Gel battery - how to restore at home? How to restore the gel battery of the scooter?

In the matter of means of transportation, each of usown tastes and preferences. Someone more like cars, and here, too, the interests vary, as the types of bodies are considerable. There are connoisseurs who find attractive large SUVs. But there is a category of people who appreciate scooters. These small vehicles can be found a lot of advantages, and they will please their owners. At least, until the gel battery fails. How to restore it later is an interesting question, and this article is devoted to it.

Characteristically, the number of people who want to change totwo-wheeled vehicles are increasing year by year. And if you compare with a moped or a motorcycle, then they are inferior to scooters for quite understandable advantages. Well, with a bicycle and does not need to conduct any comparison.

What kind of beast is it?

Today a gel battery can be foundalmost in any store that sells spare parts to different types of transport. Nevertheless, not everyone is aware of the question of its design, since in appearance such batteries practically do not differ from their acidic counterparts.

Some time ago, very popularused lead acid batteries, in which liquid electrolyte was poured. However, progress does not stand still, and now the acid batteries have lost their former glory, which has passed to their more advanced competitors. Nevertheless, they also have difficulties, and then the first question is: "Can I restore gel batteries?" About this a little later.

Initially, batteries made for suchtechnology, were created for military equipment, in particular aviation. Conventional devices could not cope with their task, because they were subjected to constant overloads, which adversely affected the acid electrolyte. And as a result - a quick failure of the battery without the possibility of recovery. It is for this reason that gel analogs have appeared.

Advantages of a gel battery

It is possible to list all the advantages of scooters for a long time before other transport, but this is not included in the subject matter under consideration. It is better to evaluate the advantages that a gel battery has.

In conventional power sources, chemical reactionselectrolyte flow quite violently with the release of fumes, and sometimes it just boils. Often during the operation of acid batteries exploded. Will not the same fate befall the gel battery and how to restore it later? Most likely, no, because here lies the main difference and superiority of this power source. It uses an electrolyte of special viscosity, reminiscent of jelly in consistency. And again the question: "How to restore the gel battery?"

By adding a thickener, the battery can beoperate in almost any position. But, as practice shows, its effectiveness in the position on its side drops by a third, and it is not recommended to overturn at all.

Among other advantages, one can single out the following:

repeated charge-discharge cycle;
there is no need for initial charging of gel batteries immediately after purchase;
at the maximum discharge, the capacitive characteristics are not lost;
high starting current;
Low loss of capacity during extended downtime compared to acid devices;
long service life.

It is also worth noting that in case of damagethe hull will not in any way affect the performance of the battery. And to think about how to restore the gel battery, in this case it is not necessary. But for lead devices, this defect is dangerous because an electrolyte leak may occur. In the gel, the latter is not in a liquid state, and therefore there can be no leakage.

In addition, modern analogues are recognized not onlyhigh-tech, but also the safest. As for the service life, theoretically it is up to 10 years. But, as practice shows, rarely what copy lives so much.

Disadvantages of the gel battery

Unfortunately, with all the obvious advantages, gel batteries are not without some drawbacks:

high sensitivity to charge voltage;
Gel batteries do not tolerate a short circuit in the electrical circuit;
the cost.

Despite the fact that they are distinguished by a highresistant to frost and some mechanical damage, they need to be properly charged. To do this, use only special tools designed for gel accumulators. Otherwise, the spoilage of the gel battery can not be avoided, and the question of how to restore it will disappear by itself. For there will be nothing to restore.

The charging voltage must not exceedvalues of 14.2-14.4 V, otherwise the loss of operability is guaranteed. But there are no restrictions on current, since such batteries have a low internal resistance.

Can modern gel batteries come outout of service? It is quite possible. If, for example, the battery is completely discharged and left in such condition for a long period, then, if necessary, it is unlikely that it will want to be charged. Therefore, it is better to charge the battery in time. Also, do not use car devices to charge.

Fortunately, the drawbacks of a gel batteryLittle. However, in our world there is as yet no such thing or device that would be completely devoid of all minuses and would contain only advantages. What an ideal! Although, maybe it's just a matter of time ?!

Recovery Issues

As practice shows, the first problemsarise after 4 years of use. Loss of electrical capacity or the boiling away of water from electrolyte - these are some of the most common symptoms that a gel battery suffers from. How to restore it - the first thing that comes to mind the owner. Despite the fact that this type of battery is an unattended device and is not subject to resuscitation, you can still try to do it.

During use with time, gelthe electrolyte begins to dry up even in the presence of such a phenomenon as the recombination of gases. The whole essence of the recovery process is to add water, as is done with acid batteries. Only with gel battery is not so simple as it seems, because it is more capricious.

mission Impossible

Unfortunately, and maybe, on the contrary, fortunately, there arecases where it is not possible to restore the gel battery. One of these irreversible faults is when the electrolyte begins to peel off the plates.

Or they may begin to collapse. If this happened, it also nullifies all attempts to reanimate the product. It is not difficult to detect such a malfunction - it is worth to shake the battery, and you can hear the noise that comes from inside. The presence of a crack is also an unpleasant sign. How to restore the gel battery (12V) if it is available? The answer is simple: no way.

Visual Diagnostics

As a rule, the restoration of the battery isto deal with when the output voltage is less than 10 volts. To begin with, it is worthwhile to inspect the product carefully for cracks or strange noise with a slight shake. If the listed defects are detected, then the recovery stage is completed, since the problem can only be solved by purchasing a new battery.

If everything is in order (nothing blurts, cracksno), you should pay attention to the residual voltage. If it is less than 30%, then the conclusion is also disappointing. You can try, but here as in roulette - can be lucky, but unlikely. It is good when the residual voltage is close to 60%. In this case, you can proceed directly to solve the problem. So, how to restore the gel battery of the scooter?

Disassembly

Recovery process begins with disassemblybattery, for which you need a flat screwdriver, tweezers. Depending on the design of the battery, it has one cover (usually a 6-volt product) or several on each jar (12-volt). In the latter case, under each cover there is a rubber protective cap, which must also be removed. This is just useful for tweezers. You can proceed to the next step.

Water Filling Procedure

Water for the gel battery is not takentap, and distilled. On the acquisition of it, you can contact one of the pharmacies or a store that is popular among motorists. But it is best to buy distilled water in the pharmacy, because you can avoid forgery.

Water is poured by a syringe, and there are several effective techniques that are essentially the same:

The method is as follows. Using a syringe, each jar is completely filled with water, after which it is necessary to leave the battery for a while. 5-10 minutes is enough, after which you should remove all the water, you can use the same syringe. During this period, the electrolyte absorbs the necessary amount of water. In some cases it is recommended not to wait 10 minutes, but all half an hour. After the water is drained, you can close the caps and charge the battery.
The next way is how to restore the gelthe battery (12V, 7 Ah), is not less effective. In each of the jars need to pour no more than 3 cubes of water, after which they are closed with caps, and the power source is put on charging.
Pour the cans with water until the plates are closed,but at the same time it is necessary that the water does not reach to the brim. Do not close the caps until there are excess water and gas. Now you can charge the battery, and after the process you can close the cans with caps.

Installing protective gums in their place before charging (except the last case), you need to fix them well.

Features of charging

When charging a gel battery, the main thing is not toforget to apply the voltage no more than 14,2-14,4 V, as mentioned above. Unless, of course, we do not want to get an unusable product. But the current should pay attention. Its value should be 10% of the capacity of the battery. For example, 7-ampere products need to be charged with a current of 0.7 A.

In some cases, decide howto restore the gel battery at home, it does not always work. Rather, the result does not meet expectations. Initially, when connecting the product to the charger, there will be no current consumption, so the ammeter will not show anything. But after a while the "hungry" battery will begin to take a portion for a portion. It remains only to wait until the battery voltage is set to the desired value.

Typically, this is 12.6-12.8 volts. Wait a lot - from 10 to 12 hours, no less, but because you can do their own business, only periodically checking how things are going.

What can lead to improper charging

Gel battery - "creation" is whimsical, andif you apply a voltage of 15 or more volts, it simply swells, since the battery is completely sealed. In addition, electrolyte can detach from the plates. In some cases, even gas is released. Then there is no question of how to restore the gel battery (6B).

Thanks to its good tightness, for chargingAny room is suitable for a battery, the main thing is not to allow an increase in voltage. Turn off the charger only after a full charge of the battery, not before. This is also very important!

Summarizing

As you can see, the whole process, although it takes a long time,but nothing complicated in itself does not conceal. And the answer to the sore point is: yes, you can restore the gel battery! True, this is not always possible.