Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Battery Maintenance


Time to check the batteries and connections on the Electric Fox. Flooded lead acid batteries like those used in the Electric Fox require periodic maintenance. One of the most often overlooked item to check is the electrolyte level. During the charging and use of the batteries the electrolyte level drops and can damage the lead plates if the level gets too low. The 8v Johnson Controls batteries used on the Electric fox have easy to remove caps that allow refilling of the battery with clean distilled water.

Any flooded lead acid battery needs the fluid level checked periodically. North Dakota State University has some good tips on their Ag. Extension page --> http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ageng/safety/ae1022w.htm ddd

While refilling the battery electolyte w/ distilled water Spencer checks all the connections for tightness and corrosion. Also Spencer checked all the voltage of the individual batteries. One battery was found to be low on voltage so we will monitor it and may decide to replace it w/ one of our backup batteries.