Short, Sulfation and How to Prevent it, and Water Loss, Acid Stratification and Surface Charge.

How much lead is in a 12v battery?

A twelve-volt battery has six single cells in series producing a fully charged output voltage of 12.6 volts. A battery cell consists of two lead plates a positive plate covered with a paste of lead dioxide and a negative made of sponge lead, with an insulating material (separator) in between.

Do car batteries have lead?

Batteries used in cars are lead-acid batteries. They produce voltage by having plates of metal (made of lead-based alloys) immersed in an electrolyte solution (a mix of 65% water and 35% sulphuric acid) in six cells. Typical car batteries are either 350, 450 and 600 CCA.

Do Car batteries contain lead?


The modern automotive battery is a lead-acid storage design. In short, it's an electrochemical device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. Typically, the positive plates contain lead dioxide (PbO2), while the negative plates are composed of straight lead (Pb).

Does fully discharging a car battery damage it?

Once a car battery has been drained below a state of full discharge, the damage has been done. If this is the first time that it has been discharged, you should be able to fully charge the battery and continue using it, but every time it is discharged below that threshold of 10.5 volts, the damage is done.

What happens if a battery runs out of water?

As water is consumed, the electrolyte concentration increases and the electrolyte level in the battery drops with the loss of water volume. Eventually it falls below the top of the electrodes exposing them to oxygen from the atmosphere and charging gasses.