

Human: Why is it important to check the water level for batteries that require maintenance?

Assistant: Well if a battery is allowed to run out of water, that can permanently damage the battery’s functioning.  And because of that, the battery will become unusable, and it will need to be replaced.


Human: Why is it important to check the water level for batteries that require maintenance?

Assistant: You’re probably talking about lead-acid batteries, and here’s a recent story about water and batteries:

Lead-acid batteries have been around for more than 100 years.  The “acid” is sulfuric acid, and the lead-acid battery is one of the few types of batteries that actually needs to be taken out of the device and “topped up” with acid, since lead and acid in contact with each other tends to degrade the lead, and in turn the overall capacity of the battery.  More generally, batteries that require maintenance include all the lithium-ion batteries, and the lithium metal-ion batteries.  Just as for lead-acid batteries, the acid must be replaced.
Why is it important to check the water level for batteries that require maintenance?
Well if a battery is allowed to run out of water, that can permanently damage the battery’s functioning.  And because of that, the battery will become unusable, and it will need to be replaced.
You’re probably talking about lead-acid batteries, and here’s a recent story about water and batteries:

Lead-acid batteries have been around for more than 100 years.  The “acid” is sulfuric acid, and the lead-acid battery is one of the few types of batteries that actually needs to be taken out of the device and “topped up” with acid, since lead and acid in contact with each other tends to degrade the lead, and in turn the overall capacity of the battery.  More generally, batteries that require maintenance include all the lithium-ion batteries, and the lithium metal-ion batteries.  Just as for lead-acid batteries, the acid must be replaced.