I'm an electrical engineer who could use some help understanding lead acid batteries.
I recently bought an old motorcycle and charged the battery on my trusty automotive style battery charger after it lost charge. After several hours, the water was boiling inside the battery. I'm fairly certain the battery is relatively new and the water level was correct the last time I checked. I didn't have my multimeter at the time so I didn't take any measurements, but the battery is 12V and charger was set to 10A.
- Is it normal for the water to be boiling?
- Is my charging current set too high?
- Can permanent damage result from boiling?
- Is this the reason they must be topped off with water from time to time?
Thanks!