What happened to my SLA car battery?

[JWLV]

This is a 1.5 year old car battery that I rarely use. Around January 2023 I charged it up and stored it in my back patio. It is not connected to anything, just sitting there inside a battery box. I live in Las Vegas, so this battery has been in some extreme heat, up to 118F degrees. But it has always been inside a battery box (vented) and under a covered patio. It does not get any direct sunlight.

Today, August 16 2023 I went to take a look at the battery, there's this black sticky stuff on the positive pole. What the heck is it? It covered the positive pole completely as well as some of the plastic areas around the pole. Some of the small silver marks you see in the first picture is me trying to scratch it off. The second picture shows the positive pole cleaned off with a file. Volt meter shows the battery is at 12.32V.

So, what do you think happened to my battery? And what is this stuff?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

That's not a SLA. That's FLA. You can clearly pull the vent covers off.

FLA can lose 30% of their capacity/month. Even if you don't lose voltage, the plates will accumulate sulfidation from sitting at reduced state of charge. Your battery has likely lost a lot of its CCA rating as a result of neglect.

No idea what it is. Would assume it's some form of corrosion, or an additive/grease that was on it when you put it in storage. it's the least of your concerns.

These work great for cleaning terminals:

https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-BAF-BI-Terminal-Cleaning-Brush/dp/B0060YHP62

I'm guessing you haven't lived in Vegas long. Here in Phoenix, we learn quickly that even well maintained batteries will fail in 2-3 years due to the heat. Abused/neglected batteries quickly leave you stranded.

If you want to store a battery, you keep it on float or recharge it at least monthly.

Recommend you blow off the top of the battery with compressed air.
Wipe the top clean with a wet cloth/rag.
Dry it.
Remove covers.
Add just enough distilled water to cover any exposed plates - do not top off.
Replace covers.
Put on 13.8V charge for 7 days.
Top off fluid levels
Hold at 13.8V for 24 hours.
Check specific gravity.
If all six cells are over 1.250, the battery is probably usable.

 

[JWLV]

Thanks for the good info. This was a spare battery that came out of a car that was totalled. I swapped it with a dead battery before they took the car away. I really don't have much use for it, but today I was thinking to use this out in the backyard with a 50W solar panel and a cheapo PWM charge controller to run two Wyze cams. It'll be a very low demand power source. Wyze cams run at around 3 watts each. And the PWM charge controller has two USBs on it. Seems like a perfect match.