When completing the battery section of the MROCP course recently, our instructor told the class that he had just found out that it is not good for batteries to sit on a concrete floor for any amount of time. Apparently the concrete sucks the power out of the battery and can damage them.
Has anyone else heard of or had first hand experience of this???
Can anyone explain this phenomenon????
G'Day Geoff,
Yes heard that too from several sources, cant give you a scientific explanation though, sorry.
You should always sit them on a mat or bit of old carpet or wood.
Rgds
Ron
Ive been told that for years by the old man and grandfather, always place a battery on a block of wood when out of the tractor, machine or whatever never sit them on the concrete. Apparently it earths out the battery they reckon. Pa reckons the old batteries years ago would always lose charge when sat on the concrete and he just keeps on doing it to this day. He isnt so sure if modern batteries are the same. Old habits die hard I guess.
Yet the guy at Positive Batteries tells me that he has heard it for years as well yet no one can give him a logical explaination for it. He doesnt see Grandpas explaination as being current ( excuse the pun ).
Ive seen solar powered homes and the battery banks are all sitting on the concrete.
So I think it may have applied years ago but the way modern batteries are constructed it may not apply.
putting batteries on concrete will damage the concrete
any acid at all will mark the concrete
Murf
I think this only applies in freezing conditions. Eg storing your battery on concrete over winter, when theres ice outside for 4 months of the year. This will help it freeze compared to placing it on a peice of wood to insulate.
In Aus don't think it will make a lot of differance.
A marriage licence should be like your fishing licence!
Expires every year and you get a 3 day pass when you go interstate.
Considering that the casing is made of a non-conductive plastic and that often this same casing is placed onto a metal tray and secured with a metal battery clamp under the bonnet of a vehicle with no ill effects I would be highly dubious about concrete having any effect at all.
Especially when you consider the metal body of the car is way more conductive than even wet concrete let alone dry concrete. If the plastic casing can insulate the internals of the battery from the car body I'm sure it will insulate from concrete.
Not sure about older batteries - commenting only on ones available today.
Concrete discharging a battery is an old wives tale IMO.
JT
I agree with Murf, the spilled acid will damage the concrete.
Our UPS batteries all sit on a combination of metal racks and concrete flooring. This is enough batteries to drive a control room full of computers for a minimum of 30 minutes, and until now no problems.
Wessel
As a mechanic we were always told to keep them off the floor....never did get a straight answer as to why...but this is interesting!!!
http://www.cartalk.com/content/colum...vember/06.html
Megsy
Here found this on the web. Will storing my battery on concrete drain the charge? No. Regarding today's batteries, this is a myth. A battery placed on concrete will not discharge any faster, but a battery will discharge over a period of time wherever it is placed. If the battery has a surface layer of acid or grime which is conductive, the battery will self-discharge more rapidly than if it were clean and dry.
This myth does have some historical basis. Many years ago, wooden battery cases encased a glass jar with the battery in it. Any moisture on the floor could cause the wood to swell and possibly fracture the glass, causing it to leak. Later came the introduction of the "hard rubber" cases, which were somewhat porous. A current could be conducted through this container, which had a high carbon content, if the moist concrete floor permitted the current to find an electrical ground. The wise advise of the old days to "not store batteries on concrete" has apparently been passed down to us today, but it no longer applies.
Dave.
have had 1st hand experiance with concret taking charge out of battery, had a fully charged battery placed it on concrete b4 the day i need it when i picked it up it was dead flat never put a battery on concrete since , never had another flat battery either
I have been told this years ago from my father and have always to this day never left bateries on the concrete floor. I doubt that it could flatten a battery overnight though must have been some other reason.
I've heard that as well and don't store them on concrete. But would be interested to hear if anyone has a scientific explanation on this topic.
From Exide Technoligies http://www.exideworld.com/faq/faq_marine.html#concrete
Dave.
Logic fellas logic!
If a battery could discharge through it's casing don't you think it would discharge really guickly sitting on something as conductive as a metal plate under a car bonnet?
Physics says it can't. That's gospel for me!
As stated previously, I'm talking aboout batteries you can buy today.. Years ago with rubber casings they could leak acid and conduct between their poles.
Not so with todays hardened plastics.
JT
I am afraid this one is up there with the black cats and broken mirrors, I can assure you a battery will NOT go flat from storing it on a concrete floor, end of story. Could be a test for myth busters to try, or as I do if at all possible, I just do it as scientific as I can, and prove it for myself, I have done this with lots of things including line twist when spooling, swivels, rod guides "spiral" binds, various knots and all sorts of dull but usually fully explainable stuff.
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