Battery accident!!

[bianchina3]

I bought a battery last summer, Group 27 deep cycle. I just found out that it tipped over and spilled the electrolyte. Most of the acid is gone. I have no idea of the state of the left over acid, except there is not much left.

Can you give me some advice if I can just refill the battery with acid or do I need to replace the whole battery?

Thanks in advance.

Ed

[pianotuna]

Hi yes I did get the decimal point in the wrong place. I'll correct it. Thanks!

[hohenwald48]

pianotuna wrote:
The S.G. depends on the maker's choices. My AGM are a surplus acid design with a specific gravity of 13.00. Battery University suggests the average is 12.65. I know BFL13 aims for 12.75 on his.

As a result, I have to be careful to not deep cycle my bank, so I treat it as if it were made from flooded batteries with the exception of not equalizing.

Boon Docker wrote:
A fully charged battery as a specific gravity of 1.255 and a totally discharged battery has a an S.G. of 1.110. This means that not all the sulfur/acid in the mix is on the plates waiting to be returned to the electrolyte.

A specific gravity of 12.75 or 13.00 is really, really, really high. I think you probably mean 1.275 or 1.300 don't you?

[Bumpyroad]

lets see, gamble $20? to save $100. fairly good odds IMHO.
bumpy

[Community Alumni]

As others have said, I would just get another battery. You can try to revive it, but since air has gotten to the plates then you'll have instant sulfation. You'll never be able to get the full capacity back. Some claim that you can desulfate a battery by running varying degrees of current through them, but I'm not completely convinced. Replacing the battery would be an easy way to get back your full capacity.

[pianotuna]

The S.G. depends on the maker's choices. My AGM are a surplus acid design with a specific gravity of 1.300. Battery University suggests the average is 1.265. I know BFL13 aims for 1.275 on his.

As a result, I have to be careful to not deep cycle my bank, so I treat it as if it were made from flooded batteries with the exception of not equalizing.

(correction of decimal place done)

Boon Docker wrote:
A fully charged battery as a specific gravity of 1.255 and a totally discharged battery has a an S.G. of 1.110. This means that not all the sulfur/acid in the mix is on the plates waiting to be returned to the electrolyte.

[Bumpyroad]

westend wrote:

hohenwald48 wrote:
So if the sulphur is on the plates why do you need to fill the battery with electrolyte in the first place? Just fill it with water and the plates will magically instill the sulphur needed to transform the water into electrolyte. :h

You add acid, initially, as it is the source of sulfur/acid for the electrolyte. When a battery is tipped over, has gassed causing the plates to be exposed, or is habitually undercharged, there is sulphate on the plates. Sometimes, that sulfate can be recombined off the plates and back into solution.

Of course, everyone is free to do what they wish with their over-turned batteries. I think I've posted enough here.

but when the OPs battery overturned and most/all of the sulfuric acid poured out, wouldn't 99% of the "sulphur" have been spilled or are you saying that only pure water spilled?
bumpy

[Chuck_thehammer]

batteries have been around in one form or another.. for well over 100 years.

it amazes me .. how little people know this little thing is so misunderstood.

cars/phones/computers/clocks/ WOW.

1 hour of reading and you will know 80 percent about batteries.
8 hours and you could design your own battery.

[westend]

hohenwald48 wrote:
So if the sulphur is on the plates why do you need to fill the battery with electrolyte in the first place? Just fill it with water and the plates will magically instill the sulphur needed to transform the water into electrolyte. :h

You add acid, initially, as it is the source of sulfur/acid for the electrolyte. When a battery is tipped over, has gassed causing the plates to be exposed, or is habitually undercharged, there is sulphate on the plates. Sometimes, that sulfate can be recombined off the plates and back into solution.

Of course, everyone is free to do what they wish with their over-turned batteries. I think I've posted enough here.

[hohenwald48]

So if the sulphur is on the plates why do you need to fill the battery with electrolyte in the first place? Just fill it with water and the plates will magically instill the sulphur needed to transform the water into electrolyte. :h

[westend]

hohenwald48 wrote:

Boon Docker wrote:
Still doesn't explain how the distilled water brings the acid concentration back up when all the acid was spilled out.

A fully charged battery as a specific gravity of 1.255 and a totally discharged battery has a an S.G. of 1.110. This means that not all the sulfur/acid in the mix is on the plates waiting to be returned to the electrolyte.

So how does distilled water bring the S.G. back up to the strength of the original acid?

Curious minds would like to know.

I think westend is trying to blow smoke up your skirt. 😉

Not at all. I was trying to explain the chemical reaction within the battery.
I thought that was what was being asked. Maybe I am missing something?

[hohenwald48]

Amazon will sell you all the battery acid you want.

http://www.amazon.com/WPS-Non-Sealed-Battery-Electrolyte-Pack/dp/B003CKJDW6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457225793&sr=8-1&keywords=battery+electrolyte

I don't know where all this mis-information comes from. Dry shipped lead/acid batteries are shipped full of air. Nothing else. No vacuum, no nitrogen. Just plain old air.

[hohenwald48]

Boon Docker wrote:
Still doesn't explain how the distilled water brings the acid concentration back up when all the acid was spilled out.

A fully charged battery as a specific gravity of 1.255 and a totally discharged battery has a an S.G. of 1.110. This means that not all the sulfur/acid in the mix is on the plates waiting to be returned to the electrolyte.

So how does distilled water bring the S.G. back up to the strength of the original acid?

Curious minds would like to know.

I think westend is trying to blow smoke up your skirt. 😉

[pianotuna]

I suspect the "dry" shipped batteries were filled with nitrogen.

If I recall correctly, the positive plate will heat when exposed to moist air.

[time2roll]

One of my first jobs was in a service station. We had a stack of dry shipped batteries and a box of acid to fill them before installation. I don't recall how well they were sealed but I imagine they were.