Topped off battery with Distilled water....Why not with battery acid???? Opinions???

[crazy charlie]

Out of boredom on a lousy lousy weather day yesterday,I climbed inside the shrink-wrap of my Grady white and checked the levels on one of my batteries.The 2 outside fills were lower than the rest.I added a few ounces of distilled water in each. Curious if I could have used battery acid from an old battery instead of distilled water or new battery acid? The acid of an old battery is probably more apt to take a charge than distilled water..?? or is it?? Curious????? What do you guys think???? Charlie

 

[T/O]

The only thing that evaporates from a non-leaking battery is water, the same amount of acid is still there.

 

[Pmt133]

What he said. The acid doesn't easily evaporate but the water content does. All you're doing is adding the water back. Think like making those salt crystals in elementary school. It's a similar concept.

 

[Mc Tool]

The only thing that evaporates from a non-leaking battery is water, the same amount of acid is still there.

Well said that man , saves me from needing to make a post .

 

[mike_i]

Yup, I agree with all of the above. If you have a constant trickle charger on the battery it can boil off the water too.

 

[airshot]

Yup, I agree with all of the above. If you have a constant trickle charger on the battery it can boil off the water too.

Use a battery maintainer rather than a trickle charger, while similar, the maintainer will not boil out any water and actually cycles your battery for longer life.

 

[Texasmark]

Yup, I agree with all of the above. If you have a constant trickle charger on the battery it can boil off the water too.

I have about 15 batteries to keep tabs on and I thought the right answer was to keep all on trickle chargers constantly as long as they weren't in operation. Result.......you guessed it...even though the max current was only 1 amp, over time it boiled the water out, even with the newer designed lead acid batteries that are sealed....killed the battery in my 2011 Silverado that was less than a year old.

 

[crazy charlie]

I have about 15 batteries to keep tabs on and I thought the right answer was to keep all on trickle chargers constantly as long as they weren't in operation. Result.......you guessed it...even though the max current was only 1 amp, over time it boiled the water out, even with the newer designed lead acid batteries that are sealed....killed the battery in my 2011 Silverado that was less than a year old.

I dont know how my thread got to charging ???Well anyway ,for about $5 on sale you can get a maintainer at Harbor freight.Got one for my lawnmower and seems to be doing the job.Charlie

 

[cyclops222]

I have 7 homemade 13.5 vdc at 1 amp maximum current. I C controlled chargers. I load test all the batteries every 3 to 4 years. Still great.

 

[04fxdwgi25]

Out of boredom on a lousy lousy weather day yesterday,I climbed inside the shrink-wrap of my Grady white and checked the levels on one of my batteries.The 2 outside fills were lower than the rest.I added a few ounces of distilled water in each. Curious if I could have used battery acid from an old battery instead of distilled water or new battery acid? The acid of an old battery is probably more apt to take a charge than distilled water..?? or is it?? Curious????? What do you guys think???? Charlie

The #1 rule is and always has been :
Add water to acid, NEVER add acid to water". Adding acid to water causes very bad reactions. But that is for concentrated / undiluted acid.

If the acid in battery didn't boil off / spill out, it is still in there and just water evaporated. Adding the distilled water is fine and proper.

 

[dingbat]

Given the duration of my lay overs (3-4 months) and the low self discharge rates in the winter, I don’t use a trickle charger or maintainer.

Everything except the ZTR, boat and golf cart are used year round.

The ZTR has an AGM battery with very low discharge rates. Don’t see more than a couple 10ths of a volt drop.

The boat and golf cart have deep cycle batteries. When fully charged might drop down to 12.4v over the winter which is well within the allowable DoD for that battery type

 

[JimS123]

Acid is put in when the battery is new. As the battery is maintained and used the water evaporates. Adding more acid later screws up the battery chemistry.

Charging most definitely is needed part of this discussion. A battery that is used regularly should not need water to be added, unless the vehicle charging system is not working right.

For my boats and tractors that are out of service for the Winter, I charge monthly. Never need to add water.

OTOH, my RV sitting on top of a mountain is not accessible when it snows, so I have a proper Solar Panel that keeps it from going dead. THAT battery needs water added twice a year.

Trickle charges and maintainers are sold to allow people to not have to do maintenance or think about their stuff. It's OK I guess, but it also sells new batteries, so it's an economic boon to the vendor.

 

[04fxdwgi25]

I dont know, but the old battery tenders used to boil them off pretty bad. But these new computerized "maintainer / chargers" don't seem to do that, as they are pretty precise and low powered.
My tractor and boat batteries haven't needed any water added in over 3 years using a modern "battery maintainer / charger".

 

[cyclops222]

Not saving a penny if trickle chargers cook a battery to death.
My home made 13.5 vdc chargers are ALWAYS on every battery if I am not using the machine.
I will try to post some pictures of the chargers that EACH have Their own always bright LED voltmeter showing present voltage.
I am not doing well with the advancing painful Arthritis thruout my body. No guarentees on the postings of pictures.

 

[cyclops222]

 

[cyclops222]

O h well.

 

[dingbat]

My home made 13.5 vdc chargers are ALWAYS on every battery if I am not using the machine
I will try to post some pictures of the chargers that EACH have Their own always bright LED voltmeter showing present voltage.

With 1 amp (13.5W) output, you’re probably expending more energy powering the display than charging the battery.

 

[airshot]

The key here is to use a maintainer, not just a trickle charger. Like most things, there are Chinese um trickle chargers for just a few bucks that promise to do it all, but all they do is screw up your battery. Buy decent maintainers and you will be fine as long as you use them as directed...I have been using the battery tender models for more years than I can remember, but primarily just during the cold of winter. During summer is not necessary unless your battery gets severe service without proper recharging between uses. Before I retired the company was doing work for a couple of battery mfgrs in our area. This gave me a chance to speak with a couple of their engineers. Most folks don't follow the recommendations of the battery mfgr, nor the instructions on the maintainer, thus they end up with issues. Having followed the recommendations of the battery and charger manufacturers and have no issues at all. Battery life has been greatly increased and I have never had a surprise dead battery. To each his own, your battery, your money to spend ! I do not buy high end batteries, usually Wally World as they have been a good bang for my buck.....but I take care of them. Three batteries in my motorhome, four batteries in my boat, atv, two lawn mowers, and a couple general purpose batteries for a variety of other lawn equipment tools, so yes I have a few to maintain. Just replaced my almost 7 year old trolling motor batteries with a new LifePo4 battery, so now a new learning experience........