So I finally wired up my Schulze ISL330 to charge...

[headless 10+ year member]

My car battery...and while it was charging, popped off the caps on the cells to check on them. 5 of my 6 cells were bubbling a bit (ok, they were bubbling steadily...) after 4 hours @ 3.5amps and 12AH put into the battery. The 6th was dead calm without any bubbling at all. Does anyone with some experience charging lead-acid batteries know if this indicates that the last cell is damaged/dead? It's a brand new battery i've only had about 3 weeks, so if it's dead it's gonna have been defective from the factory. Serves me right, i suppose, for buying a battery from wal-mart....//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif The **** capacity isn't listed ANYWHERE so i can't tell how many AH it should take before reaching peak voltage...so i can't just charge the sucker and see if it doesn't reach capacity or tops out too soon. It's a maxx-24FS battery. I removed the charge after noticing the bubbling was getting more pronounced and noticing the entire battery was warm.

Can I just check this by using some type of chemical measurement on the water/acid solution in the battery? If 5 of my 6 cells read significantly different than the 6th but close to eachother i figure i've got a case to take it back and have it replaced.

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[headless 10+ year member]

Nobody with Pb acid battery experience who can confirm/deny my theory? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Well, as a follow-up to my own question, I found a hydrometer at the local advanced auto parts that can show state of charge in a Pb soaked cell simply by the density of the water. Upon testing, 5 of the 6 cells showed completely full charge...and the 6th, as expected, showed dead rock bottom. Took that sucker back to wal-mart. They replaced it, after trying to void my warranty over an aftermarket stereo being installed..heh