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oplutz's avatar
oplutz
Explorer
Mar 04, 2014

mineral oil in rv batteries

In Th eMarch issue of FMCA MAg an answer was givin that mineral oil in batteries was harmful.

I put in 4 oz. of mineral oil in each cell of my 6 6 volt batteries when I purchased my 2010 Phaeton new. That was over 4 years ago and my batteries still look and charge like new. I never have to clean my batteries and add water every 3 months. We are full timers and the batteries really get a work out and we do have a house large refrigerator with a ice maker.

I researched the internet and found that Thomas Edison used oil in his batteries and I think he was a well informed gentleman. I will continue to use mineral oil in my batteries.

O P Lutz

F392946
Class A
  • OhhWell's avatar
    OhhWell
    Explorer
    Mar 04, 2014
    BuckBarker wrote:
    OhhWell wrote:
    Yeah... uh... thanks for the info. I'm not sure what benefit there is to it either. I do believe there are thousands of 4 year old GC6s that are also working perfectly without the mineral oil.

    Thomas Edison also made his recording tubes out of wax. It worked but Vinyl turned out to be a bit better.....


    Those "tubes" were called cylinders. He made cylinders.


    Wow, you sure got me! Cylinders... gotcha. Completely different from tubes. I don't know how anyone understood what I was talking about.
  • Oldme's avatar
    Oldme
    Explorer
    Mar 04, 2014
    I have read about the use of mineral oil in batteries on other forums.
    I have not tried it myself.

    I can not find the article at this time, however if memory serves me,
    the posters on the other forums talked about increased battery life.

    It is apparently NOT a new idea at all and many people to add the oil.

    Edit as I found:
    https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLJ,GGLJ:2011-26,GGLJ:en&q=Adding%20Mineral%20Oil%20to%20Deep%20Cycle%20Batterys
  • BuckBarker's avatar
    BuckBarker
    Explorer
    Mar 04, 2014
    OhhWell wrote:
    Yeah... uh... thanks for the info. I'm not sure what benefit there is to it either. I do believe there are thousands of 4 year old GC6s that are also working perfectly without the mineral oil.

    Thomas Edison also made his recording tubes out of wax. It worked but Vinyl turned out to be a bit better.....


    Those "tubes" were called cylinders. He made cylinders.
  • SeaDog_BRR's avatar
    SeaDog_BRR
    Explorer
    Mar 04, 2014
    I have not heard of oil in a battery. Oil is not a good conducting medium and would coat a surface of plates if the level was allowed to drop. Acid and water (electrolyte) need to be in contact with the plates for the best performance I believe oil would inhibit this process. 4 years is not surprising for batteries that are maintained.

    Oil is used in big electrical transformers not for conducting electricity but rather for cooling.
  • Sully2's avatar
    Sully2
    Explorer
    Mar 04, 2014
    rgatijnet1 wrote:
    The only reason I have heard for a LITTLE mineral oil was to give a top layer to the electrolyte that MIGHT help to prevent evaporation. Other than that I know of no other benefit.


    That is the ONLY benefit one might get....BUT if he is adding water every 3 months...he's not even getting that benny!
  • OhhWell's avatar
    OhhWell
    Explorer
    Mar 04, 2014
    bob_nestor wrote:
    OhhWell wrote:
    Yeah... uh... thanks for the info. I'm not sure what benefit there is to it either. I do believe there are thousands of 4 year old GC6s that are also working perfectly without the mineral oil.

    Thomas Edison also made his recording tubes out of wax. It worked but Vinyl turned out to be a bit better.....


    Edison also advocated use of DC for the electrification of America. Westinghouse was the champion of AC which won out in the end.


    Good one. thank goodness someone in this hemisphere was listening to Tesla.
  • bob_nestor's avatar
    bob_nestor
    Explorer III
    Mar 04, 2014
    OhhWell wrote:
    Yeah... uh... thanks for the info. I'm not sure what benefit there is to it either. I do believe there are thousands of 4 year old GC6s that are also working perfectly without the mineral oil.

    Thomas Edison also made his recording tubes out of wax. It worked but Vinyl turned out to be a bit better.....


    Edison also advocated use of DC for the electrification of America. Westinghouse was the champion of AC which won out in the end.
  • OhhWell's avatar
    OhhWell
    Explorer
    Mar 04, 2014
    Yeah... uh... thanks for the info. I'm not sure what benefit there is to it either. I do believe there are thousands of 4 year old GC6s that are also working perfectly without the mineral oil.

    Thomas Edison also made his recording tubes out of wax. It worked but Vinyl turned out to be a bit better.....
  • rgatijnet1's avatar
    rgatijnet1
    Explorer III
    Mar 04, 2014
    The only reason I have heard for a LITTLE mineral oil was to give a top layer to the electrolyte that MIGHT help to prevent evaporation. Other than that I know of no other benefit.

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