Comparison GREENPOWER MAX 6CT-62L vs Forse Original 6CT-65L

— Serviced. Serviceable are only classic lead-acid batteries (see "Type"): they are easy to distinguish even externally — by the presence of removable plugs that give access to internal containers with electrolyte. The latter is a mixture of sulfuric acid and water, and with each charge, some of this water "boils away" (decomposes into oxygen and hydrogen and volatilizes). This is especially intense when overcharging or charging at high voltage. Battery maintenance consists in periodically replenishing the water in the electrolyte — without this, lowering its level leads to damage to the plates due to contact with air, which irreparably degrades battery performance. On average, maintenance should be carried out 1-2 times a year (15-20K kilometers for a passenger car) and these terms usually coincide with the terms of scheduled maintenance. However, this value may vary depending on the features of both the battery itself and its operation; more detailed information is usually contained in the instructions for specific models. "Refilling" should be done exclusively with distilled water, because. even a relatively small amount of foreign matter can damage the wafers.

— Unattended. As the name suggests, these batteries do not require the maintenance described above; this is achieved in a number of ways, in particular by filling the electrolyte with a margin for the entire service life or using a gel (se...e "Type"). With clear advantages due to ease of use, maintenance-free batteries at the same time have one drawback: they are much more sensitive to deep discharge (capacity decreases), and, accordingly, they tolerate cold and long periods of inactivity worse.

Car batteries include lead-acid, advanced lead-acid (EFB), calcium (Ca-Ca), hybrid, absorbed electrolyte (AGM), gel, lithium-ion (Li-Ion) and glyium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries.. More about them:

— Lead acid. The most popular type today. In a broad sense, all modern car batteries are lead-acid, because. their design is based on a combination of electrodes made of lead compounds and an electrolyte, the role of which is played by sulfuric acid diluted with water. However, in this case, we mean the classic type of batteries that use a conventional liquid electrolyte. Their widespread use is due to their simple design and low cost, combined with good capacity and inrush currents characteristic of all lead-acid batteries (see below), as well as resistance to low temperatures (compared to other types of batteries).

— Calcium (Ca-Ca). A type of rechargeable batteries with lead plates, which are alloyed with calcium in a proportion of not more than 0.1% of the total mass of the electrode. The advantages of calcium batteries over their peers are a long service life, increased strength of the plates and their small thickness, low-maintenance or maintenance-free design. Ca-Ca batteries can easily tolerate increased voltage up...to 14.8 V and have a low level of self-discharge. Only a deep discharge of the battery can be fatal for such models, during which the resulting calcium sulfate clogs the pores of the plates and practically does not dissolve in the electrolyte. Once discharged, a calcium battery loses up to 20% of its original capacity, which cannot be restored.

— Hybrid. Batteries with a positive electrode, which is made according to one technology, and negative — according to another. There are the following varieties of "hybrids": argentum-calcium, carbon-calcium, carbon-lead, tin-calcium, etc. Different metals are introduced into the battery structure scheme in order to ensure stable battery performance. In particular, some of them act as guarantors of the stability of the power supply to deep discharge, others are aimed at low self-discharge of the battery. The most widely used calcium "hybrids", designated by the markings Calcium Plus or Ca +. In general, hybrid batteries carry the brand of Hybrid.

— Lead-acid (EFB). An improved subspecies of lead-acid batteries with a longer operating life, a high degree of safety and a practically maintenance-free design. The abbreviation EFB stands for Enhanced Flooded Battery, which means "Enhanced Liquid Electrolyte Battery". A distinctive feature of EFB technology is thick plates made of pure lead without any impurities. The positive plates in the battery design are wrapped in special microfibre “bags” that absorb and hold the liquid electrolyte. As a result, intensive shedding of the active substance is prevented and the sulfation process is significantly slowed down when the battery is deeply discharged. And due to the homogeneous structure of the electrolyte (mixed with the natural movement of the car), the overall service life of EFB lead-acid batteries increases and the charging speed increases.

— Absorbed electrolyte. Another type of lead-acid battery is also known by the abbreviation AGM. The name itself describes the main design feature: in such batteries, the space between the plates is not filled with liquid, but with microporous plastic, which is impregnated with the electrolyte itself (an aqueous solution of sulfuric acid). This design has a number of advantages over the classical one: for example, AGM batteries do not require maintenance (see "Maintenance") and practically do not emit gases during charging (the resulting oxygen and hydrogen recombine inside the battery itself), are resistant to shaking and are well suited for start systems. -stop (see Start-stop support). Their disadvantages are high sensitivity to increased voltage during charging, the need for a special charger (ordinary ones do not fit well), as well as a high price.

— Gel. A type of lead-acid battery in which the electrolyte is not liquid, but condensed to a gel state. This design provides a number of advantages compared to the classic version (see above): more charge-discharge cycles (which means longer service life); minimum leakage of electrolyte and associated gases; no need for maintenance (see "Maintenance"); resistance to deep discharges and temperature fluctuations, etc. On the other hand, such batteries cost significantly more.

— Lithium-ion (Li-Ion). Lithium-ion technology was originally used in batteries for portable gadgets such as mobile phones, but such batteries are being used more and more recently in vehicles. Motorcycles were the first type of transport using Li-Ion technology. Among the advantages of such batteries over more traditional varieties, one can note smaller dimensions and weight, the ability to deliver high starting currents and be charged with high currents (the latter significantly reduces the charging time), as well as numerous charge-discharge cycles and a long shelf life. In addition, such batteries contain a minimum of harmful substances, do not use acids and heavy metals, and some models are even directly positioned as absolutely harmless to the environment. The main disadvantage of lithium-ion models is a very “biting” price.

— Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4). Such batteries are actually a modification of lithium-ion batteries (see the relevant paragraph), designed to eliminate some of the shortcomings of the original technology. First of all, they are notable for their high reliability and safety: the probability of an “explosion” of the battery during overload is reduced to almost zero, and in general, LiFePO4 can easily cope with high peak loads. In addition, they are quite resistant to cold and keep the operating voltage almost to the very discharge. The main disadvantage of this type is a somewhat smaller capacity.

The location of the terminals on the battery may vary depending on its purpose (see above) and some other features. Today there are such options:

— Standard. The standard is the arrangement of the terminals on the top panel of the battery, which is usually a rectangle, along the long side of this rectangle. It is used in all types of batteries (“See “Purpose”), and in batteries for passenger cars it is almost a standard option.

— Lateral. In this version, the terminals are usually located on the top cover along the short side of the battery, on the side, if you look at it from the front side — hence the name. Almost all models with a similar arrangement are designed for trucks and buses (see "Purpose").

— Diagonal. The terminals are located diagonally on the top cover, i.e. at opposite corners of the rectangle. Such a scheme is very rare today, most often in batteries for heavy equipment (see "Purpose").

— Central. As with the standard arrangement described above, the terminals in this case are placed along the long side of the battery top cover. However, they are not located at the edge of the lid, but are shifted to the centre — hence the name. Such models do not have fundamental differences from batteries with standard terminals, however, for a number of reasons they are relatively rare.

— Fr...om the butt. In this case, we mean the installation of terminals on the front wall of the battery, which is typical for the American form factor (see above). Such terminals can be combined with standard ones, on the cover, however, even such combined models are still considered to be "end".

The electrical capacity of a battery, in other words, the amount of energy stored by a battery when fully charged. The capacity value is expressed in amp-hours and indicates the number of hours during which a fully charged battery will be discharged to the minimum allowable charge, delivering a current of 1 ampere to the load. For example, a capacity of 40 Ah means that the battery is capable of delivering a current of 1 A for 40 hours, or 2 A for 20 hours, etc. In fact, a more capacious battery gives more attempts to start the engine, and is also able to work longer at a low load (for example, when powering a car audio system).

The capacity requirements for different transport types differ markedly. So, in motorcycle batteries, it rarely exceeds 20 Ah, the average value for passenger cars is 40-80 Ah (but there are options for 100 Ah or more), and for heavy equipment like buses, an acceptable capacity starts somewhere from 100 Ah. The optimal value of the battery capacity is often indicated by the manufacturer in the characteristics of the vehicle, and when choosing a model by capacity, you should focus primarily on these figures.

Battery starting current measured in accordance with EN (Uniform European Standard). According to this standard, the starting current is the maximum current that a battery at an electrolyte temperature of -18 °C can produce for 30 seconds without a voltage drop below a certain level (for standard 12 V batteries — not lower than 7.2 V). The term "starting" appeared because this mode of operation is similar to starting the engine, when the battery has to supply a high power current to the starter for a short time.

The recommended value of the starting current is generally related to the weight category of the machine: the heavier it is, the more powerful current is usually needed to start. And many manufacturers directly indicate the recommended values \u200b\u200bin the characteristics of a particular model of transport. If the battery is bought as a replacement, then the general rule is that its starting current must be no less than that of its predecessor.

Note that in fact there may be designations of starting current according to 3 more standards: SAE (USA), DIN (Germany) and TU (GOST 959-91, Russia). The first one is practically identical to EN, while DIN and TU are quite easy to convert to EN and vice versa: they are similar to each other, and each of them gives a number approximately 1.7 times less than NE. That is, for example, to replace a battery with 200 A according to specifications, you should look for a model with a current of at least 340...A (200 * 1.7) according to EN.