12v
Battery
Introduction to 12 volt Batteries
We cannot comprehend living without cellphones, torches, laptop computers, music players like the ipod, but how do we power them up? Answer lies in the battries. Similarly cars are one of the main modern day necessties which use battries to power the head lamps and backlights.
All of this power requirement means that we need a robust, portable and an efficient source of power. There are a couple of factors one has to look out while choosing the type of 12v battry. Because a twelve volt battery can be of many types, sizes, form factors, and materials. 12 volt is just the rating of the battery and it does not specify something physical. Batteries are also available in other voltage ratings such as 24, 9 and 5 volt. Its rather a quantity. There are many types of batteries depending upon the construction.
12 volt lead acid batteries
One
of the most common type of 12V battery is the 12v lead acid battery. It
is
a dc battery with lead
terminals and an acid, usually hydrochloric
acid is used as an electrolyte in lead acid battery. It is the battery
of choice for cars, trucks, tanks, uninterrupted power supplies and
other vehicles. 12V lead acid battery is used in cars as there is no
risk of handling in cars.
12volt lead acid battery is also used in battery banks and backup
systems
at power sensitive systems, such as telecom switches, like anyother 12v
dc battery because its a source of dc 12volt power.
Lead acid 12V battery is rarely used in home appliances and uses.
For example, computer UPS' rarely use lead acid battery as it is not
very easy to handle and can cause potential hazards, such as a fire etc.
Home users generally prefer a solid state battery such as the one used
in dry cells over 12v lead acid batteries or rechargeable
battery which provides 12volt power .
Those are found in torch lights, calculators, watches,
clocks and toys.
12v Battery Construction
In a 12 volt lead acid battery,
usually hydrochloric
acid is used as an electrolyte in lead acid battery. The casing is
usually made up of plastic, rubber or any other hard material in order
to avoid the acid housed inside. Inside, it is made of up many small
cells.
Metals are used for cathodes and anodes (negative and positive
terminals respectively for the 12 Volt Battery.
12 volt lead acid battery
is the 12 volt dc battery for cars, trucks, tanks,
uninterrupted power supplies and
other vehicles. This type of battery is also used in battery banks and
backup systems
at power sensitive systems, such as telecom switches.
It is 12v dc battery but is not a portable 12v battery or 12v
rechargeable battery and 12v battery pack
due to its size and handling issues. For
example, computer UPS' rarely use lead acid battery as it is not very
easy to handle and can cause potential hazards, such as a fire etc.
Disadvantages of 12 volt battery
The main
disadvantage 12volt lead acid is that it has one of the
lowest energy to weight ratio. This means
that this type of 12v battery also has a low energy to volume ratio,
which in turn means that the size of the battery has to be big in order
to provide significant amount of power. Secondly its not portable.
Another major concern about lead acid 12v battery, which is a 12volt
power source, is that about
environment. Almost all the batteries used in vehicles are lead acid
and this means that the disposal of these batteries can beome a big
hurdle. Since there are alot of cars, this mean alot of old batteries
need to be dumped somewhere and improper disposal means damaged
environment.
The automotive industry is now looking for alternatives to replace lead
acid battery in automative applications towards a environmentally safe
option
Portable 12v battery power pack for DSL modems
With massive power outages throughout the world in general and Pakistan in particular, internet usage has been affected immensely. More and more people are turning towards generators running on diesel, petrol or natural gas and UPS (uninterrupted power supply).
However, most of the backup power sources cater to the necessary appliances and components in a given home like fans, some kitchen appliances and lighting. Computers, TV and other A/V equipment have to play a second fiddle unless their usage is extremely important. With the notebooks and netbooks going mainstream and the massive spread of wireless networking and home WiFi’s, battery backups have become even more important. Laptops have the battery, it’s the routers and modems that are left powerless.
A simple solution to this problem is the use of 12V batteries since most of the routers and modems are powered by 12 volts. The simplest solution is to directly plug in the terminals of the battery into the router/modem.
Please do
note that
the current rating is VERY important. DONOT plug in a battery which has
higher
amperage than your modem or router can handle. Most
modems and routers are usually rated at around 1 ampere. So a 12V
Battery of that rating should be used.
Some smaller ADSL modems are also powered by 9V batteries. Do not use 12V batteries for them as they will be fried before you even know if you plug in a 12 volt battery into it.