Malcolm Walker wrote:
>
> > BTW I don't agree on the battery on cement discharing. The old asphalt
> > cases used to do it and if the battery has acid on it leakage will occur
> > between terminals causing a discharge. MY OPINION ONLY AND NOT
> > NECESSARILY FACT.
>
> I read somewhere that you check for battery leakage by connecting a
> voltmeter to one terminal and touching the other probe at places on the
> batter (particulary, wet spots)-- any voltage reading means your battery
> is leaking across the terminals.
>
> Due to the electrolytic nature of battery acid (and water, I guess), this
> makes a lot of sense.
>
> Anyone else got something to add?
>
> -Malcolm
That is a direct check that will demonstrate leakage. But if you use a
low internal resistance voltmeter you might not read very minute leakages
due to the meter current draw causing a drop of voltage across the
leakage path. This is a relatively unimportant check as just washing the
battery off would eliminate most of the leaksge on the external case
between terminals.
A digital voltmeter compared to a plain voltmeter would probably be a
high input impedance (resistance) and give a valid value.
Joe Worsley
|