Battery shelf life when not charged as scheduled.

[Anonymous user]

What happens to the expected 3 to 5 year battery lifetime for a replacement battery (e.g. RBC43) if it is not charged every 3 to 6 months while in storage?

What is the effect of not ever charging it to 100% within 6 months of purchase as recommended?

[Anonymous user]

I continued to research these questions in your FAQs and discovered the following:

FA157446 | 8.0 |

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Allowing batteries to stand for long time after a discharge without recharging will cause plate"sulfation." Sulfation is the formation of large crystals or hard lead sulfate on the battery plates.Excessive sulfation of this kind is difficult to reduce and may cause premature damage (i.e.overheating or inability of the battery to retain charge). Lead sulfate is difficult and some times impossible to reduce by conventional charging methods.

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A discharged battery needs to be recharged within 72 hours of the discharge to avoid permanent battery damage.

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Does anyone have any comments that significantly change the conclusion that once the batteries are discharged beyond the "sulfation" limit that they are degraded to the point that they need to be replaced?

[BillP]

Don't know if these help: http://www.apc.com/prod_docs/results.cfm?DocType=White+Paper&query_type=99&keyword=vrla 

[BillP · Accepted solution]

What would be nice is a dedicated charger that you can plug a single battery cartridge into.