What is battery equalization?

A leveling charge not only ensures that your lead battery is charged better , but also guarantees a longer service life .

What is battery equalization?

It is interesting to know what an equalizing charge is, why it offers so many advantages and how you approach this with a lead-acid battery. This way, your battery is assured of a long service life and optimum capacity .

An equalization load is easy to perform, but must be repeated occasionally. With a leveling charge, people actually charge the battery in a controlled manner.

The following points are covered in this article:

• Why is an equalization load interesting?
• What problems can you solve with an equalization charge?
• Two ways to charge your battery through an equalizing charge.
• What types of lead batteries cannot be charged with an equalizing charge.
• How often do you have to carry out an equalization charge with a lead-acid battery?

Why does an equalization load have to be carried out?

A first reason to carry out an equalization charge is that sulphation often occurs with lead batteries. This phenomenon ensures that the battery is insufficiently charged.

Sulphation occurs mainly with batteries that are not or insufficiently used. When a lead-acid battery is used, small sulphate crystals are formed. This is a normal process and these crystals do not damage the battery under normal circumstances.

However, if the lead battery is not sufficiently charged for a long time, these crystals will develop into a solid layer of crystallized lead sulfide on the lead plates of the battery. These crystals can then no longer break down so that the battery can no longer charge itself.

Performing an equalization charge occasionally is also interesting for a second reason. Over time, the cells in a battery become unbalanced. Some cells charge too much, others do not get charged enough. By performing an equalization charge, people ‘reset’ these different cells.

Performing an equalization charge is therefore interesting to prevent sulphation and to charge the various cells in a battery proportionally again.

What causes sulphation in lead batteries?

• Sulphation occurs when batteries are not sufficiently charged.
• If a semi-traction battery is constantly charged, it can also cause sulphation.

In general it can therefore be stated that sulphation in lead batteries is actually difficult to avoid.

Why is an equalization charge useful?

With a leveling charge, the solid layer of crystals that has formed on the lead plates of the battery is broken down so that the sulphate can again mix with the sulfuric acid.

In addition, the equalization charge ensures that the cells are loaded evenly so that certain cells are no longer overcharged and others are not sufficiently charged.

By performing a leveling charge, both the crystals are broken down and the cells are charged evenly so that the battery is charged better and the battery life is extended.

How is an equalization charge performed?

• A charger with an automatic equalization function.

The easiest way to perform a leveling charge is to use a solid charger with an automatic leveling function. Most new chargers have such a function and are available in specialized shops. If you use such a charger, it is important to connect it to the battery long enough for the entire process of equalization to be completed.

• Perform a leveling load manually.

If you do not have a charger with an automatic equalization function, you can manually charge your lead battery in a few simple steps.

Step 1 : Take the manual charger.

Step 2 : Take out the lead battery and check whether this is a normal FLA battery (lead acid battery).

Note: Performing a manual equalization charge on other types of batteries, such as SLA batteries (hermetically sealed batteries), AGM batteries (battery acid in ‘gel’ form that is incorporated in a fiberglass mat) or gel batteries can damage these batteries.

Step 3 : Remove all electrical wiring.

Step 4 : Connect the battery to the charger.

Step 5 : Fully charge the battery.

Step 6 : Once the battery is fully charged, the charging stops automatically.

Step 7 : If your charger does not have an equalization function, you must restart the charger when the original charge has been reached. You can do this by first turning off the alternating current and then reconnecting it. This will increase the charging time by 1 to 3 hours.

Step 8 : If the entire equalization process proceeds correctly, gas will form and the electrolytes will bubble.

Step 9 : Keep a close eye on the entire process and check the voltage and the battery charging stage every hour with a hydrometer.

Step 10 : Refill the water that was lost during the entire equalization charge. You can find out how best to do this in our EZ Battery Reconditioning review.

Step 11 : Check when the entire process has ended. When the equalization charge has ended, the voltage values ​​will no longer increase.

Note: If the charger automatically ends the entire process before the battery is fully charged and the voltage values ​​are constant, restart the charger and continue the equalization process until the voltage values ​​are constant.

How often do you have to perform an equalization charge?

How often a leveling charge must be carried out, battery producers do not entirely agree.

Most producers recommend doing this on a monthly basis, others argue that once every six months is sufficient, others claim that this should only happen every ten or twelve months.

It is therefore best to check with the manufacturer of your battery what it recommends.

Do not forget to check the water level of your battery from time to time and to top up the water monthly and every time you have carried out an equalization charge.

What else can you do to extend the life of your lead battery?

The first step towards extending the life of your battery and ensuring that it works optimally is to regularly carry out a leveling charge.

Yet there is another way to ensure that the life of your battery is extended and you can even bring a broken battery back to life.

In our EZ Battery Reconditioning you will learn exactly how this works. The method is fairly simple and you do not need any additional requirements at all.

Are you interested to breathe new life into your lead battery and many other batteries? Consult our presentation to find out everything about this.