The hydrogen gas given
off by a battery can cause an explosion.
Acid can blind you.
Acid will burn your skin
Goggles and protective gloves should be worn when preparing a
new battery.
Note that even sealed batteries can be dangerous, if grossly
hugely overcharged and allowed to get quite hot, which would
happen if the battery was charged with a high current automotive
charger!
Should you be leaving a customer to deal with this?
This is an example taken from a national forum:-
"For
some reason the bike shop decided to sell me a battery that
needed filling prior to use rather than the solid sealed type.
I've filled the battery and put the seals in place. What happens
next?
The instruction manual says do not charge off bike for 24hrs.
When I bought the battery they asked if I had a trickle charger.
I told them I would be using another bike to get the initial
charge up. At no time did they mention it would need to be
filled and absolutely nothing about waiting 24hrs post-filling
to put it on a charger.
Could someone kindly tell me whether safely I can put it on the
charger now or if I have to wait."
Consequently various pieces of incorrect information are given
to this person via the forum, most of which is incorrect.
From a customer point of view, this way of selling batteries
will be looked on as very unprofessional, and the lack of
information and instruction given to him will further that
opinion.
If this battery fails within warranty, well, you may replace it
and so the whole scenario will start again. You also have the
paperwork involved with a battery warranty claim, as well as
possible disposal or return shipping charges.
If the battery manages to last just over 12 months, then you may
well sell a new battery, or the customer will go elsewhere as
the last one you supplied last year failed after a relatively
short time!
Batteries can be
extremely dangerous and many people will not be aware of how
dangerous. Batteries should be prepared and charged before
handing them over to the customer. This WILL reduce warranty
claims and your time taken up dealing with them.
In reality is is not always practical to make the customer wait,
but nine times out of ten, if it is explained that you are
preparing it properly and ask the customer to come back in 2
hours or so, i am sure they would be fine with it if they are
advised their battery will last longer because of it.
BatteryMate 150-9 will
initialise and fully charge a battery in around 30 minutes.
OptiMate Pro-S will
initialise a battery in 1 hour
OptiMate Pro-2 will
initialise 2 batteries at the same time in 12 hours.
OptiMate Pro-4S can
initialise up to 4 batteries in around 2-3 hours
OptiMate Pro-8S can
maintain 8 batteries indefinitely until they are sold. You could
even rotate 16 of the most common batteries on a weekly basis
which i am sure would cover most situations.
Scenarios regarding buying new
batteries:
Scenario #1:
Battery or motorcycle dealer fills the "dry" battery with sulfuric acid
electrolyte, and possibly charges it once, maybe not, and sticks
it on the shelf for sale. The battery begins to
deteriorate from that moment on. The battery deteriorates
especially fast if acid is installed and the battery NOT
properly "initiated". The battery sits there
deteriorating, awaiting the customer. Customer
enters the shop, and needs a new battery RIGHT NOW.
The shop has one on the shelf which may already have lost a lot of capacity, and may already
have a vastly decreased life. Sulphation may have already
started! The customer fits it and luckily the battery
starts the bike. This battery may last 12 months if used
regularly.
Scenario #2:
The dealer fills the battery while the customer waits, installs the battery, and
the customer rides off "happy". Such a
battery has not properly absorbed the acid, will have bubbles as
well as dry places at the plates ...all create hot spots and
chemical problem areas, and the new battery will NOT have 100%
of its plate areas initialized chemically nor electrically.
That battery will NOT last nearly as long as it should,
certainly NOT give proper long life; nor will it operate to its
rated capacity and performance. This type of
battery often fails rather early in its hoped-for life with a
shorted cell.
Scenario #3:
The dealer fills a fresh battery with acid mixture, initializes it and
charges it with an OptiMate Pro or
BatteryMate charger, and then connects
it permanently to a maintenance charger such as
OptiMate Pro-8 Smart Charger on his
shelf, whilst waiting for it to sell. A customer walks in
requiring a battery immediately. You bring them out a New, fully
charged battery which they do not have to deal with, except to
fit it to the bike. This battery will
last longest and have the lowest self discharge rate and you
have a very happy customer.
Scenario #4:
Customer purchases a battery from the shop. They fill it with the
acid that comes with it and didn't bother reading the
instructions. They fill the battery, fit the cap and immediately
fit the battery to the bike.
The battery will fail prematurely, possibly within warranty
luckily, or just after more commonly. The battery will have a bulging case if it was still gassing when the cap was fitted,
corrosion around the battery area may have set in and acid may
even be evident at the bottom of the terminals.
Scenario #5:
Back at Scenario #4 again..... Customer returns the battery as 'defective', and
is given a replacement if under warranty, or sold a new one if
not. the new battery has not been
properly prepared and charged. And so it goes on.
Over time, people just expect these
batteries to have a limited life span, when they should last at
least 5 years if prepared and maintained properly.
Things to know:
The higher the ambient
temperature, the faster the self-discharge, and more need for
re-charging/maintaining.
If initialization is not
performed correctly, the battery will NEVER reach its
full capacity; AND, will be very likely to have
a shortened life. It is important that gas bubbles be
eliminated during the initialization period and a full and
complete soaking of the internal parts accomplished.
