RE: [A/S] Frozen battery!

["Phil Sinewe" <phil@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> What would cause batteries to freeze?

I am not much of a battery expert but here is the simple explanation that I
understand.  If a battery is charged the liquid in the battery is a strong
acid.  The acid has a very low freeze point.  As the battery discharges and
looses it's charge, the acid becomes weaker and weaker coming closer to
being just plain water in the battery.  When the level of acid gets low
enough that the outside temp and the freeze point of the weak acid meet ya
got an ice cube instead of a battery.

When you charge a battery, the acid solution, which has basically adhered to
the lead plates are cooked off the plates and put back into the water making
the acid strong again.  Charging a battery is simply a heating process.

OK, I have now confirmed my ignorance on the technicalities of batteries.

Phil & Kathy Sinewe
Curtis, Marcus & Asher (the Lab)
25' Airstream #2681
mailto:phil@sinewe.com
http://www.sinewe.com