On Friday last, someone brought in an old battery from a "Ford Model A" car to see if we could save it. It was reading at 0.02 volts. I had never seen one so I took some pics to show you guys too! I'm guessing that the battery is from the later version of the Model A, but there are 2 main versions which you can see below.
This image from wikipedia is of the 1903 - 1904 line.
And this one is of the 1927 - 1931 line.
So here is the battery. Unlike most of todays batteries, this is only 6 volts. Instead of a plastic case, it's made of rubber, and the 3 cells sit inside.
The cells are attached with nice Ford brand lead connectors, and then the edges are covered with tar to help prevent damage, leaks and corrosion.
The thing was totally dry, no water or acid in it whatsoever. Even turned it upside-down. Who knows how long it had been sitting without being watered, or charged, or used at all.
But put a bit of 1.200 specific gravity acid in it and right away the voltage began to return. Let's see you do that with a fancy new li-on!
We'll charge it up on a slow charge, maybe discharge and recharge a few times too. But I can pretty much guarantee that this old battery will work...!
