Dry dead battery
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Posted by Jonathan Kirwan on June 30, 2008, 6:33 pm
Please log in for more thread options I assume that this is a car battery of some kind where you can open up the holes and look inside? It might have been dry or close to it before you started charging and you should have looked before starting the charging cycle on it. And yes, you do want to add _distilled_ water. I gather you don't want to walk to the store just to drag back a gallon of it if there is another option. "Automatic" chargers doesn't mean much, except that they are supposed to be easy to use -- which says little about their quality as a charger or what they might do when faced with a battery that isn't in reasonable condition to start with. Water under the bridge, though. You are now faced with a dead battery that is basically dry inside and has been attached to a charger for a weekend of charging which was started, apparently, without the battery being in good condition to start or else where the charger itself may have damaged the battery (or some combo of those.) In other words, the battery's condition itself is in serious question now and there is no certainty that distilled water will restore it. I also gather that this is the car battery for your only transporation means, which is why you need to walk to the store. Normally, fresh lead acid batteries have nice clean lead plates with a solution of H2SO4 (sulfuric acid, which is a thickish liquid in pure form at standard temperature and pressure) and H2O (water.) I recall vaguely that H2SO4 boils around 300C, or so. H20 at 100C, obviously. So if you boiled off the water with the charger, it might leave the H2SO4 still inside the battery. If that were the case, and assuming that the lead plates themselves weren't shorting out each other by way of poor regrowth, you might be able to recover your battery by adding distilled water to it. But you seem to say that it is _dry_, and this implies to me that you might also have boiled away the H2SO4, as well. In that case, I'm not sure what to suggest. In the best of cases then, you'd still need a supply of H2SO4 as well as the distilled water. Which means just getting some water won't help a lot. I'd probably just get some tap water, let it sit in the open for a few hours to allow some of the added chlorine (or not, your choice) to leave, and then use that in your battery and just plan on replacing it, if you are lucky enough to get it working at all. Either way, I think you are facing replacing your current battery, though. It's probably not wise for your only source of transportation to be depending on a battery that has been through this kind of trauma. Jon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by rabiticide on June 30, 2008, 8:06 pm
Please log in for more thread options get to this job so I can afford to fix it. I just came off disability and with $4 to my name I spent $2 on a gallon of distilled water... So I am going to try it and see what happens. I will post my results.... Isn't H2SO4 a solid? I don't know - I'm thinking of, like, NaOH which dissolves in water to make the base. I'll ask on sci.chem and see... Here goes... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Jonathan Kirwan on June 30, 2008, 8:29 pm
Please log in for more thread options On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:06:09 -0700 (PDT), rabiticide
>It's my motorcycle battery and it's the situation where I need it to
>get to this job so I can afford to fix it. I just came off disability >and with $4 to my name I spent $2 on a gallon of distilled water... Okay. It sounded like that kind of situation. I've been there in my life, too, so I can feel your pain. >So I am going to try it and see what happens. I will post my
>results.... If there doesn't appear to be _any_ sulfuric acid inside, then I don't hold out much hope here. But best luck, anyway. >Isn't H2SO4 a solid? I don't know - I'm thinking of, like, NaOH which
>dissolves in water to make the base. ><snip> NaOH is a solid. White, and kind of slippery to the touch. But sulfuric acid is a liquid. I've used it, before, as part of a double boiler situation that could achieve the higher melting points I needed at the time while also providing very, very even heating which was also necessary for the rocket fuel I was making then. Jon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by George Jetson on July 1, 2008, 2:25 pm
Please log in for more thread options > On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:06:09 -0700 (PDT), rabiticide
> >>It's my motorcycle battery and it's the situation where I need it to
>>get to this job so I can afford to fix it. I just came off disability >>and with $4 to my name I spent $2 on a gallon of distilled water... >
> Okay. It sounded like that kind of situation. I've been there in my > life, too, so I can feel your pain. > >>So I am going to try it and see what happens. I will post my
>>results.... >
> If there doesn't appear to be _any_ sulfuric acid inside, then I don't > hold out much hope here. But best luck, anyway. > >>Isn't H2SO4 a solid? I don't know - I'm thinking of, like, NaOH which
>>dissolves in water to make the base. >><snip> >
> NaOH is a solid. White, and kind of slippery to the touch. But > sulfuric acid is a liquid. I've used it, before, as part of a double > boiler situation that could achieve the higher melting points I needed > at the time while also providing very, very even heating which was > also necessary for the rocket fuel I was making then. > > Jon Depending on local weather conditions, rain water should woek as well. -- They can have my command prompt when they pry it from my cold dead fingers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Tom Biasi on July 1, 2008, 6:53 pm
Please log in for more thread options
>> On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:06:09 -0700 (PDT), rabiticide
>> >>>It's my motorcycle battery and it's the situation where I need it to
>>>get to this job so I can afford to fix it. I just came off disability >>>and with $4 to my name I spent $2 on a gallon of distilled water... >>
>> Okay. It sounded like that kind of situation. I've been there in my >> life, too, so I can feel your pain. >> >>>So I am going to try it and see what happens. I will post my
>>>results.... >>
>> If there doesn't appear to be _any_ sulfuric acid inside, then I don't >> hold out much hope here. But best luck, anyway. >> >>>Isn't H2SO4 a solid? I don't know - I'm thinking of, like, NaOH which
>>>dissolves in water to make the base. >>><snip> >>
>> NaOH is a solid. White, and kind of slippery to the touch. But >> sulfuric acid is a liquid. I've used it, before, as part of a double >> boiler situation that could achieve the higher melting points I needed >> at the time while also providing very, very even heating which was >> also necessary for the rocket fuel I was making then. >> >> Jon >
> Depending on local weather conditions, rain water should woek as well. > > -- > They can have my command prompt when they pry it from my cold dead > fingers. > Rain water is not clean. It has a nucleus of something and collects crap on the way down. Tom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
>to find the battery dead as a doornail. Upon examination, the battery
>is completely dry. I'm guessing it was overcharged and the water
>boiled away but it shouldn't've 'cause it's an "automatic battery
>charger" that's designed to stop charging when it's done...
>
>So, do I just add distilled H2O? Will that work? I have to walk to the
>store 1.5 miles (2.5 km) away and that's a long way to carry 1 gallon
>(4? L) of water...