Battery service w/an eye.

[Audi Junkie]

Talked to ITW Delpro head engineer. He agreed, yes, the battery is technically bad. The eye only works on one cell, that is this one cell can be bad, but the others have enough to overcome the weakness.

He also agreed that the oem tech and service people are under trained in this regard.

He suggested charging it some!

That's what I'll do.

 

[Scienceman]

I feel for ya.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I chugged all over 2 counties looking for my charger. I just have a booster, I slapped the thing on there and am leaving it to discharge. Slamming it, I guess. I suppose the current out available from my booster will dwindle over time, as the battery builds some resistance. I'll go check it now. The booster is just slightly discharged after over an hour. I'm leaving it on unless someone says not to.

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
I got this back from a tech at JCI:


The charge eyes that are in the Honda batteries are made by a company
called ITW Delpro.

Attached is the pdf for the 3 Stage 1 Ball and 4 Stage charge eyes. The 3
stage 1 ball is the charge eye that Honda uses. I hope this will answer
your questions.

and this cool link.

Charge_Eyes.pdf

I wanted something to show Honda that a back eye batt is bad. Imma just put in a WM Maxx 35, 800/680 $75 and get it over with.


Can you post the link? Earlier in this thread I recall Honda telling you that the dealer had discretion to warranty the battery. What I don't get is why doesn't the dealer warranty it? What does it cost them? Not warrantying the battery sure causes bad will and a lost customer.

 

[wander2039]

About year and half ago when I replaced the Escape's factory battery the eye on it was red. After taking it out so I could turn it in as a core the light went green again. It was starting just fine but being 5 years old I replaced it. I still wonder how long it would of lasted.

 

[brianl703]

That probably happened because of electrolyte stratification. When you took the battery out, you shook up the electrolyte and that solved the problem.

 

[Audi Junkie]

http://www.itwdelpro.com/battery.html

ITW Delpro is the manufacturer of many types of state of charge battery indicators known as the Magic Eye ® battery indicator. Our product is designed to function in any type of "Flooded Lead Acid Batteries" including Automotive, Industrial, Marine, UPS, Golf Carts, etc... We offer numerous variations to allow for easy inclusion of this money saving device into your battery including our standard push in and our new M-18 threaded.

Advantages

* Determine the battery state of charge at a glance
* Indication is based on specific gravity, one of the most stable methods for indication of state of charge.
* Provides temperature compensation to assure of accurate readings regardless of battery temperature.
* Will indicate a low electrolyte level.
* Reduces the need for OCV (open circuit voltage) testing, thereby saving time.
* Reduces customer warranty claims.
* Improves customer satisfaction.



The One Ball Battery Indicator

The 1-ball push in model is by far our most popular model. The 1-ball model is generally used for automotive battery applications but is not limited to this category. As displayed below, it will provide a bright green indication if the battery is charged, a dark indication if the battery is discharged, and a clear and bright indication if the electrolyte level is low. It is available in our standard push in model with 2 sealing hole sizes, 12 lengths and 10 green ball specific gravities.

It is also available as an M-18 threaded model in 3 lengths and 10 green ball specific gravities.

The Two Ball Battery Indicator

The 2-ball is also used for automotive applications but most often marine batteries. It will provide a bright green indication if the battery is charged, a dark or yellow indication when partially discharged, red when fully discharged and a clear and bright indication if the electrolyte level is low. It is available in our standard push in model with 2 sealing hole sizes, 12 lengths, 10 green ball specific gravities and 3 red ball specific gravities.

It is also available as an M-18 threaded model in 3 lengths, 10 green ball specific gravities and 3 red ball specific gravities.

 

[Jonny Z]

Originally Posted By: brianl703
That probably happened because of electrolyte stratification. When you took the battery out, you shook up the electrolyte and that solved the problem.


I thought SLI batteries get enough motion to keep them from developing stratification? I have only heard of this happening on large stationary UPS batteries.

 

[brianl703]

I've seen it happen immediately after adding water to a battery with an eye. The eye went red after the water was added. It took a while for it to go back to green. You'd think stratification wouldn't be a problem with car batteries, but the following link suggests otherwise:

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-42B.htm