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Yachts66 · 24-10-2005, 09:17

There are some battery replacement caps that help to reduce the amount of fluid loss in the battery. Have any of you used them? I've heard they are very pricey, so are they worth the expense? Second question, is water from a water maker an acceptable substitute for real distilled water in a battery?

Thanks,

TJ

**GordMay** · 24-10-2005, 09:55

I’m aware of two “after-market” battery vent caps - “Hydrocaps” & “Water Misers”, both costing upwards of $5 per cell.
Hydrocaps re-combine the Oxygen and Hydrogen released by the battery while charging, reducing water loss up to 90%.
Water Misers do not re-combine, but water loss is reduced by 50-80% by trapping fine water and acid particles.

No - don’t use R/O water in your Batteries. Batteries requires distilled (0 PPM) water. Reverse Osmosis product water, though very pure, does contain small amounts of minerals.

Jon D · 24-10-2005, 10:46

My Rolls do have the Hydrocaps and they really do work as advertised.

velero · 24-10-2005, 11:54

http://store.solar-electric.com/baacma.html

velero · 24-10-2005, 12:13

r/o water is better than no water at all. If you do not have distilled water and you are miles away from shore, you can run r/o water thru your water maker a second time and if they are as good as they should be they will remove 99.5% of 35000 ppms (seawater). Your first pass will give you 175 ppms and a second pass will get you close enough to 0 ppm. Since you only need about a couple of gallons you can even do a third pass if you want just to make sure, but remember you only get 1/3 of the original amount of water that you treat, so you may want to start with 20-24 gallons for 3 passes and you could use the othe 2/3 for washing dishes or bathing.

Velero

nockerwhite · 26-10-2005, 12:30

11years from my last battery in a Toyota Carina auto. The car is now 14 years old with 143K miles and zilch problems.

CSY Man · 26-10-2005, 19:11

Quote:

Your battery guru wouldn’t be “East Coast Battery & Electric” by any chance? They started (family) business in Ft Lauderdale, the year I was born. They were my Alternator wizards.

No, them are not the guys.

Although I know the East Coast Battery Familly, they are just around the corner on 17th and Andrews, and have been very helpful with my alternators and starter motor problems in the past.

My battery guy is a neigbor 2 houses down. He is the DEKA distributor in the area and his shop is called American Battery or some such thing.

**GordMay** · 27-10-2005, 02:45

Welcome back Dag. Hope you weathered the storm ok?
”... his shop is called American Battery or some such ...”
A big black eagle logo?
Gord

CSY Man · 27-10-2005, 06:39

Yeah, came out pretty good after the storm, but lots of damage in the neigborhood, trees, fences, houses and boats.

Several boats got loose and banged into other boats and sefldestructed...Not a pretty sight.

Same old story, some folks don't use proper lines or fenders, instead having under-sized stuff that is no good in a real blow .

And this one was real, I will remember it as the day the devil came visiting...

**Alan Wheeler** · 29-10-2005, 20:14

Five years ain't long enough for the life of a Boat house battery.
It takes the first year to get over the memory of lifting the damn things in and out. It takes another year to erase the memory of what the bill came to.
You get two years of good solid working life out of the bank, then you notice the drop off in performance. A year of continual decline brings back the memory of the price, the lifting and the combination of both seems to erode the sense of time. You swear that you only JUST fitted the blasted things and now have to plan for the eventiual exercise to be performed all over again. Nope, 5yrs just ain't reasonable enough.

BC Mike · 29-10-2005, 20:42

The book " Living on 12 volts " goes in to great detail about how we abuse a battery by using automotive technology. Yet the battery in my last small pickup ( ute ) lasted about 11 years, suffering from abuse. However I have promised myself to get a smart regulator and a large frame alternator.
The battery in my new ( 2003 ) car lasted one day.
One of my large 12 volt batteries I paid good bucks for, the other one the logging contractor down the road gave me free.
He had bought about $1000- worth of batteries one winter to get some trucks running and he had a few sitting around. The free one holds a charge better than the expensive one.
Michael

**GordMay** · 30-10-2005, 03:03

The typical car battery can hardly be considered to be “abused”.
Even in Canada’s difficult* starting conditions , the SLE battery is seldom discharged to less than 80% rated capacity, then recharged.

* We actually have five seasons - “last winter, early winter, midwinter, late winter, and next winter"