EVDL Administrator via EV wrote:
I thought that most good valve regulated batteries had recombination catalysts inside the cells, to recombining evolved hydrogen and oxygen into water. No?
Yes, they can *slowly* recombine the hydrogen and oxygen inside back into water. There is some low current at which the recombination rate matches the gas production rate.
However, the reaction is strongly temperature and pressure dependent. It works much better right after charging when the battery is warm, and when the gas pressure is high. But it's very slow after it has cooled off.
Also, the inside of the cell is still pressurized to make it happen. The vents are never perfect, even on a "sealed" battery. Hydrogen is notoriously difficult to contain; the molecule is so small that it goes right through most materials.
Thus, if you chronically keep the battery at a high voltage where it is producing gas, you'll still be slowly losing hydrogen, and thus water. The higher the voltage, the more you lose.
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