The rechargeable battery is the main supplier of electric energy to all consumers in the car in those cases when the engine is turned off. At the same time, it is also an indispensable assistant in launching a power unit. When choosing a battery for your vehicle, you should pay attention not only to the manufacturer, but also the duration of its operation. Many drivers are interested in the logical question - what is the shelf life of the battery before operation? That's just what we are going to do now.
Legislative acts
It is worth noting that the duration of operation of a car battery is regulated by applicable law. The Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights” contains articles under the numbers 18 and 19, which all ordinary consumers should rely on.
According to their content, the buyer has the full right to present reasonable claims to the seller regarding the shortcomings of the goods sold to him. They have legal force when they were discovered during the warranty period. Shelf life should be understood as the duration between the day the battery was manufactured (however, this applies to absolutely any product) and the date before it was put into operation.
Battery life before use according to GOST
Any normative act, including GOST 959-2002, in relation to lead-acid batteries is developed taking into account design features and operating conditions. Section of the document “Reliability requirements” contains information regarding the expiration date depending on the type of battery:
- If the electrolyte is not flooded - 3 years.
- With electrolyte - 12 months.
The average duration of a car’s battery is also determined if its capacity decreases from the original parameter by 40% or less. But there are other cases where the life of a car battery is considered to be over:
- Maintenance-free batteries: with a range of up to 90 thousand km - 24 months, up to 150 thousand km - a year (3,000 hours).
- Maintenance-free batteries: with mileage of up to 100 thousand km - 48 months (4,000 hours).
Foreign-made batteries are marked with the additional letter "T". What is the battery life before use? As practice shows, the entire working cycle of any battery can be conditionally divided into several types - warranty and real.
Warranty period
As a rule, the warranty period can be from six months to 4 years - everything mainly depends on the manufacturer. At the same time, during this period he is obligated to eliminate factory defects (if their presence is proved).
One interesting regularity was noticed - the longer the battery warranty, the longer its service life. The shortest time is given by the manufacturers of serviced batteries. At the same time, it is worth noting that most factory defects in the battery are detected within six months from the date of their sale.
Actual Life
In contrast to the shelf life of a new battery prior to operation, not only the vehicle’s mileage (or operating hours) affects its life. A number of other factors should be considered here:
- The resource of the whole structure, which contains several components - the amount of active mass, alloy plates, the quality of the electrolyte, compliance with production technology. It is very important that the battery arrives in a “fresh” form to customers.
- On-board vehicle system.In particular, we are talking about its energy saturation. If the capabilities of the generator are exceeded, including leakage current, then this leads to undercharging the battery. As a result, the battery life is reduced.
- Incorrect operation of the generator may result in a deep discharge of the battery. In turn, this approximates the term of its write-off.
- Due to violations of the rules of car operation in winter, battery banks can freeze in case of loss of density by electrolyte. On this, in fact, the battery life may end.
- If you keep it clean during the entire storage period of the car battery before operating it, charge it in a timely manner, and check the electrolyte from time to time, this can save a long battery life.
When the battery is operating with a charge of about 60% or in the case of overcharging, a faulty voltage regulator may cause sulfation.
Also, this is fraught with detachment of the active mass from the plates of the battery and lead oxidation. Ultimately, life, including battery life, is markedly reduced.
Gel Life
Gel batteries are currently not so rare. The wide popularity of these batteries is largely due to their high performance properties. And this, in turn, became possible thanks to the aggregate form of the electrolyte. After all, it is the gel substance that completely eliminates leakage, tightly fits the plates, thereby contributing to an increase in electricity production.
Such batteries have a rather long charge-discharge cycle, and the battery storage period before use can reach 10-12 years! As for self-discharge (as we know, this is the real problem of any car battery), it amounts to about 20% during the year. Everything else, even a deep discharge of the battery does not lead to shedding of the plates.
A decrease in battery life can occur for several reasons:
- The vehicle’s on-board network is more than 14.4 V - this parameter is critical for this type of battery.
- The electrolyte is very sensitive to low temperature and if the gel-like substance freezes, then its properties will not be restored.
- Short circuit leads to battery damage.
Each charging process should be complete. Otherwise, the loss of capacity cannot be avoided. Because of this, the advancement of gel batteries into the masses is inhibited.
General storage rules
Many rechargeable batteries belong to those goods that deteriorate over time and lose their properties. Therefore, long-term storage of the battery before use is not recommended.
The basic rule in this case is a careful and careful attitude to the battery. This means that in no case can you beat the battery, throw it, and even more so perform actions that lead to depressurization of the battery.
Chemical reactions occur inside the car battery even during storage. But over time, active substances become less active and eventually lose their quality.
An important role in this is played by the temperature regime:
- High values accelerate activity processes.
- Low parameters are just the opposite.
If the battery is stored in a discharged state, crystallization of lead plates occurs. Because of this, the service and storage life is reduced.
Features of storing dry-charged battery
Now it’s worth touching on the storage of different types of batteries, and we’ll start with the shelf life of the dry-charged battery before use. In the case when it is not intended to use a dry-charged battery, the factory packaging is not removed from it yet. The temperature conditions in the battery storage room should be in the range of 0 ° C to 35 ° C. In doing so, direct sunlight should be avoided. In addition, the room itself should be well ventilated.
If there are several batteries, then in no case do not "build" of them "high-rise buildings", putting one on top of the other. They should always be open access!
It is generally accepted that dry-charged batteries do not need recharging during the entire storage period, since they are packed in factory packaging. It is unlikely that sellers will print it immediately before the sale, as this is considered a rather serious violation.
In contrast to the shelf life of an unattended battery before use, it is recommended to store dry-charged counterparts for no more than a year. Although, as practice shows, this period can exceed 12 months. This is due to the fact that subsequently, before commissioning the battery, it takes longer to charge it.
How to store a "flooded" battery?
In this case, the battery already contains an electrolyte (mainly liquid) and it is charged even in the factory. The storage requirements for such batteries are subject to the same requirements as for the previous type. But since the battery already contains electrolyte, the temperature will be somewhat different.
And since it is sensitive to this parameter, its service life will be different:
- From 0 ° C to 20 ° C - no more than 18 months.
- At temperatures above 20 ° C - 9 months, no more.
It is worth noting that this type of battery is characterized by the presence of a small self-discharge, which fully depends precisely on the temperature regime.
During storage, it is recommended that you charge the car battery periodically. However, not every seller, even if necessary, decides to open the factory packaging. But this is a violation of the shelf life of the battery before use.
Therefore, buyers should be interested in how much battery is already stored. This will then allow you to decide whether to charge a new battery before subsequent commissioning or not.
Manifestation of malfunctions
The main symptoms of malfunctions include the following symptoms:
- The battery began to discharge faster than usual.
- Starting the engine is difficult.
- Oxidation of the terminals is observed.
- Disruptions in the operation of current consumers in the car are noticeable.
- Damage to the battery case is visible.
- Sulfation of the plates occurred.
- Obvious electrolyte problems.
The quality of battery components is not always high, as required by norms and standards.
Therefore, in some cases, power sources begin to work intermittently or even fail.
Total
It is worth considering that the battery is a consumable for the car, like oil, and other options. Only unlike all other consumables does the battery have a longer service and storage life. In addition, you must regularly monitor its condition and monitor performance indicators.
To do this, charge in a timely manner and avoid extreme operating conditions that adversely affect its functionality.
Subject to the storage life of the battery before operation, including a careful and caring attitude, it can last 5-6 years, if not more. Not bad for such a consumable ?!