Re: battry water
How much spilled? If you spilled alot of the electrolyte, its not long for this world and I wouldn't trust it. Electrolyte in these batteries is a mix of sulfuric acid and distilled water that is added at the factory (you old timers may remember when batteries didn't come filled and you had to add it yourself...acid first or else clear the area!). You may have lost alot of the acid. That brings up another concern. Where did it spill? That stuff is very corrosive, especially over the long term. Best way to neutralize is wash thoroughly with a baking soda and water mixture, let stand for awhile (you may see some foaming, that's the acid being neutralized) and rinse. Do it twice for insurance. For the future, when you do add water to a battery it must be distilled. Tap water has too high of a mineral content and degrades the plates which will reduce electrolysis in not too long (it won't charge). By distilled water, I mean "Flash distilled" water which is darn pure (very little mineral content, conductivity less than .06 milli-ohms/cm). Not bottled water or filtered water, it must read distilled (or flash distilled) which means it was processed through a flash distilling plant. Do NOT try and add acid to the battery if you feel bold enough, as this could cause a violent chemical reaction.
