Re: (ET) Bad luck? bad lot? bad owner?

["David Roden" <etpost drmm net>]

That's an unusually high mortality rate.  I used US Battery batteries 
(there's an echo in here) for years.  Only once did I have a premature 
failure, and that one was defective on delivery; they replaced it.  That 
was 
several years ago, but I haven't heard of any decline in quality from the 
folks on the EV list.  

Did you clean the tops of the batteries thoroughly before you stored them? 
 
Dirt and acid mist, even if invisible, can cause high self discharge.  

You should also make sure you equalize the batteries before you put the 
tractor in storage.  A seriously undercharged cell may become afflicted 
with 
crystalline sulfation in a few months.   

IMO, "maintainers" do more harm than good.  A clean, properly charged lead 
battery usually won't lose enough charge in 3-4 months do do significant 
harm; they sometimes sit that long at the dealer before you buy them.  If 
you're concerned, it's better to run the regular charger every month or 
two 
than to cook them continuously with some kind of gadget.  In my 
experience, 
more batteries die of overcharge than of undercharge.

PS -- the ET by design unbalances its battery pack, because it taps the 
pack 
for the front lift and headlights.  That's not the same as an individual 
battery's cells being out of balance, however.


David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA

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