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Leaking battery - am I doing something wrong?


stuartasutherland

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Any advice would be gratefully received. I went out to fettle with my motor tonight and found white power (corrosion) around the battery. A bit of sanding and a wash and it is okay, but I thought a sealed battery was sealed!

It's a Parajet macro and the battery sits on its side (does this matter). I've been topping up charge via the connector every couple of weeks in anticipation of my first solo flight (hopefully next week).

Is it wrong to charge a battery lying on its side?

Any Parajet macro owners had the same thing?

Did I buy a duff battery?

I'm just using the very basic charger that comes with the motor.

Luckily no damage done.

I attach a couple of photos of batteries used (the one on the left is the problem)

And some whitening of the aluminium from the corrosion.

Should I take the battery back?

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5733640a1573a_photo(1).JPG.18bf1bb4b79c9

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The 'fun start' option that you have on the RHS of the pic, are the ones that are standard.

If it is leaking, you should just take it back to the shop.

I am not familiar with the battery on the left of your pic.

SW :D

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should not matter if its on its side as its a gell battery that are sealed. the white stuff on the alli is prob because damp has been in the battery box, and a bit of earth leakage, store with the battery off or 1 terminal disconnected. put some silica gell packes taped to the battery and some petrolium jelly from yr bedroom on the terminals. you can leave it a lot longer than two weeks inbetween charging

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Hello.

I'm a lead acid battery dealer and have looked at your pics.

I wouldn't say that you've bought a duff battery, but I would say that you have bought the wrong sort of battery!

The only batteries which are completely leak proof and so can be installed at any angle are gel batteries as per here -

http://www.varta-automotive.com/index.php?id=301

If you scroll over the pic it will explain.

So even the AGM (advanced glass matt) Varta battery supplied by Parajet is not the correct product for the application and although it's unlikely it still can leak!

On the plus side, gel batteries can easily be sent through the post. The drawbacks are that they are more expensive and many manufacturers do not make gel batteries in the CT4L-BS size with the starting capability required for the Parajet.

I have quoted Parajet for gel starter batteries in the past and they bought a couple of samples but the battery manufacturer wanted quite a large minimum order and so probably for that reason Parajet never came back for any more. If you're interested I will enquire with my supplier tomorrow to see if he can get hold of a small number of these and a price?

Best regards,

Ian.

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Cable connection corrosion is usually due to an electrolytic situation.

Lead/Copper connections just require an electrolyte (water, humidity even) to begin generating a voltage potential and then corrosion due to oxidation. Not directlt connected to the throughput of the battery, rather the dissimilar metals exposed to air.

The simple fix is clean connections up and use some DIALECTRIC grease/silicone between connections, then coat everything to seal it from further electrolytes. In my experience any other type of grease will seal the connection, but will eventually break the connection and/or cause it's own issues requiring further cleaning. Simply vaseline or grease is one of the poor choices.

Isolating the connection under a thin film of dialectric compound, whether it's grease or silicone, will make you forget you ever had a problem, until you see a mate with the same issue. psst pass it on...

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I've found the optimate will do a better job if you let it cycle through it's charging algorythm once more after it shows the a-ok.

That said; this just in (to me).

Lithium Iron battery on it's way to me to replace my lead lump and at least four pounds of it's ballast.

Check them out:

http://www.shoraipower.com/c-1-batteries.aspx

Integrate your charging system without worrying about burning your ass off.

Giddyup.

Edit: Resellers are the best bet as everything reads out of stock on manu's website.

These appear to be pretty popular in bike circles, which is not surprising.

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