Elecraft sells a Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) Gel Cell battery for the K2. Unfortunately, many people, even some battery vendors, are careless with the terminology.
There are at least two types of Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries: those in which the electrolyte is in a gelatin form (Gel Cell) and those in which the electrolyte is liquid but confined by an Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM). This latter type is often called a "Starved Electrolyte" battery. Unfortunately, many people fail to distinguish properly between an SLA AGM battery or an SLA Gel Cell battery and call both types "Gel Cell". It is true that neither will leak liquid acid, but they have quite different performance characteristics. SLA Gel Cells are superior for heavy demand and deep discharge situations since more electrolyte is available to support the chemical reactions, so they are the most popular no-maintenance, no-spill battery for powering Ham rigs. To further confuse the issue some liquid acid "no maintenance" batteries are referred to as SLA or Sealed Liquid (rather than Lead) Acid batteries. If punctured or otherwise damaged, these are capable of dumping liquid acid just like any earlier lead-acid battery. Like the older lead-acid batteries, they are properly classified as "flooded batteries". So, when seeing "SLA", it's good to know whether the L means Liquid or Lead. It's no wonder those in the transportation business are often skittish about shipping any kind of lead-acid battery. It's not always easy to identify exactly what it is by just looking at a label. Ron AC7AC ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
