10.2.3 Battery types
According to the principle of the need for maintenance, battery packs are divided into serviceable and maintenance-free. Low-serviceable battery packs have become one of the subtypes of serviceable ones. At the moment, the use of serviceable battery packs is minimized. The names of the types of battery packs speak for themselves.
Liquid electrolyte is the basis of the lead-acid battery packs that are discussed in this chapter. However, battery production technology has come a long way. Nowadays you can often find batteries that are made on the basis of AGM technology, in which the electrolyte itself is absorbed in the glass fibers. One should also not forget about the increasing popularity of AMG (gel) battery packs (GEL), in which the electrolyte is thickened using silica gel to a gel state.
Due to the great variety of battery pack types, there has been much controversy about the effectiveness and durability of each. In essence, there is no one battery, which is ideal for all operating conditions. For, in case of winning in one thing, any type of battery pack definitely loses significantly in something else. For example, very popular maintenance-free "calcium" batteries have very low self-discharge rates and do not require any attention. At the same time, they are very "afraid" of deep discharges (as an example, with repeated short trips in the winter). In case of such discharges, this type of battery pack will become unusable in a very short period of operation. Low-maintenance battery packs are not affected by deep discharges. They instead require regular topping up with distilled water (on average, once every six months).
Note
Electrolyte boils during battery pack charging. But this is boiling not in the everyday sense of the word. Simply happens a splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen (bubbles are created). The component of the electrolyte - water - boils, and the density of the electrolyte, respectively, increases. Distilled water is added in order to bring the electrolyte density back to normal.
Note
Release of hydrogen from the electrolyte is one of the significant dangers during the planned charging of the battery pack. It seems to be insignificant, but though it can explode. Therefore, all precautions shall be observed while servicing and operating the battery.
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