Are you stocking battery maintenance items?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) Preparation Forum : One Thread

For those of you planning to use lead acid batteries for any kind of power, are you stocking what you will need to maintain these in good order?

Distilled water(wally world,etc.)
Battery acid (check your local NAPA auto parts store)
Hydrometer (auto parts stores)
Suction bulb (kitchen fat bulb?) for distilled water Another bulb for battery acid

-- 4 (4@5.6), December 24, 1999

Answers

Stocking up for Y2k...MSNBC

link

-- rb (ronbanks_2000@yahoo.com), December 24, 1999.


You should NEVER add acid to a battery unless it physically loses some (tips over and the electrolyte spills out). Use water only for topping off!

-- Gary S. (garys_2k@yahoo.com), December 24, 1999.

"Distilled water(wally world,etc.) Battery acid (check your local NAPA auto parts store) Hydrometer (auto parts stores) Suction bulb (kitchen fat bulb?) for distilled water"

Good Start there...as mentioned the battery acid could be dropped; likely never use it and just have a toxic handful to deal with later. One could store a dry battery and keep the acid on hand....hmmm.

But anyway...lets add the IMPORTANT stuff...

- Eye Protection (goggles with side protection best, tape over any vent holes to avoid splash) - Rubber gloves, heavy - Rubber Apron or old raincoat - Baking soda (1 pound neutralizes 1 qt of Batt acid)

Anything that goes in your battery should be scrupulosly clean. Keep the hydrometer and bulb in seperate capped clean glass jars. Some people like to coat their battery terminals with stuff (vaseline is as good as any) but I prefer "tight and bright".

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), December 24, 1999.


gary,

are you saying to add distilled water to a lead-acid battery for topping off? i've got 8 6V deep cycle batteries i've just installed. the only things i've really done is coat the terminals with a corrosion resistant gel, and put a bright penning on top of the battery in between the terminals, to prevent 'shorting' across the tops.

-- lou (lanny1@ix.netcom.com), December 24, 1999.


while I do have 6 cases of gallons of distilled water (got em for free last year),

my primary prep for my batteries was to invest in a set of HYDROCAPS.

so far, they work great. They catalytically re-combine the Hydrogen and O2 that outgasses and turns it back into water. This means very little cleanup on the batteries and very little water loss.

sorry, no web prescense that I'm aware of, however, you could check out:

homepower magazine

for a review. I concur with a response above about NOT adding battery acid.

-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), December 24, 1999.



Moderation questions? read the FAQ