THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAINTENANCE FREE

& MAINTENANCE FREE ACCESSIBLE BATTERIES

 Maintenance Free vs. Maintenance Free Accessible Batteries
This document was created to help answer the most common questions about the difference between Maintenance Free
Accessible Batteries and Maintenance Free Batteries

The ratings for Cat® 4D and 8D batteries are among the highest in the industry. They are designed to exceed
the performance demands of Caterpillar’s hard working equipment. Cat batteries are designed and built to survive
the toughest abuse and perform in the harshest environments and temperatures. They provide maximum
performance and long life making them the best value.

Cat batteries supply surge currents to the starter motor, enabling engine start-up. These batteries are ‘wet cell’ or
‘flooded’ lead-acid batteries, which utilize a chemical reaction between lead electrodes, sulfuric acid and water
solution (electrolyte) to create power. Although all of the Cat batteries are ‘wet cell’ or ‘flooded’ batteries, they
can be either wet-charged or dry-charged, meaning the electrolyte solution can be included or excluded in the
battery when it is shipped.

The main advantage of dry-charged lead-acid batteries is shelf-life (dry-charged lead-acid batteries still require
the addition of an electrolyte solution prior to use). Dry-charged batteries have a longer shelf life prior to usage
over wet-charged lead acid batteries (and thus are more applicable in the aftermarket).

Advantages of wet-charged batteries over dry-charged batteries include: higher CCA ratings which result in greater
engine cranking performance, higher reserve capacity ratings which means greater/longer energy capability; and
finally, the elimination of the cost of adding electrolyte for activation.

Battery Construction

Each 12V battery has six cells; with a number of negative and positive plates/grids within each cell. These grids
are made of lead and are used as the supporting framework for the lead alloy active material/paste to stick on.
The grids are identified as plates once the active material/paste is applied.

A pure lead grid is not strong by itself to stand vertically while supporting the active paste thus alloys are added
to harden, strengthen and stiffen the soft lead. This is necessary so the grids can be handled during the battery
manufacturing process without bending or cause other damage.

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Traditionally the hardener has been antimony therefore these grids are sometimes called lead-antimony. The use
of antimony has decreased over the years because antimony increases the battery’s susceptibility to overcharge
and gassing. Battery designs which use antimony are called:

• Maintenance Batteries (antimony in positive and negative grids)

• Low Maintenance or ‘Hybrid’ Batteries (antimony in positive grid and calcium in negative grid)

Today almost all batteries uses calcium to harden the grids therefore called lead-calcium grid construction. Lead-
calcium batteries produce less gassing in comparison to traditional lead-antimony batteries; therefore, it is
sometimes labeled as "Maintenance Free”.

MATERIAL ADDED TO LEAD GRID

Grid

Battery Type Positive Negative

Maintenance Antimony Antimony

Low Maintenance (Hybrid) Antimony Calcium

Maintenance Free Calcium Calcium

The benefits of Cat Maintenance Free accessible batteries compared to Cat Maintenance and Low Maintenance
(Hybrid) batteries are:

• Longer shelf life due to a low discharge rate

• Longer useful or service life
• Faster deep discharge recovery
• Less prone (or susceptible) to overcharge
• Less water loss

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Maintenance Free

The terminology of “Maintenance Free” is widely used in the battery industry. It is used to describe the battery grid
composition that it is made of lead-calcium alloys.

Usage of this terminology has caused confusion because it implies that batteries do not need any type of
preventive maintenance such as inspecting electrolyte levels, adding distilled water into batteries or measuring
specific gravity to properly maintain battery life and performance.

All batteries produce hydrogen and oxygen gases during normal battery operation, some more so than others,
depending on battery composition. Even a battery standing idle generates small quantities of hydrogen due to
self-discharge action. This gas collects in cells and escapes through the battery vents.

Cat Maintenance Free batteries are made using lead-calcium alloys in both the positive and negative plates
(“calcium-calcium”), meaning they gas less, resulting in less water consumption over the life of the battery,
therefore requiring lower maintenance under normal battery conditions.

Batteries can either be non-accessible or accessible. A non-accessible or accessible battery can be a

maintenance free battery if it is constructed using calcium/calcium technology (lead-calcium alloy in both the
positive and negative plates).

Cat Group 4D and 8D Maintenance Free battery covers comes with accessible caps. Caterpillar also offers a
number of Group 31 batteries that are maintenance free and contain accessible caps.

Accessible caps provide flexibility to customers who either by legal requirement (i.e. Fire Codes) or
by their preferred maintenance practices needs the ability to inspect fluid levels. Caterpillar added
these caps to their maintenance free design to provide this flexibility, prevent battery dry out, and
maximize battery useful/service life.

The only difference between a maintenance free accessible battery design and a non-accessible maintenance free
battery design, is the accessible design has caps for monitoring and maintaining electrolyte fluid levels. These
accessible caps used in Cat Maintenance Free batteries do not vent.

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When these fluid levels are properly maintained, the Cat Maintenance Free accessible design will provide a longer
useful/service life over standard non-accessible maintenance free batteries. Exercise care when opening battery
caps to minimize contamination and oxidation inside the battery.

The following are key external battery features:

• Vented Manifold Cover

• Accessible Caps
• Vented Safety Caps

A Cat Maintenance Free battery has a vented manifold cover which directs gases away from the battery and hold-
downs. This allows for remote venting outside of the compartment, which helps prevent the possibility of an
explosion. (See Figure 1 and 2) .

Accessible caps are built into the covers to allow for battery preventive maintenance, such as inspecting electrolyte
levels, adding distilled water or to take specific gravity measurements. Accessible caps do not vent gasses. (See
Figure 1 and 2).

Cat dry charged batteries are built with vented caps or safety caps. They have flame barrier arresters and are
designed to inhibit ignition of gases. (See Figure 3)

Figure 1: Example of Cat Group 4D battery with vented manifold cover and accessible caps

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Figure 2 : Example of Cat Group 31 battery with vented manifold cover and accessible caps

Figure 3: Example of Cat Group 8D-Dry Charged battery with vented safety caps

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Maintenance Schedule
Most people will never need to add water to their maintenance free accessible batteries. However, Caterpillar
recommends maintaining proper electrolyte/fluid levels to prevent battery dry out and to maximize battery useful
service life by inspecting them every 1000 hours. In warmer climates, more frequent inspections are
recommended, such as every 500 hours.

Included below is the table of all available PHO batteries including their maintenance schedule.

Keep in mind that some distribution centers, such as Grimbergen, are still exhausting inventory of the old style
maintenance free batteries that do not have the accessible caps.

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