1. What is a “SLA” battery?

“SLA” is abbreviation of Sealed Lead Acid, it refers to the construction of a battery. This means it is a Non-Spillable sealed battery which is maintenance free, no need to add distilled water periodically like a flooded battery.

2. What does “AGM” mean?

“AGM” is abbreviation of Absorbed Glass Mat, it is to separate the electrolyte and battery plates, it can enhance both the charge and discharge efficiency of the battery.

3. What is “Shelf Life” of a battery?

“Shelf life” means the amount of time a battery will retain an operable percentage of its stated capacity (calculated under ambient temperature storage conditions).

4. What is “OCV”?

“OCV” is abbreviation of “Open Circuit Voltage”.

5. What is Self-Discharge?

“Self-discharge” is the loss of useful capacity within a battery due to internal chemical reactions. Self- discharge will occur within all battery chemistries and will be influenced by temperature. Self-discharge will occur regardless of whether the battery is connected to a device or not.

6. What is "over-discharge" and what is its effect on a battery?

If the final voltage is lower than the standard final voltage, we can say the battery is "over-discharged." The state will affect the battery's quality very seriously.
1. The "over-discharge" state will cause overuse of active material. The composition of the battery will be changed by the over discharge. There will be degradation of the plate.
2. It may bring out too much or large amounts of lead sulfate (PbSO4) which could cause damage to the plate structure. A recharge may not bring the full performance of the battery back.
3. Recharge after over-discharge may lead to short failures.

7. The difference between "cycle use" and "standby use"?

"Cycle Use": direct power source
Provide the power to power tools, or other portable electronic apparatuses, like wheelchair, lawn mower, etc.
"Standby Use": back up power
Mainly for emergency power to avoid future damage that may be caused by a sudden power outage.

8. What materials are used in the BPS battery?

The primary ingredients in the BPS battery are lead and acid. In general, the battery is approximately 72% lead and lead compounds and 22% dilute sulfuric acid by weight. The other 6% of the weight consist of the separators, container, vents etc.

9. How should a new SLA battery be maintained?

Although SLA battery is maintenance free, but we still need to pay attention to some points in order to maximize its performance. The sealed batteries, AGM and Gel, all but eliminate the mechanical maintenance issues. SLA Battery like to be kept fully charged when not actually being cycled. There is NO benefit to fully discharge lead acid batteries as part of maintenance or use, and this includes the Gels. The newer microprocessor chargers allow long term maintenance with a float mode, which will not overcharge batteries. Batteries used infrequently and not on a float charger should be topped off about once a month if possible. This helps prevent sulfation build up (see next question).

10. What exactly is sulfation?

Sulfation, the number one cause of early battery failure, is simply crystals of lead sulfate (PbS04) which have formed on the lead storage plates in a lead-acid type battery. When a battery is improperly charged (over/under) or allowed to self discharge as occurs during storage/non-use, these crystals build up on the battery’s storage plates and can harden, preventing the battery from ever being fully charged and therefore able to deliver their full power/capacity. Routine charging or maintaining with a floating charger helps reduce/eliminate this process. Batteries that sit unattended for extended periods are subject to internal discharge and the degradation/destruction of capacity that sulfation introduces. There are electronic devices and battery chargers that address sulfation issues, but the best practice is proper battery management with a microprocessor controlled charger to prevent it in the first place.