What is the difference between these battery types

I apologize if this is a stupid question. What is the difference between a sealed, gel and flooded lead-acid cell ? Flooded I can see needs distilled water, but I am confused about the other two. Thanks in advance.

Reply to
Daku
Loading thread data ...

formatting link

--
www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

Sealed Lead-Acid Cells (SLACs) usually have the electrolyte impregnated in a fiber(glass) matt that separates the lead plates. Gel-cells are a little different, in that instead of a matt the electrolyte is a gel rather than a liquid. Both are "sealed" but will have pressure relief vents in case they're over-charged. If they ever do vent, chuck 'em.

Both of these types (GelCells and SLACs) are good for applications where the orientation isn't fixed. Flooded cells tend to spill. ;-)

Reply to
krw

Just for the sake of contrariness, I find myself impelled to mention the strange cell caps I saw once on a flooded lead-acid in an airplane. They were about four inches tall, and had a little snorkel-type arrangement where when you pulled negative gees or went inverted, the little ball would fall "up" the cap and block off the liquid path. :-)

Cheers! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

The crud that tends to scale off the plates wouldn't do so well back between the plates.

Reply to
krw

If you've got crud scaling off the plates, you've got no business trying to use it in an operational airplane, i.e., you need a new battery STAT! ;-)

Cheers! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

Ever see what's in the bottom of a car battery?

Reply to
krw

Being an aviation-related issue, they would have a way of dealing with that. I have no clue what it might be (probably some treatment that makes the battery more expensive, heavier for the capacity, less reliable overall but more visibly unreliable, etc.).

Aviation stuff is the same as car stuff in principle, but boy they do a lot of the details differently!

--
www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

Cars typically don't pull negative gees, or fly inverted except for very short periods of time.

Hope This Helps! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

The chemistry is the same.

Reply to
krw

Drivers last words: "Hey Bubba! Watch this! Yee-ha!"

--
Paul Hovnanian     mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
Paul Hovnanian P.E.

You forgot, ", hold my beer" after the "Hey Bubba".

Reply to
krw

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.