... In next week's episode, we'll review the latest trends in rotary dial telephones, and our round table discussion will cover the dangers, both real and perceived, of dropping your beer can pull tab inside the can before drinking. But this week, we'll cover car battery maintenance. (Geez.)
This morning, I've done a few minutes of poking around the internet about car batteries that "still allow you to perform maintenance". I worded that deliberately, because after those few minutes I've concluded that owning a car battery that allows me to check the water level, and add water as necessary, is not necessarily a bad thing. "Maintenance free" wet cell batteries may not be as maintenance free as we'd think, they may still have ventilation provisions built into them to allow charging gasses to escape (charging gasses being hydrogen and oxygen, which when combined were previously the water inside the battery electrolyte), but may not allow provisions to replace water that is no longer inside the battery (which also leads to a shorter battery life). Note the battery electrolyte does not go away, just the water component from the electrolyte recipe, water is what may need periodic replacement.
Wet cell lead acid batteries, while charging, can cause the water in the cells to separate into hydrogen and oxygen gasses, especially in overcharging situations. Other nuggets of info:
-BE SAFE! Battery acid can blind you, burn you, and eat holes through stuff is splashes on. It's ph level is less than 2, very acidic, very nasty. The sites below offer safety info. Protect yourself and your work area.
-Your vehicle alternator doesn't necessarily "charge" your battery as much as it maintains the full charge of the battery. Think trickle charger for a battery in storage. You'd use a separate full power battery charger to charge a battery that is, for whatever reason (such as low charge from long term storage), at a below-full-charge state.
-In batteries that allow adding water, do not use tap water due to dissolved minerals and other materials that can be in the water, use only distilled water. It's a buck a gallon at the grocery store.
-Charge a battery only in a well vented area, remove all sources of spark or ignition (incl. the vehicle being shut off) to prevent explosion of venting hydrogen gas. (I was present for this event once, I never want to see it again.)
-Make sure the battery is sitting level (achieve, if needed, buy driving onto scrap wood blocks or similar), clean the top of the battery and remove the caps from the tops of the cells. The water level inside the cells needs to at least cover the top of the metal plates before charging. Differing water levels in the cells is possible, they may not all be at the same level. The electrolyte can warm and expand during charging so do not fill the cells more than just over the top of the plates prior to charging. Leave the caps loose while charging to allow hydrogen and oxygen gasses to escape. After charging, add more water as necessary. Sites I viewed suggested anywhere from 1/2 inch of water coverage above the plates, to filling with water to touch the bottom of the cell vent/fill holes (see linked video).
Video-
https://www.crownbattery.com/news/watering-your-lead-acid-battery-the-basics
https://www.concordia.ca/content/da...safety/docs/EHS-DOC-146_LeadAcidBatteries.pdf
Since I have almost three seasons on my Spider's factory battery, and since this topic is fresh in my head, in the coming days I'll do this-
-Clean dirt away from the top of the battery. Make sure the top of the battery is level.
-Pull the caps and add distilled water as needed just to cover the plates a little bit.
-Put the caps back over the cells but leave them loose to vent charging gasses but keep dust and dirt out.
-Attach a battery charger per its instructions and recharge the battery to full charge.
-After the charging is complete and I've shut off and removed the charger, I'll top off the cells again as needed, either the same way shown in the video link above, or to the full water level indicator on the battery (if one exists).
-Securely reset the battery cell caps.
-Go find somewhere fun to drive!
I'll repeat this process a few times throughout the Spider-driving season, but monthly may not be a bad protocol to adopt, for sure at the start and end of the season, too.
Good topic, folks, and apparently one few of us are thinking about.
Steve.