new Fiamm lead acid battery already 4 years old? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: multiwirth
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 20, 2020, 12:45:27 pm
content: Hey there!I´m new to this forum but i´m watching EEVBlog for quite some time and thought it might be the best forum for electronic related questions.Something short about myself: My name is Patrick, i´m based in germany, i´m almost 21 years old and in an education for an electronics technician for industrial engineering and my interests are of course in electronics, computers and android-based smartphones (linux world) aswell as model sport with rc airplanes and rc cars.To my question:I´d like to know if anyone knows how to read the date code of Fiamm industrial lead acid batteriesI got two of them from work used in uninterruptible power supply.Both are labeled with the date of installation.The first one was installed in 2014, the second one in 2016.The type is FG20721.Both of them have a date code burned in:1120133/1006201610/13both the 2013 and 2016 could be the manufacturing year which would make sense compared to the date when they were installed.Since they´re already old and have a low capacity, i got one "brand new".I don´t have it on hand at the moment but it´s date code also has a 2016 inside so i wonder if this could be new old stock since the performance also isn´t great (it´s the exact same model).In my application it should last about 20 hours as described in datasheet with a current around 300mA but it simply gives up after 10 hours.Also when charging it up, my imax b6 multicharger calculates the capacity that was charged up and it´s not even close to 7200mAh, it´s around 1600mAh to 2300mAh with a current limit of 1A.I already asked the seller for a replacement and he want´s me to send the battery in for verification.I hope i´m in the right section for this question.Thank you so far

author: ArthurDent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2020, 02:02:57 pm
content: Sealed lead acid batteries are used in a number of pieces of equipment I’ve used over the years. The biggest problem I’ve with a lot of SLA batteries, even brand new ones, is they will die if just left uncharged or go flat over time. Even if they are initially fully charged then left for 6 months or more they will self-discharge, go open circuit, and never accept a charge again. You will see some with cases that start to bulge and split as the chemical reaction inside causes the plates to expand. The only way I’ve found to prevent this problem is to regularly top off the charge on all my spare batteries every month or so.If your battery was made in 2016 then it has probably been stored somewhere and probably hasn’t been charged to keep it from going flat and may have been just partially damaged which could account for the lower capacity. If you send it back, the seller may just check it to see if it can be charge up and not check it for rated capacity. Good luck.

author: multiwirth
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 20, 2020, 04:08:17 pm
content: Hi and thank you for your reply.The battery was claimed as brand new and when i unboxed it, it`s voltage was at 13,1V.The seller also said they weren´t stored for a long time but if i interpret the date code right, the battery i got must be 4 years old which is absolutely inaceptable since even the used battery i got from the trash at work has more measured capacity left after 2 full charge/disscharge cycles.I may sent it in and see what he has to say about this and if he doesn´t agree to replace it, i can open a paypal case.Btw i just filled in some fresh new water into the older battery and see if it will restore it´s capacity.This improved the capacity a lot for some people.I just need a good battery for my DIY portable speaker system.I got the new battery 40 days ago and was used the last few days for backround music while having a BBQ around the house with the family.The power consumption was pretty low, i measured around 300mA and with a capacity of 7200mAh this should last forever...

author: Nauris
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2020, 04:28:08 pm
content: I have found it is best to buy the version where the acid is in a small separate bottle. That way it can be stored indefinitely I think, only put the acid in when you prepare it for the first use.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2020, 06:30:17 pm
content: How do you add the acid to a SLA battery?The only batteries I've seen sold with the acid in a separate bottle were flooded lead acid types like the sort that are (or used to be) common in motorcycles and garden tractors.

author: multiwirth
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 21, 2020, 01:01:58 pm
content: At least you can open up most SLA batteries very easy and expose the valves so you can open the cells (there are 6 rubber caps) and then fill in some water.Those motorcycle batteries get sealed after filling in the acid and you can´t open them again without destroying it.On SLA batteries you just have to glue back the top plate.

author: theleakydiode
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2020, 07:05:27 pm
content: Did you get it from ebay/amazon? I've been looking at these sorts of batteries lately and have noticed some good deals on ebay even for the well known brands, but it makes you wonder how long they've been sitting in storage and if they get a top up charge every few months.It's definitely 350mA discharge to 1.75v per cell at 20c?I guess that's one of the plus sides to ordering from the more expensive reputable suppliers, everything meets spec with no funny business, just costs a bit more!

author: multiwirth
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 23, 2020, 10:45:15 pm
content: Quote from: theleakydiode on May 23, 2020, 07:05:27 pmYes actually it was the cheapest deal from ebay and i also did measurements with my imax b6 multicharger with 10,8V end voltage and i never reached anything close to spec and even the old battery i got out of the trash from work has better performance so yeah hopefully i get a new battery or else i´ll contact paypal for a refund and get my battery elsewhere.

author: theleakydiode
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 24, 2020, 01:53:28 am
content: hmm, definitely seems a bit fishy then. Ebay would seem like a good place to offload older battery stock from a seller point of view, most people buying these sizes of batteries probably install them in a UPS and never actually put them through their paces and go on to give a good review on the ebay page.Having said that a new unused battery from 2016 should still be able to supply close to its capacity providing its not been used or abused in storage, maybe the warehouse doesn't have any kind of temperature regulation or the battery has been sitting in strong summer sunlight via a skylight heating it up.When it comes off charge what voltage does the battery stay at? When mine were brand new they could stay above 13v for days, but as they aged they would settle at 12.5v or whatever around that ballpark very quickly.Your post has convinced me to avoid eBay for sealed lead acid batteries(I'm about to buy some new ones also).

author: multiwirth
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 24, 2020, 06:17:34 am
content: Quote from: theleakydiode on May 24, 2020, 01:53:28 amI´m not sure where to get quality batteries as an end user.It´s not like you call Fiamm to order one single battery and get it within 3 days.The battery i got can hold 13,1V for quite some time and even while discharging it will stay a while on 12,9V until it gets low and unstable at 11,6-10,8V where a slightly higher volume (inside my portable boombox) will trigger the low voltage cut off immediately but will recover at about 12V until the amp turns on again and the short current peak will trigger the cut off again and again i should tune the cut off to recover at 12,8V and not 12V so it won´t turn itself on again and off and on...And as said, the battery reaches the end voltage of 10,8V already after 10 hours while the datasheet gives me a playtime around 20h and up at a constant disscharge of 0,36A and this lost capacity is measureable.

author: theleakydiode
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 25, 2020, 03:17:42 pm
content: Normally I'd go to this local battery place which sells just batteries as it means no battery delivery costs being factored into the price, but everywhere is still pretty much closed up here on the Covid isles of Britain. They're pretty good at keeping fresh batteries ready and waiting.Other than that places like farnell or rs components, but they are more expensive than ebay deals.