Old battery, new life?

[GordMay]

JohnL:
Re: Rain Water in Batteries

What do you consider “pretty pure” (Rain Water in Cistern)?

How do you know the composition of your collected & stored water?

Rain is water that has been condensed from the clouds. The first drop is distilled water, but when it falls as rain, it picks up germs, dust, smoke, minerals, strontium 90, lead and many other atmospheric chemicals.

Rainwater is naturally soft (unlike ground water it contains almost no dissolved minerals or salts, and is free of chemical treatment);
but may be adversely affected by local air pollution [ie: Volcano], dissolved biological micro-particles [mostly bacteria and leaf debris], and debris [soil, bird feces, plant parts, insect parts, bacteria, algae, and etc] in the rainwater catchment and conveyance areas [roof, gutters, downspouts, and pipes]; and all rain is acid, to some extent, because of dissolved carbon dioxide.

[Alan Wheeler]

I collect water from my dehumidifier. It is about as pure as you are going to get, unless you have a dedicated still and distill the water in a controlled manner. As Gord said, there are contaminants in the air. And I would be foolsih to think that I have totaly pure water in my dehumidifier. Even the air being filered, small contaminants in the air wills till go through the filter. To the microscopic world, the filter is like a road tunnel entrance.

[GordMay]

"Dehumidifier Water" (condensate) is NOT PURE clean water, though it IS generally considered to be de-mineralized.
Dehumidifiers remove moisture from the air by cooling it below the dew point and catching the condensation.
Along with the moisture that condenses it also catches most of what was floating in the air with it.
Dehumidifiers also collect all sorts of dust and dirt on their coils, which
then provides food sources for fungi and bacteria.
Unless you clean your dehumidifier coils and catch basin every day with a bleach solution, it's best not to drink it , and I certainly wouldn't use it in my batteries.

[Ex-Calif]

With all the costs on a boat I really need to save that 82 cents for a gallon of distilled water, especially when a wet cell battery might take 1/4 cup per year.

Anyone know where I can get plans for a water still?

(PS - Just taking the p*ss here...)

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

With all the costs on a boat I really need to save that 82 cents for a gallon of distilled water, especially when a wet cell battery might take 1/4 cup per year.

I love dry humor - are you sure you aren't British, Dan? (Or should that be humour?) Actually, in this case, I guess that should be wet humor . . . or humour.

It may sound odd, but you are seriously funny.

TaoJones

[Alan Wheeler]

Thanks for the advice Gord. I won't be putting dehumidifier water in my new batteries then. They are going to have to last me a long time.
I wonder what they charge for "de Ionised" water here. Must ask. I bet it will be a ripoff.
Anyway, Dan you can get nerdy and distill water. Just a simple means of boiling the water, and have a coil of copper tubing that is imersed in cold water. The steam runs through the tubing and condenses and drips out the end. The impurities are left behind in the boiling chamber.

[GordMay]

Given the relatively low cost of distilled water, I wouldn’t use anything else in my batteries.

It’s very important that only very pure water is used for topping up your battery. It must contain no mineral traces, and especially no metallic solids (iron). The most suitable form of water is distilled* water, or water that has been chemically treated and demineralised (de-ionized).

* The effectiveness of distillation in removing organic compounds varies, depending on such chemical characteristics of the organic compound as solubility and boiling point. Organic compounds that boil at temperatures greater than the boiling point of water (some pesticides) can be effectively removed from the water. Organic compounds that boil at temperatures lower than the boiling point of water (ex., benzene and toluene) will be vaporized along with the water. If these harmful compounds are not removed prior to condensation, they will re-contaminate the otherwise purified product.

De-ionized water is another way of making "pure" water. Instead of boiling and recondensing water (distillation) to leave the impurities behind, de-ionized water is made by passing the water through an ion exchange column which removes the unfavourable ions like salts and metals (cations from sodium, calcium, iron, & copper; and and anions such as chloride and bromide). As with distilled water, certain impurities (organic compounds, virus or bacteria) may remain.

Do not add water to batteries when they are discharged, they may over flow when brought to a full charge.

Never ad acid to your batteries, except (perhaps) in case of “spillage”.

Obviously, battery acid is highly corrosive. When adding distilled water to the battery, take care that acid doesn't splatter in your eyes, or on your skin or clothes. Wear gloves, goggles and old clothes. In case of injury, flush eyes (min. 15 minutes) with a 1% boric saline solution.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

are you sure you aren't British, Dan?

No not British but I have been working with some pretty serious engineers for the last 26 years.

Fundamentally my job is to take engineer speak and convert it into something useful for mere mortals.

There are some seriously humo(u)r deprived engineers out there. Wouldn't recognize a joke if a Rabbi, Priest and Monk were conducting a stress analysis.

The best part is sometimes I can totally take the p*ss outta the engineers and it goes right past them. It's amazing how some guys can be so smart and well...

[GordMay]

Two Engineers walk into a bar.

Odd, you’d think one of them would have noticed it.