What happens when a lead acid battery discharge?

By discharging a lead acid battery to below the manufacturer’s stated end of life discharge voltage you are allowing the polarity of some of the weaker cells to become reversed. This causes permanent damage to those cells and prevents the battery from ever being recharged.

How far can a lead acid battery be discharged?

50%
1. A lead battery should never be fully discharged. Lead-acid batteries can only be discharged up to 50% before irreversible damage occurs. In practice this means that you will only be able to use half of your battery capacity.

How do you charge a lead acid battery with a power supply?

To charge a 12-volt lead acid battery (six cells) to a voltage limit of 2.40V, set the voltage to 14.40V (6 x 2.40). Select the charge current according to battery size. For lead acid, this is between 10 and 30 percent of the rated capacity. A 10Ah battery at 30 percent charges at about 3A; the percentage can be lower.

At what voltage is a 12v battery discharged?

Voltage on a fully charged battery will read 2.12 to 2.15 volts per cell, or 12.7 volts for a 12 volt battery. At 50% the reading will be 2.03 VPC (Volts Per Cell), and at 0% will be 1.75 VPC or less. Specific gravity will be about 1.265 for a fully charged cell, and 1.13 or less for a totally discharged cell.

What’s the discharge rate of a lead acid battery?

Typically a 12V lead-acid battery which is applicable for the automotive application could be ranged from 100Ah to 350Ah. This rating is defined as the discharge rating with an 8 hour timing period.

What is the rest curve for a lead acid battery?

This rest curve is a generic representation of six 12 Volt Lead Acid Battery State of Charge (SOC) vs. Voltage while battery is under charge Battery State of Charge (SOC) in Percent (%) Battery Voltage in VDC 11.5 12.0 12.5 13.0 13.5 14.0 14.5 15.0 15.5 16.0 16.5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 Rest C/5 C/10 C/20 C/40

What should the trickle current be on a lead acid battery?

Maintaining this float voltage will allow the battery to define its own current level and remain fully charged without having to disconnect the charger from the battery. The trickle current for a fully charged battery floating at the recommended charge voltage will typically hover around the 0.001C rate (7mA for a 7AH battery, for example.)

What is the SOC of a lead acid battery?

A fully charged lead-acid cell has an electrolyte that is a 25% solution of sulfuric acid in water (specific gravity about 1.26). A fully discharged lead-acid cell has 12 Volt Lead Acid Battery State of Charge (SOC) vs. Voltage while under discharge