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AGM Explained continued
Silver Statement
Information
In addition, the valve must safely release any excess
pressure that may be produced during overcharging (e.g.
alternator rectifier fault), otherwise the cell would be
irreversibly damaged. The excessive pressure that the
valve is releasing is both hydrogen and oxygen which can
not recombined within the battery so breaks the cycle, net
result is that battery would eventually dry out.
It must be noted that an AGM battery must never be
opened once it leaves the factory, as sulphation could
occur on the plates leading to an irreversible loss in
performance.
Gel batteries are more critical to correct charging as
overcharge can lead to the gel being irreversibly damaged,
AGM are not subject to this failure mode and hence are
more suitable for automotive use.
Q. Can I store my AGM battery in my garage during the
winter or will it freeze?
A. As with flooded batteries, providing the batteries are kept
in a charged state, batteries can be stored without any
fears of freezing.
Q. Can I store my AGM battery on the garage floor?
A. Many people have the impression that when batteries sit
on concrete the energy “leaks out”, the truth is that you can
let any modern battery sit on concrete without fear of harm
or accelerated self discharge.
This myth stems from the days of the old wooden/glass
case batteries, where damp floors led to water soaking up
into outer wooden cases causing swelling of the wood. In
fact with modern batteries in hard plastic cases, concrete
is generally an excellent surface on which to store a battery.
The key issue is that the floor should not have any sharp
objects which may damage the battery casing; there are
no electrochemical reasons.
Q. Do AGM batteries have a memory?
A. No, this is only a function of Nickel Alkaine Battery system
such as Nickel cadmium.
Information regarding the use of Silver
Calcium Batteries
Ford introduced silver calcium batteries worldwide for their
vehicles in 1997 together with a smart charging system. They
told their dealers that these batteries must be replaced only
with other silver-calcium batteries as the life of normal lead
antimony batteries would be drastically reduced if these were
used for replacement. This of course, implies that Yuasa
batteries must not be used.
• Yuasa calcium and calcium/calcium batteries can be
used on all Ford vehicles giving a life that is at least as
good as recommended Ford replacement batteries in
the UK market.
• Yuasa automotive batteries are equally suitable for Ford
vehicles made before 1997 and in addition use the
original design of battery termination as originally fitted,
without using terminal adapters.
• Calcium and Calcium/Calcium batteries are used by all
major vehicle manufacturers as they are maintenance
free under normal operating conditions. In addition
within the UK, no extremes of climatic temperature are
experienced and water loss is not an issue for any Yuasa
battery. Yuasa has had many years of supplying these
batteries to the aftermarket since the introduction of
Ford silver calcium batteries back in 1997.
• Grids are still made of Lead. Typically less than 0.1% of
calcium is needed to give strength (note calcium is
added to the grid alloy in both calcium and hybrid
batteries). Some customers think that calcium batteries
are completely different to lead acid batteries, but they
just represent another generation of the lead acid
battery.
Ford gave the following reasons for using only silver calcium
batteries in their recent cars, but Yuasa automotive batteries
with their modern technology more than meet the
specification.
• Charge Voltage tolerance increased from 14.4V to 14.8V
• Yuasa calcium and calcium/calcium offer the same
tolerance to this increase in charging voltage
within the UK market
• Cold cranking power increased by approximately 10%
• Yuasa batteries generally give better starting
performance than the batteries fitted by the vehicle
manufacturers
Average battery life has increased to about 6 years
in the UK Market due to a combination of battery technology
and improved car electrical systems.
In summary, you can fit a Yuasa battery to any Ford car
(i.e. recommended catalogue model fitment) with the
complete assurance that it will give first time starting and
trouble free motoring.
This bulletin should help you to reply to customers who are
concerned about using a Yuasa battery to replace a Ford
silver-calcium battery.
If you need any further information please contact us.
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