[Solved] Yuasa Lead-Acid Battery Swelling and Cracking: Possible Causes and Discussion

Hi
I have such a problem. Please advise.

I used a Yuasa lead-acid battery. he was about 3 years old
It was connected as a support for the alarm system in a single-family house.
I didn't see him for several months.
Recently, after checking, it turned out that the battery swelled up to such an extent that the housing cracked (photo).

I'm quite a beginner in this topic, so I'm curious if this behavior of the battery happens? What could be the reason?

If it is due to frost, discharged and kept in a room with a minus temperature, then it froze and burst.

It happens. It would be good to measure the charging voltage before connecting a new one. On the old one you have the values of this voltage.

hostipl wrote:

What could be the reason?

E.g. low temperature and freezing of the electrolyte.

Before connecting a new one - measure the charging voltage and charging current. It is often the case that the electrolyte can disappear - gas, be poured out, for example, during improper storage. The charging current increases, there is stronger gassing, the vapors cannot escape and boom..
Interesting fact - the battery in the car, dark plastic, sealed plugs. I unscrewed the charger when charging and ... the electrolyte was uneven in the cells. I topped up with distilled water to the level that seemed right to me, but I'll buy something to measure the density anyway..

Something like this happened to me, without minus temperatures, with a battery from another company (although a slightly different shape of swelling and cracks). It was still under warranty, they exchanged the whole set for Yuas without saying anything. But the inside of the UPS from corrosion after the spill of acid was cleaned for a long time and laboriously by myself.

The battery should not freeze in the cold. The cell inside just went and, unfortunately, the battery had to be replaced.

I would rather avoid frost
the battery was in a heated room, near the radiator, which ran all winter

I forgot to add that it's possible that it could have frozen but if it was used well, it shouldn't.

Added after 52 [seconds]:

And if it stood in the heat, then, as I wrote, one of the cells was damaged and unfortunately there is no help for it.

It looks like it fell from a great height. Alternatively, a short circuit occurred in the cell and hydrogen exploded.

All that's left to do is replace it with a new one. Unfortunately

Gentlemen, stop pouring water - what freezing, what explosions when there is a short circuit in the cell, and adding anything to this battery is physically impossible - unless someone removes the factory protections. There is an electrolyte in the form of a gel anyway. There is nothing to argue here, just put on a new one. Measure the charging voltage and current and that's it.

hostipl wrote:

What could be the reason?

A classic of the genre.
The battery has swelled from too high hold-up voltage. The backup (buffer) voltage cannot be higher than 13.7 V. If it is higher, the battery will swell from overcharging.
A common phenomenon in UPSs when the charging voltage is not set precisely enough, or something breaks down in the power supply. I received such power supplies where in order to remove the swollen batteries, the frame of the power supply had to be cut with a flex knife or the welds drilled out.

A fully charged battery will not freeze, even partially, because the freezing point of the battery is minus several dozen °C. The only possibility is that it will freeze as it is discharged to ZERO and instead of the electrolyte there is only water. However, this is not the case here, because the battery was in a heated room.

Even a completely discharged battery freezes somewhere around -10 °C.
aku.jpg Download (8.53 kB)

Before installing a new battery, check the charging voltage. Must be 13.5-13.7 volts.

It died of old age, it's not a specific brand to last 10 years.

mariuz2 wrote:

He died of old age, it's not a specific brand that would last 10 years.

The most respectable, well-known and reputable brand founded 100 years ago in Japan. It has also been producing batteries for a very long time. A global tycoon, products known all over the world and of excellent quality.
That's on the margin.
But back to the merits. This is not normal battery wear. There was some error in charging, probably, because normally used batteries from old age do not look like this.

Thank you very much everyone for your help.
Everything I needed I already know.

Thank you very much everyone for your help.
Everything I needed I already know.

Added after 1 [minutes]:

Thanks for your help, valuable information.