Battery leaking through cell caps
Discussion
Hi all
I'm in the midst of a project rebuilding a classic range rover which i acquired about 9 months ago. At the time I bought a battery from Halfords with a 3yr warranty just to get the thing going and ensure it ran/ drove before i embarked on the rust.
The battery has been on the floor in the gareage since, with regular maintenance on the ctek charger. I had it on rotation with another battery from another car. so on/ off every two weeks approx.
The battery has started to weep acid out of the two outermost filling caps. Anyone know what this is? Would this be under halfords warranty if I return it? Or is my ctek faulty and needs replacing? The other battery seems unaffected but it's "sealed" so hard to know.
I'm in the midst of a project rebuilding a classic range rover which i acquired about 9 months ago. At the time I bought a battery from Halfords with a 3yr warranty just to get the thing going and ensure it ran/ drove before i embarked on the rust.
The battery has been on the floor in the gareage since, with regular maintenance on the ctek charger. I had it on rotation with another battery from another car. so on/ off every two weeks approx.
The battery has started to weep acid out of the two outermost filling caps. Anyone know what this is? Would this be under halfords warranty if I return it? Or is my ctek faulty and needs replacing? The other battery seems unaffected but it's "sealed" so hard to know.
It sounds like it has been overfilled from new. If you can, carefully remove the filling caps and check the level in each cell - the acid level should be high enough to cover the lead plates, but not excessively. If overfilled, use a syringe (or similar) to drain some out.
The battery should be fine - however check if it's holding a charge and is OK under load - if not, take it back to Halfords.
(Note - I have seen that keeping a (motorcycle) battery on constant charge caused it to fail. It's not something I tend to do - keeping them indoors and giving a top-up charge now and again seemed to suffice in maintaining them. However, intelligent chargers may have improved and maybe it's not a problem.)
The battery should be fine - however check if it's holding a charge and is OK under load - if not, take it back to Halfords.
(Note - I have seen that keeping a (motorcycle) battery on constant charge caused it to fail. It's not something I tend to do - keeping them indoors and giving a top-up charge now and again seemed to suffice in maintaining them. However, intelligent chargers may have improved and maybe it's not a problem.)
eltax91 said:
CTEK is a MX5, it's not new but not old. less than 5 years for sure. Yes i removed the transport vents! 
Will take the caps off later and have a look at fill level
sounds like its over charging, whats the voltage ?Will take the caps off later and have a look at fill level
Does it get warm when on charge?
i have come across ctek chargers killing batteries, not common but not unheard of.
richhead said:
sounds like its over charging, whats the voltage ?
Does it get warm when on charge?
i have come across ctek chargers killing batteries, not common but not unheard of.
Ctek on standard battery setting. Ignore the fact it says stage 5. I cycled modes before taking the picture to make sure Does it get warm when on charge?
i have come across ctek chargers killing batteries, not common but not unheard of.
Here’s what’s happening
Level seems ok
Voltage when ‘maintaining’
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