Simple Battery Question

[moneymanager]

In ancient times car batteries had little plastic lids allowing you to add water as needed. My current battery has 2 square plastic lids covering 3 cells each. They can be pried up slightly, so it looks like they can be removed and replaced. But I thought I'd ask before I break off some tiny plastic tabs somewhere and disable the battery. Can those lids be removed to add water? Thanks,

[nineball]

i am pretty sure you are correct and they are removable to add water but make sure it is distilled.

[ossiblue]

Yes, you can pry up the lids to service the batteries.

[moneymanager]

Thanks to both of you. I'm heading to the garage right now!

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Right, you can (and regularly should) pry up the lids--happened to have just done it yesterday on my SC's Interstate, and they were nicely full. I have in the past done it and found cells low, though.

An admission: In 55 years of car ownership, I have never used distilled water. But then I've never drunk water out of a plastic bottle from Fiji, Maine or Poland either. Both the batteries and I seem to have survived this horrendous oversight.

[docrodg]

Originally Posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson

Right, you can (and regularly should) pry up the lids--happened to have just done it yesterday on my SC's Interstate, and they were nicely full. I have in the past done it and found cells low, though.

An admission: In 55 years of car ownership, I have never used distilled water. But then I've never drunk water out of a plastic bottle from Fiji, Maine or Poland either. Both the batteries and I seem to have survived this horrendous oversight.

ROFL! I hardly ever drink bottled water (only in certain foreign countries, like Malaysia). As far as batteries go, a mixture of sulfuric acid and water is best, if you need to top it off frequently then distilled water gives a longer life, however, most batteries rarely need it nowadays and any water will do in a pinch. Just do not drink the distilled water, it is actually poisonous (no other stuff in it so it sucks all the electrolytes out of your body).

[moneymanager]

So my battery won't die without distilled water but I might die if I drink it? This is getting way too complicated. (If the truth be known, I too run from bottled water and have been known to pour anything handy into my car battery.)

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

The distilled-water business is one of those things you do if you seriously think a battery that is made cheaply enough (as they all are these days) to typically last four years at best just may last four and a half if you put pure water into it. Or not. Me, I'd rather just go down to AutoZone and get a new battery every four years rather than store yet another gallon of some damn liquid in the cellar.

Everybody who has had their battery fail because they put tap water into it, please clap your hands and Peter Pan will live!!! (Anybody who lives in New Orleans is disqualified.)

[nineball]

do you have to use distilled water? no. is it better? most say yes. tap water contains lots of chemicals that can contaminate the battery and cause problems. i am not saying that normal water will kill the life of the battery but for a few dollars why not?

do you have to use brad penn oil in a 911? no. is it better? most say yes. for a few dollars more...

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by docrodg

... Just do not drink the distilled water, it is actually poisonous (no other stuff in it so it sucks all the electrolytes out of your body).

wow!

talk about mis-information

where did you hear that one?

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by RWebb

wow!

talk about mis-information

where did you hear that one?

My water engineer advised me not to use de-ionized water on metal (e.g. cooling system). This chemical composition will leach ions out of the parent metal in contact. Not sure about the effect of de-ionized water in the human body.

If the battery cells need topping off, only use water, distilled water preferably they say, and not any mixture of H2SO4 and H2O. Filtered drinking water should be fine as well.

As for tap water, there may be sufficient dissolved salts in solution to build up in the bottom of the battery case. Sufficient quantities in the battery can span the neg. and pos. plates and may cause the cell to short circuit. That's the theory anyway.

Sherwood

[RWebb]

de-ionized water # distilled water -- neither will harm the human body (unless you drown in it)

de-ionized water = ions have been removed from the water
-- usually only polyvalent ions are removed as singly valent (monovalent) ions (Na+) are more $$ to remove
-- removal is done by running the water thru an ion exchange column

distilled water = water that has been run thru a still - like a moonshine still -- this removes nonionic contaminants also, not just ions

you can use tap water, and like Sherwood said, the levels of salts (ions) will vary in different water supplies; so doing that may or may not significantly shorten the life of the battery

do not mix acid & water and add that; just add water

[tobluforu]

Oh my lord... and folks use nothing but distilled water when watering any household plants.

[docrodg]

Originally Posted by RWebb

wow!

talk about mis-information

where did you hear that one?

Let's see, College Physiology, Nursing School, Paramedic School, Lab School.

The problem is that distilled water is absolutely pure, so in the body it results in a very large osmotic pressure. This causes the intracellular electrolytes needed for cell function to migrate out. It also rapidly increases blood volume as the intestines are over-efficient in moving this pure water into the blood stream. That causes hypertension and can result in CHF (Congestive Heart Failure). This does not occur from one glass of water, but many, and only if it is not mixed with other things. Many drinks are made from distilled water, but there are minerals and ions put back into it that prevent the osmotic pressure rise as the water is no longer pure.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

"for a few dollars more..."

Has nothing to do with the money, it's the inconvenience. Much more convenient to go to the Brita pitcher of filtered water in the icebox, and I just think the distilled-water thing has been around since the 1930s, when municipal water was a lot less pure than it is now. And I'm still waiting for all those people whose batteries have failed because they put tapwater into them to show up.

[docrodg]

Originally Posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson

"for a few dollars more..."

Has nothing to do with the money, it's the inconvenience. Much more convenient to go to the Brita pitcher of filtered water in the icebox, and I just think the distilled-water thing has been around since the 1930s, when municipal water was a lot less pure than it is now. And I'm still waiting for all those people whose batteries have failed because they put tapwater into them to show up.

Agreed, never had tap water kill a battery (quite the opposite, neighbor had to jump van every day, I added tap water to it and it started without a jump). In military we used only an acid-water mix unless deployed or in the field. Mind you, that mix made some of our batteries last 8 or more years, but water alone is ok just so long as it doesn't dilute out the battery too much.

[RoninLB]

my NY ice age aquifer tap water has traces of dinosaur piss in it causing car batteries grow

[drauz]

whatever you guys do, don't read this...
http://hamslife.com/?p=86

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Guy can't even spell.

[drauz]

I warned the faint-of-heart not to read it.