Re: [Paddlewise] concrete battery facts?

The concrete myth was probably more relevant in the days of hard rubber
cased batteries where there were often case leaks.  I've never seen case
leaks these days and I have a whole slew of old car and motorcycle batteries
waiting patiently on my garage floor for the trip to the recycle place.  For
large lead acid batteries, the problem with placing them on concrete has to
do with the fact that the concrete is often colder than the ambient room
temps and this causes thermal stratification (as it was put on several
battery company web sites) which causes the battery to internally discharge.
Search on the words battery and concrete and you'll find all sorts of
explanations for this axiom of modern living.

Glenn

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael R Noyes" <mnoyes_at_gsinet.net>
To: <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 1:31 PM
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] concrete battery facts?


> Philip Torrens wrote:
>
> >
> > I'm neither a mechanical nor an electrical engineer, but why would this
> > cause any permanent damage? I've heard car mechanics (who should know
> > better)talk about the floor wicking the electrical energy from the
battery.
> > But neither terminal is in contact with the floor, and I believe
concrete is
> > more an insulator than a conductor in any case. The only thing I can
imagine
> > is that if you leave a battery on a cold concrete floor, its thermal
> > conductivity will cool the battery, slowing down the chemical processes
in
> > the battery and thereby reducing its output, at least until it is warmed
up
> > again. But would this be a bad thing for storage (I store my spare
> > flashlight batteries in the fridge just so they will not prematurely
"burn
> > up"). Or am I missing something here (often the case)?
> >
> >
>
> I believe the problem with batteries and concrete has to do with the lime
in the
> concrete reacting with the acid from the battery.  The way I was told was
that
> putting a battery on concrete, especially "green" concrete could cause the
> concrete under the battery to explode.  Charging a battery on concrete was
even
> worse, for obvious reasons.  That is how I understood it as it was
explained to
> me.  No one ever said anything about concrete causing a battery to
discharge to
> me, but any story changes each time it is told.  Most wives tales and
urban
> legends have a basis in fact, but it is often almost impossible to find
out what
> the fact was through all the distortions.
>
> Mike
>
>
> --
>     Paddling along through fog so thick that only one's thoughts are
> visible, your reverie is abruptly shattered by the ancient cry of a great
> blue heron as she lifts uncertainly from the brilliant blue of a
> mussel-shell beach witnessed only by the brooding, wet spruce....your
> passage home seems as much back through time as it does through space.
> Mark H Hunt
>
>
>
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