In Purkeys‘ latest blog post, “How to detect a frozen battery,” Charley Gipe, Purkeys’ Northeast region sales and service engineer, explains the reasons why heavy-duty vehicle batteries freeze and how to detect if a battery is frozen.
Purkeys’ Gipe wrote that, to understand why a battery freezes, fleets must understand how a battery is made. Inside the battery is sulfuric acid and water. The combination of these fluids creates an electrolyte with a very low freezing point, making a frozen battery unlikely in most temperatures. The potential for freezing comes with batteries that are not fully charged.
“As a battery becomes discharged, the sulfuric acid combines with the positive and negative plates in the battery and leaves the water behind. As batteries become discharged, the freezing point will rise. Severely discharged batteries can freeze at temperatures as high as 20 degrees Fahrenheit,” noted Gipe in the blog post.
For the top three signs signs that the battery is frozen, check out Purkeys’ Blog, where you can also glean more tips. Then be sure to check out our feature story focusing on heavy-duty truck battery killers.
