Loose Object INSIDE Battery???

[TheLoneRanger]

Hi all. I was checking the acid/water level in my Explorer Motorcraft battery today, and noticed an object in the battery. It looked like a washer about 3/4" in diamter, and was laying on top of the plates, under one of the fill holes.

I tried to remove it with a wooden popsicle stick, but lost it in the process, and it went out of sight somewhere in the battery. Does anyone know what this is, or what it's made of? If it's metal, is there a possibility of it shorting out a cell?

Thanks in advance,
Ranger

 

[Quest]

Load test your battery with a carbon pile tester to see if a short exists. If it does, most likely it is due to that piece of ?? shorting out the plates. If not, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Thanks for replying, Quest. After thinking about it more, the washer-shaped object seemed to be very light and therefore probably non-conductive. Probably plastic, since it moved around easily on the plates.

The battery seems OK, and the "eye" is green showing a full charge. It reads 12.26v. Probably ready for a new one anyway, since it's 6 years old....

 

[kgb007stb]

Is it worth the $60 not being on time to work or being late for some other social activity? I always change the battery when I see something wrong whether or not the battery is still functioning properly, I need to start and go and not worry about whether some loose object is going to force me call AAA.

 

[got boost?]

replace it if it is that old, an internal short will destroy the alternator.

 

[97f150]

I would just replace it. I stand with kg on this one, a battery is too important and often enough forgotten about to take a chance with. Noone ever thinks of their battery till they cant start their car.

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Thanks for the replies, and point taken. It's getting replaced; probably been in there too long anyway......

 

[TheLoneRanger]

UPDATE
I replaced the battery last night with a Wal-Mart "Everstart". I think they're made by Johnson Controls, and seem to be an excellent battery.

As a side note, the new battery showed a reading of 12.47v versus 12.26v for the old battery. Even though the old one showed no problems, it was obviously getting tired.

The wife drives this vehicle, so that was good advice to get a new one, rather than risk a no-start.....thanks again for all the replies.

TLR

 

[leel]

Open Circuit Voltage VS. State of Charge
12.66V 100%
12.45V 75%
12.24V 50%
12.06V 25%
11.89V 0%


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[TheLoneRanger]

quote:

---

Open Circuit Voltage VS. State of Charge
12.66V 100%
12.45V 75%
12.24V 50%
12.06V 25%
11.89V 0%

---

Those are interesting figures, leel. Where did they come from?
According to this, my old battery was at about 50% capacity fully charged, and the new one was at about 75%, which would be expected from sitting on a shelf.

 

[leel]

quote:

---

Originally posted by TheLoneRanger:

quote:

---

Open Circuit Voltage VS. State of Charge
12.66V 100%
12.45V 75%
12.24V 50%
12.06V 25%
11.89V 0%

---

Those are interesting figures, leel. Where did they come from?
According to this, my old battery was at about 50% capacity fully charged, and the new one was at about 75%, which would be expected from sitting on a shelf.

---

 

[leel]

quote:

---

Originally posted by TheLoneRanger:

quote:

---

Open Circuit Voltage VS. State of Charge
12.66V 100%
12.45V 75%
12.24V 50%
12.06V 25%
11.89V 0%

---

Those are interesting figures, leel. Where did they come from?
According to this, my old battery was at about 50% capacity fully charged, and the new one was at about 75%, which would be expected from sitting on a shelf.

---

http://www.ibsa.com/www_2001/content/faqs/tech_talk/maintenance/faq_tech_maint.htm

http://www.ibsa.com/estore/default.asp

 

[road_rascal]

Hmmm. Looks like I should start thinking about replacing the original battery in my '99 Taurus (12.22v).

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Leel, thanks for those links, very informative stuff. Those are good guidelines for replacing tired and worn-out batteries.