ay. If the battery is an old one, the
negatives are probably somewhat granulated, the positives have
probably lost much of their active material, resulting in a
considerable amount of sediment in the jars, and the separators are
worn out, carbonized, or clogged with sediment. Such a battery should
not be expected to give as good service as a new one, and the best
thing to do if the tests show the battery to be more than half
charged, is to put it back on the car, taking care to explain to the
owner why his battery will not "come up" and telling him that he will
soon need a new battery. Remember that improperly treated separators,
or defective separators will cause poor Negative-Cadmium readings to
be obtained.

If a fairly new battery will not take a full charge, as indicated by
hydrometer readings and cadmium tests, some trouble has developed due
to neglect, abuse, or defect in manufacture. If all cells of a fairly
new battery fail to take a full charge within 48 hours, the battery
has probably been abused by failing to add water regularly, or by
allowing battery to remain in an undercharged condition. Such a
battery should be kept on the line for several days more, and if it
then still will not take a full charge the owner should be told what
the condition of the battery is, and advised to have it opened for
inspection.

If one cell of a battery fails to take a charge, but the other cells
charge satisfactorily, and cadmium tests show that the plates of this
cell are not taking a charge, the cell should be opened for
inspection. If one cell of a battery charges slowly, cut the other
cells out of the line, and charge the low cell in series with the
other batteries on the charging line.

If all cells of a battery, whether new or old, will not take even half
a charge, as indicated by hydrometer readings (1.200), the battery
should be opened for inspection.

If the gravity of a battery on charge begins to rise long before the
voltage rises, and if the gravity rises above 1.300, there is too
great a proportion of acid in the electrolyte. The remedy is to dump
out the electrolyte, refill with pure water and continue the charge at
a lower rate than before, until the specific gravity stops rising.
Then charge for ten hours longer, dump out the water (which has now
become electrolyte by the acid formed by the charging current), refill
with about 1.350 electrolyte and continue the charge, balancing the
gravity if necessary