Jump to content

Battery Tips - Sealed Lead Acid Type.


ted

Recommended Posts

I was tired of buying expensive batteries every year!

 

Well read on to see what I did about it!

 

ESSENTIALS

 

EYE PROTECTION!!!! You must wear goggles or protective glasses! You are dealing with ACID and you can't replace your eyes!
Small jewellers screwdriver, or similar tool.
Larger Screwdriver, or similar tool.
Hypodermic Syringe 25/50 ml - cheap on Amazon/the bay or free in the Park bogs (only kidding)!
Mechanics Gloves - did I mention that you're dealing with ACID?
Distilled Water - cheap on Amazon/the bay or free, if you chop off a chunk of the ice that forms in your freezer. (Filter out any frozen peas)!

 

Grab your battery from your machine and clean it. Place it on a sturdy workbench, not your best dining table or kitchen worktop!

Look at the top of the battery and it'll probably look something like this one.

1.jpg

Notice the "do not open" command? Well, that's the exact thing that I'm ignoring.
That "warning label" is actually the cover over the "cells" that we need to expose.
Notice I have begun gently prying at it with my small, flat bladed, screwdriver?

 

Continue the prying process until you can insert a larger prying device (ooerr missus).

 

 

2.jpg

 

At this point, you can carefully continue the process by hand. Do not allow the cap to "flick" about. Did I mention your battery contains ACID? This is the most dangerous time of the operation!

 

Continue until the cover is removed and you can view all the cells.

 

 

3.jpg

 

Once all the cells are exposed, we can begin the filling process. Using your syringe full of distilled water.

 

 

4.jpg

 

Ever so GENTLY fill each cell, until you can just see the liquid covering the "plates" inside each cell. You have to peer in with a torch.

Do not overfill, the liquid expands when being charged as it gets warm!

 

Put your battery on charge and suction up any expansion with your syringe. Careful, this is now ACID.

 

Carefully replace the cap over the cells. Clean the battery terminals with a wire brush and replace it into your machine.

 

Other batteries may have different, but similar, cell cover arrangements. Using circular plastic caps or rubber plugs.

 

Here's a couple of 6v batteries from an alarm system as an example.

 

5.jpg

 

I do this every year or so with my batteries. They last for years, just like they did in the old days before we became oh so green and threw things away, the wank*rs!

 

This is not a tutorial, I'm just sharing what I do. DO NOT DO THIS YOURSELF!

  • Like 8
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
listener

"That's all for this week, folks.

On our next show, Ted will explain how to stop your thermonuclear devices from going into meltdown."

 

:whistle:

  • Haha 5
Link to post
  • ted pinned this topic
  • 4 weeks later...
larryblag

I've done it a time or two with car batteries. Every time it seems to kill the battery completely within a few weeks 😕. Your mileage may vary though. 

Link to post

I did say to filter out any frozen peas when making your own distilled water!

  • Haha 3
Link to post
  • 1 month later...
larryblag
On 26/07/2021 at 22:55, ted said:

I did say to filter out any frozen peas when making your own distilled water!

Damn! 😂

  • Like 1
Link to post
Mr Toad

it's a shame we can no longer buy sulphuric acid without an EPP licence as it's far better than using distilled water.

 

Ted's method relies on enough acid being left to regenerate the battery after diluting with distilled water.  @larryblag probably failed because the batteries he tried it on were too dry. 

 

However, we can always make sulphuric acid by heating sulphur and passing the gas through  hydrogen peroxide. I can't remember what concentration this gives but battery acid is a 30% solution of sulphuric acid and even a weak solution would be better than just water. Any excuse to play with the chemistry set!

 

There are other ways to make sulphuric acid via electrolysis using magnesium sulphate or copper sulphate and hydrogen peroxide...........chemistry set and electricity. :) 

 

That was the engineer and science geek speaking but there's a very simple way of increasing your chances of success. Find a battery that's good and remove a little of the electrolyte to use as a top up. Or find a battery that's OK but no longer reliable and remove the battery acid into a container. Using this to top up your battery should work providing the plates are fine. 

 

You could improve things by filtering then boiling it, outside is best, until reduced by at least half then adding distilled water if needed.

 

On the boat where there are 5 leisure batteries which are checked regularly.  I measure the specific gravity of each battery if there are differences in readings  I use a syringe to remove a small amount from the healthiest batteries and use that to top up the weakest battery and then replace what I removed from the better batteries with distilled water. Over time all 5 batteries become balanced and healthy and very occasionally needed a top up with distilled water. 

 

Fellow boaters who have battery trouble tend to be the people who never check or maintain their batteries until they find they no longer hold a charge as well as they should.

  • Like 1
Link to post

Nice but I'm so not doing this, the time and hassle just isn't worth it for me personally :P

 

Also how come your batteries only last a year?

Edited by embattle
Link to post
Mr Toad
17 hours ago, embattle said:

Nice but I'm so not doing this, the time and hassle just isn't worth it for me personally :P

 

Also how come your batteries only last a year?

 

The batteries don't last only a year, Ted's yearly maintenance routine ensures they continue to work for many years.  

 

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...