accidentally dropped my battery and spilled 75% of the acid in one cell ... i've topped up batteries w/pure water but never this much.....what should i replace it with? thanks for any info
The guys who replied in above have it right. I wouldn't remove any more electrolyte, but I would add distailled water to bring it up to capacity. Then a slow trickle charge. After charging for a few hours at a LOW rate check the specific gravity. You might get lucky. But, dropping a battery doesn't do he internals workings any good.
If you lost that much acid in one cell I would replace the acid, you should be able to get it from any competent battery store.
i dropped it in he snow, so no real shock , actually fell off my backhoe in a brain fart. thanks for the replies gents.
+1 There is some range of acceptability in the strength of the acid. If you lost 75%, replacing the lost electrolyte with water won't end up right.
That would probably be the best idea. It would probably only cost a few bucks to take it in and have them top it off but a small container of battery acid isn't real expensive.
Swap some electrolyte out of each of the other cells until they are all equal then top up all of them with distilled water and trickle charge it.
+2. that's what I would do. Use a turkey baster or battery hygrometer to move the acid from the cells.
New batteries are shipped dry and filled before sale. A big battery retailer should have acid on hand, take the battery there and get them to top it up. You might have to go to the warehouse. I realize these new sealed jobs are shipped wet, maybe all are now? Anyway, fill it with acid, not water. Unless you are planning on dropping another one, I would hesitate to buy a bottle of acid. The leftover stuff is nasty, not what you want to have on the shelf for years, and you can't just dump it down the drain. Well, you can, but not legally!
no worries i love the environment. i live in the mountains just to be in the middle of the best of it. good idea to go there and use only what i need. i don't have a 6v charger either , i have been hooking up another dead 6v in series and charging with my 12v .....sketchy ....lol....this battery went down to a faulty regulator this summer, but took a good charge..i hope it works , thanks again all
Anything you do other than replace electrolyte with electrolyte will weaken the battery. When you put water in the cell to bring it up you are replacing water that has evaporated, not replacing acid. The new electrolyte will have a proper proportion of acid to water.
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