Battery split... Advice please

[peter altas]

G'day all. I've got a bank of Exide Faure X 3200Ah 2V cells.

They're second hand and about 25 years old but working great still.

Just had an equalization charge done and saw the top of this cell split open. I'm assuming the plates have expanded.

Question is, other than using a little more water and it's aesthetics, is this a problem? I was thinking of sealing up the gap with silicone.  If it will be okay for another year or two, I'm looking at upgrading to a new set of batteries anyway.

If I can get a hold of a few secondhanders, is there a charger out there that can float charger one or two cells @ 2 V?  Would be nice to grab a couple of spares and have them on hand.

[wpowokal]

It is expansion of the positive plate/connection that has caused that crack, yes seal it and use it, when they expand so much that they split the casing at the corners you are on the down hill slide, in my experience extended overcharging and therefore expanding causes excessive cracking.

Having said that they are great batteries that give many years of service.

Allan

[peter altas]

Thanks mate. That's what I was thinking.

They're starting to get a little hard to come by now. If I get a cell failure I'll be up for a new bank.

[Isaiah]

What I have had some success with cracks is I have several large old electric soldering irons
 and I heat  it up and  take some extra plastic and melt the crack back shut.just like soldering or brazing  only using plastic
 Then  you can put a coat of liquid tape over that and it should be good.
The liquid tape takes a while to dry and harden. you can find liquid tape in wal mart in the auto or boat section
,a little pricy I think but it dose the job. Good luck with  it.
 Isaiah

[florrieford]

Hi - I also have a 24V bank of the same batteries - age unknown. No splits tank goodness. but anothers RAPS guy and I puchase 48v and some were damaged in transit - he said that he would take the damaged - ones we found that the material was acrilic and could be repared using acetate in which some acrilic was - disolved worked well and is still ok ten years later.

[Flux]

Not much to add, as long as you can keep the electrolyte in it should be ok. The old glass tank ones used to split completely with fairly disastrous results. It is indeed expansion of the positive plates and will always happen after a long life. No matter how well you look after them you will get sulphate forming in the plates and any life beyond 20 years is really a bonus.  The fact is that once one cell does this you can expect the rest to follow so keep an eye on them.

As long as you can fix the leak before you loose the electrolyte you have a chance even if you have to make a fibreglass tank to keep the acid in. If you get one completely emptied it will soon be useless.

Flux