Lead Acid Batteries

[Anonymous-0]

I have always heard you should never set a lead acid battery on concrete. Is this true? Looking for comments and opions.

 

[Goose]

The story is that it will drain the battery.

My experience has been that it does more damage to the concrete. I usually set one on a piece of board or something--to protect the floor.

 

[NEsota]

This is an "old wives tail" that has little merit. The only reason that I know of not to do it is this: If the cement is cooler than the ambient air then the battery may be also. If conditions are such that moisture condenses on the outside of the battery between the posts, then that conduction may serve to discharge the battery beyond what it would with the self-discharge which is part of the cells design and construction.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Extract from "How to build a high voltage power plant and welding unit" An Aussie publication.

Batteries always operate more efficiently in warm/hot weather. This is because the 'pores' of the plates [similar to the pores on your skin] open up and allow the movement of acid.and a faster chemical reaction. Higher temperatures accelerate all chemical reactions and molecular movement. Cold weather and low temps cause solids to contract and harden up, in a battery cell the 'pores' contract and restrict acid movement. [However, in very cold climates special chemical additives can be used to increase 'pore' size.

 

[rustyfarmall]

I agree with the story, but I've never been able to prove it one way or the other. I also like to set them on a piece of wood.

 

[IH2444]

Perhaps just a tale, but I always set them on a piece of wood to be safe.

Perhaps batteries have changed in their construction and this was a problem but is no longer ?

I just play it safe and set them on wood

 

[cj in wisconsin]

I have the paperwork from three battery companies, showing research that proves it to be a myth. Call mythbusters maybe they will do an independant test.

 

[Mike M]

I do like some of the others and set them on something. I don't see how it could matter , BUT why chance it ? I always have some wood block laying around on the floor anyhow.

 

[glennster]

heres the skinny on it, apparently, in the "olden days" it was a problem
batteries on concrete

 

[guido]

Hello Garry in TN.
NO, modern batteries will not self discharge just by sitting on concrete. It will self disharge if the top has more then .01 volts showing on the meter.
Here is how you test for it: Negative side of volt meter to battery nagative, with positive lead start probing next to the negative post and work your way to the positive post. The none sealed batteries will usually have some kind of voltage, and that is what will eventually discharge the battery.
Guido.

 

[jose bagge]

yeah, modern batteries are a lot different- in fact the term "plate" is hardly applicable anymore. Modern 'plates' are actually like peices of screen with a paste smeared on it- this pasted screen is then put in a pourous envelope to hold it all together, then dropped into slots in the battery case to keep 'em spaced apart to prevent internal shorts. So they're lighter and less prone to performance variation due to temperature, and failure due to vibration.

 

[Ford Red]

Old batteries had hard rubber cases. Based on my measurements case "leakage" with those batteries varied quite a bit from one battery to another. But yes, storing one of those batteries on a conductive surface(including the metal battery box) could and did promote discharging.

Case "leakage" with modern batteries happens only when acid fumes(and maybe some other types of contamination?) accumulate on the outside of the battery, providing a conductive path. But as guido already pointed, so long as the case isn"t conducting(dirty), with modern plastic case batteries self-discharging due to case leakage is not an issue.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Long ago, batteries used glass cell containers held in wood with tarred wood for cell tops and the total battery top. Cold wood with acid and tar surely conducted well when exposed to condensation.

Then batteries went to hard rubber cases, with the cell tops closed by hard rubber and tar. Condensation and leakage through the hard rubber was part of the storage on concrete problem (to say nothing for the effect of a bit of acid on the concrete.

Modern batteries use plastic cases with one piece tops, and sometimes the seal between the top and the side is below acid level and sometimes acid gets out at that seam.

A whole generation of batteries didn't have a seal around the battery posts which made for short life of the mating connectors and the battery was wrecked when picked up by the posts.

The latest batteries generally (but the construction can fail) are well sealed and so keep the acid inside and only an accumulation of dirt on the top could contribute to leakage currents when the battery is cooler than the surrounding air leading to condensation.

Counter to the electrical leakage from condensation when the battery is cool, the cooler battery should last longer in storage because chemical rates are slower when cool.

Gerald J.

 

[ken in texas]

Was in the battery speclist business for 16 years and found no truth to that old time tale. Ifound the problem was leaving a battery sitting anywhere for lon g periods without a regular charge would ruin them.plates will sulphate and harden and not take a charge.I did a lot of study to help me understand the inter workings of lead acid batteries,and it helped me solve battery problems in my business.

 

[Walt Davies]

That whole piece is pure garbage. One thing it says that an old time battery will discharge if set on concrete. Phooey. Poppycock. to discharge a battery it must go from the positive to the negative side. If one hooks up the postive side of battery to ground on the tractor then why doesn't it drain the battery. simple the negative side is not hooked up so no continuity.

Walt

I went though service station school in 1965 and they said it would only mess up the concrete so put it on a board if you like nice looking concrete.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Just bought an '07 Sears craftsman rider. Their instruction book sez never set battery on bare concrete floor.

 

[Aaron Ford]

I have had experience with this recently. While reassembling my tractor, I left the battery in the shop on a battery tender. It sat on a 2x6 due to the legend that it would kill the battery to be set on the floor. I needed the section of 2x6 for a jack cushion (under the tranny) and took it. Two weeks later the battery was dead. Not discharged, not weak, dead. It would not carry more than 8 volts no matter how much charge was put on it.

Now what killed the battery? Not sure. There is nothing wrong with the battery tender. The battery was clean. It was not dropped or mishandled. Did it die of old age? Two cells at once? Possible.

Won"t set another one on concrete.

Aaron

 

[buickanddeere]

If the bottom of the battery is cooler than the top of the battery due to a cool floor and warm air temp. The battery WILL self discharge.

 

[buickanddeere]

All our class I emergency backup batteries at the Nuclear plant are on steel racks up off the floor for a reason.