Right after each other, both the recoil rope broke and the starter battery of my 3000 watt Yamaha generator died. Rather than disassemble the darn thing to get a new pull rope added, I went and replaced the battery with a Yamaha motorcycle battery, which fit in perfectly, and had the same amp-hours as the old one.Oddly enough, the box shipped with the battery, and a row of six vials of acid attached to each other. To get the acid in the battery, one pulled a sticker off the battery, turned the acid vials upside down, placed it over the row of holes on the battery, pressed to punch the foil seal on the vials, squeezed the bottles so the acid drained completely into the cells, then yanked off the row of vials, and then pressed a cap that spanned all six holes into place.Took a few minutes to do, and even though the operation was fairly safe, playing with battery acid in the middle of the woods isn't my idea of a good time, even with making sure I had access to water and was wearing eye protection.Is shipping acid separately from the battery something new that battery makers are doing? This is the first time I've seen this.

ATV batteries come that way all the time when you order them. I think motorcycle and snowmobile batteries are the same. I've never seen one with separate acid bottles. Everything I ever ordered came with 1 big bottle you had to pour out of.

mlts22 wrote:Right after each other, both the recoil rope broke and the starter battery of my 3000 watt Yamaha generator died. Rather than disassemble the darn thing to get a new pull rope added, I went and replaced the battery with a Yamaha motorcycle battery, which fit in perfectly, and had the same amp-hours as the old one.Oddly enough, the box shipped with the battery, and a row of six vials of acid attached to each other. To get the acid in the battery, one pulled a sticker off the battery, turned the acid vials upside down, placed it over the row of holes on the battery, pressed to punch the foil seal on the vials, squeezed the bottles so the acid drained completely into the cells, then yanked off the row of vials, and then pressed a cap that spanned all six holes into place.Took a few minutes to do, and even though the operation was fairly safe, playing with battery acid in the middle of the woods isn't my idea of a good time, even with making sure I had access to water and was wearing eye protection.Is shipping acid separately from the battery something new that battery makers are doing? This is the first time I've seen this.This is pretty common. You can buy the ATV batteries dry or wet. When buying wet batteries the date of manufacture is very important as the battery starts to degrade from the day the acid is added.Dry batteries can be stored indefinantly. I carry spare dry ATV batteries with me.My ATV batteries have a nasty habit of failing on a trip.Since I am usually in a remote location when that occurs, having a new battery on hand at all times is the best solution for me.

That's the way batteries for bikes come in my experience, well until I switched to agm.

I agree that pouring acid from one container to another can be kind of intimidating....requiring absolute concentration, but that is the way, at least for motorcycle batteries forever. I might guess batteries for ATVs, etc., are the same.Be careful and don't get distracted...you'll be OK

jerseyjim wrote:I agree that pouring acid from one container to another can be kind of intimidating....requiring absolute concentration, but that is the way, at least for motorcycle batteries forever. I might guess batteries for ATVs, etc., are the same.Be careful and don't get distracted...you'll be OKThe last few that I have bought came with the vial system that the OP described. No more single container of acid that has to be poured into the cells one at a time. It is premeasured and every cell gets the exact same amount. It is about as safe and fool proof as it can be. It is also available in the AGMs

Batteries and acid shipped in different containers?

2oldman
Explorer II
Apr 10, 2016
coolmom42 wrote:
2oldman wrote:
Amazon: "WE CANNOT SHIP FLOODED LEAD ACID BATTERIES VIA FEDEX OR UPS"
It's not that Amazon CAN'T -- they just don't want to pay for the packaging, labor to pack, and someone to do the paperwork, and extra charges for a heavy hazardous material package.
I don't care where you buy flooded batteries, UPS/FedEx won't carry them.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Apr 10, 2016
2oldman wrote:
How do you open an AGM to put acid in?

They come in one of two configurations (NOTE this applies to Sealed wet as well)

one has a screw in vent/cap with a snap in top cap

The other just has a snap in (But not out) cover

In both cases the top cover is designed to snap in once the fluid is added, but not to be removed ever.. Barbed snap.

And again, very common.. Batteries age very very very slowly, if at all, when they sit DRY on the store shelf.

Once the liquid is added and the acid hits the lead.. The clock starts. Shelf life can destroy the battery before it is sold.. So they ship them dry.
2oldman
Explorer II
Apr 10, 2016
wa8yxm wrote:
So they ship them dry.
Thanks. My Lifelines came wet to me, perhaps dry to warehouse.
mlts22
Explorer
Apr 11, 2016
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

Mlts22,

Did you wear safety glasses and gloves when you filled the battery? Honest response encouraged...

Or did you make every Injury Lawyer's knees knock in a 50-mile radius?

Because it is battery acid:

Gloves? Check.
Water nearby in case of spill? Check. Water spigot nearby actually, which isn't as good as a dedicated eyewash stand, but can be used as one.
Glasses? Check.

I may have some brain-dead posts sometimes, but I do error on the safe side when it comes to stuff like that. However, I would say the process of filling the six cells from the connected bottles is quite idiot-resistant. The most annoying part was having to keep squeezing some of the bottles to get the acid inside the battery. once all the acid was inside, pulling the bottles off and sticking the rubber plugs on was not too difficult, even for me.

This is a good thread. I can understand why batteries are stored dry because lead plates just sit there and do nothing for long periods of time, then when one wants to start the clock, just add the acid. I also didn't realize this was done with AGMs as well. Learn something new every day.
2oldman
Explorer II
Apr 11, 2016
mlts22 wrote:
I also didn't realize this was done with AGMs as well.
Not all AGMs..not by the consumer anyway.

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Batteries and acid shipped in different containers?

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