Eliminating “Shorts”
If you have decided that some or all of the plates may be used again, the next thing to do is to separate any plates that are touching, and put the battery on charge. It may be necessary to put in new separators in place of the defective ones. Examine the separators carefully. Whenever you find the pores of the separators stopped up from any cause whatsoever, put in new separators before charging.
1. Sometimes the negative plates are bulged or blistered badly and have worn clear through the separators, Fig. 214, and touch the positives. In cases of this kind, to save time and trouble, separate the groups, press the negatives lightly, as described later, assemble the element with new separators, and it is ready for charging.
2. There is another case where the groups must be separated and new separators inserted before they will take charge, and that is where the battery has suffered from lack of water and has sulphated clear through the separators, Fig. 201. The separators will be covered with white sulphate. Chemical action is very sluggish in such cases.
If you find that the separator pores are still open, leave the separators in place and proceed to separate the plates that are touching. How? That depends on what insulating material you have available that is thin enough. If nothing else is available, take a piece of new dry separator about 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch square, or a piece of pasteboard the same size. Use a screw driver or putty knife to separate the plates far enough to insert the little piece of insulation as in Fig. 216. Free all the shorts in this way, unless you have some old rubber insulators. In this case, break off some narrow strips 3/4 inch wide or less, put two together and repeat the operation as above, using the rubber strips instead of the pieces of separator. Insert down 1/2 inch or so and bend over and break off. Occasionally the Lipper edges of the plates are shorted, in which case they must be treated the same way.