Seal Lead Acid Batteries – Battery Education

Seal Lead Acid batteries have a long history of industrial use and date back to 1859. Lead acid batteries are used commonly in a multitude of industries including aviation, telecommunications, medical equipment, electronics, solar power, garden equipment, and automobile engines. In addition lead acid batteries are surprisingly one of the most environmentally friendly resources on the free market and are actually “greener” then soft drink cans, beer cans, newspapers, glass bottles, and tires. What exactly are lead acid batteries? Who uses them? And what are the real benefits of seal lead acid batteries?

What Are Seal Lead Acid Batteries Made of?

All lead acid batteries contain a chemical soup, ingredient compounds that react with lead sheets inside the body of the battery. For example one possible chemical ingredient list could include an electrolyte sulfuric acid (H2SO4), lead (Pb), lead oxide (PbO), lead sulfate (PbSO4), arsenic (As), calcium (Ca), and tin (Sn). Besides the chemical ingredients the battery body includes a high integrity terminal seal, resealable safety vent, a plastic internal container, positive and negative plates, lead grids, a highly retentive separator, all surrounded by a metal can enclosure.

One final component of a seal lead acid battery are the lead wires. Lead wires are typically stranded copper wires with insulation (red and black color coding). Lead wires lengths vary depending upon application. Standard lengths are about 9 inches, but again you can have shorter or longer lengths depending on your specific need. The ends of the leads are dipped in wax, which, is removed prior to use. Wire gauges (the diameter of the wire) are based on battery type and the American Wire Gauge specifications which are calculated with the formula D(AWG)=.005·92^{((36-AWG)/39)} inch. For example:

D lead acid batteries could have 18 AWG
DT lead acid batteries could have 16 AWG
X lead acid batteries could have 16 AWG
E lead acid batteries could have 14 AWG
J lead acid batteries could have 14 AWG
B C lead acid batteries could have 12 AWG

One final note and that is lead wires can be soldered or come as braided copper straps if your application is vibration proned so that your leads would not come lose even under the most extreme environment.

What Are the Benefits of Seal Lead Acid Batteries?

Benefits of Seal Lead Acid Batteries especially those that have a lead-tin chemical base include:

Power Density — per unit weight, lead-tin products offers greater volumetric power.
Cycle Life – seal lead-tin batteries can have between 200-300 cycle-lifes.
Float Life – seal lead batteries can have a standby life of up to 15 years.
High Stable Voltage Delivery – low internal resistance allows for high stable voltage delivery; and a flat discharge allows for a fast discharge and recharge period which allows for greater application flexibility.
Temperature Range – is substantial. Typically seal lead acid batteries can operate as low as -60 degrees Celsius to +80 degrees Celcius and as an additional component also has an Atmospheric pressure range of – Vacuum to 8 atmospheres.
Rugged Construction – seal lead acid batteries have a strong external construction which means they have a high tolerance to shock and vibration.

What I also find simply fascinating is that seal lead acid batteries are an environmental success! Lead-acid batteries are the environmental success story of our time. More than 97 percent of all battery lead is recycled. This ia almost twice as much as aluminum soft drink and beer cans, newspapers, glass bottles and tires. In fact lead-acid batteries are the most recycled consumer product of our time.