Battery problem!

On a routine check of the batteries in the truck, we discovered a slight problem.  The students had learned how to use a refractometer to check the specific gravity of the lead acid cells to determine the state of each cell in comparison to the rest of the pack.  The results found the 14 month old US Battery US145xc batteries were within a few tenths of each other except for one cell was considerably lower than the rest.  Upon checking it out further, we noticed the water level was lower as well, even though we had topped them off the day before.  We also noticed that there was a considerable amount of oxidation underneath the battery box below where the battery in question was.

  We removed the battery to find that it had been leaking around the side seal near the top of the battery.  We contacted Fred Wehmeyer at US Batteries and he suggested we try to fix the leak by melting the side where the seal was broken, and if that did not work, he would try to get the battery replaced under warranty since it had been leaking since the day we installed them.  The fix did not work, so Fred contacted Larry at Battery Specialists in Greenville, SC, a distributor, and arranged for us to have the battery replaced.  Larry assured us that we would have the battery before our event on November 4th!  Stay tuned.