jtdesigns Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Anyone ever replaced acid in a battery? Like pour the old out and refill it with new acid? I think you have to mix the acid with distilled water but I don't know a certain ratio... Another thing, has anyone ever used a specific gravity tester? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Holy cow, how old is your battery? I thought any modern battery should be sealed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 lol... Well I have a interstate thats not sealed in my Isuzu and the batt in question is a dirt bike batt.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 I used a specific gravity tester in a gem stones class, but it was a long time ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 Ive seen them a million times they have a rubber tube, lil colored balls that float to tell you the condition of your batteries, and a turkey bolster looking bulb that you use to suck the battery juice with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerinmaine Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Anyone ever replaced acid in a battery? Like pour the old out and refill it with new acid? I think you have to mix the acid with distilled water but I don't know a certain ratio... Â Why would you need to do that? Generally, you just recharge the battery, and it makes its own acid. Â I'm confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 Anyone ever replaced acid in a battery? Like pour the old out and refill it with new acid? I think you have to mix the acid with distilled water but I don't know a certain ratio... Â Why would you need to do that? Generally, you just recharge the battery, and it makes its own acid. Â I'm confused. Â Just to know it can be done.. Save a lil cash, Â In the army when we got a new battery it would come in dry with a bottle of acid. Fill the battery up and your good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepthing07 Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Ive seen them a million times they have a rubber tube, lil colored balls that float to tell you the condition of your batteries, and a turkey bolster looking bulb that you use to suck the battery juice with. Â i thought that was for testing antifreeze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 they have them both for batteries and anti freeze. ive never changed the acid in a battery but i don't see why u couldnt. i just don't know where u could get the acid without getting the whole battery. all the powersport batteries at walmart come with a small jug of acid. i belive its a 50/50 mix but I'm not positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 Ive seen them a million times they have a rubber tube, lil colored balls that float to tell you the condition of your batteries, and a turkey bolster looking bulb that you use to suck the battery juice with.  i thought that was for testing antifreeze   You may be correct.... Actually I think your 100% right... I know sometime in my life Ive seen a tester thats something like what I described Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 they have them both for batteries and anti freeze. ive never changed the acid in a battery but i don't see why u couldnt. i just don't know where u could get the acid without getting the whole battery. all the powersport batteries at walmart come with a small jug of acid. i belive its a 50/50 mix but I'm not positive. Â OK cool... I was thinking I was going a lil :nuts: .... I got a small container of acid from Advanced for like 5 bucks..... I going to test it out on the Dirt bike batt with a 50/50 mix and see what happens... I'll let yous know tomorrow what outcome I get... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 here's a pic I found on line,, I knew Ive seen one before... Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 i just googled it and found alot of different answers. some say u can't some say u can. id try it, just don't burn ur eyes out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 I thought you meant one of these: Â http://www.kassoy.com/ec/1/section.asp?idDept=312 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 I know I did too and found the same thing and thought Id ask some you smart fellows... Â I had this old timer tell me he had the same battery for 30 years by replacing the acid... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 I thought you meant one of these:Â http://www.kassoy.com/ec/1/section.asp?idDept=312 Â lol... that looks like something a drug dealer has on hand... not that I know any.. Â so how does that work? It weighs the materials weight thats floating?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akula69 Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 I know I did too and found the same thing and thought Id ask some you smart fellows... Â I had this old timer tell me he had the same battery for 30 years by replacing the acid... Â I dunno about that - after a while wouldn't the acid eat the lead plates away? after all, the electricty is produced by a reaction between the lead and the acid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 I thought you meant one of these:Â http://www.kassoy.com/ec/1/section.asp?idDept=312 Â lol... that looks like something a drug dealer has on hand... not that I know any.. Â so how does that work? It weighs the materials weight thats floating?? Â I don't remember exactly how they work. When mosenite(sp?) first came on the market alot of the smaller jewelery stores didnt have these and were getting screwed by people passing off the mosenite as real diamonds. I think there specific gravitys were real close too, so they also had to start testing the refractive index of the stones too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnj92131 Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Gentlemen, Â You certainly can dump the acid and refill a battery with fresh acid. Years ago, I worked at a battery factory. Â One of the reasons to do this with a battery that has been sitting a while is to flush out any of the paste that may have accumulated on the bottom of the battery and is shorting some of the plates. Â You need a hydrometer and you need at thermometer to read the specific gravity and the thermometer to take the temperature of the acid. Â You then recharge the battery. At a given specific gravity and temperature, the battery is fully charged. Â Even the maintence free, so called sealed batteries can be refilled. The trick is to pull the access cover then pull the plugs for each cell. You can then fill or check the specific gravity of the cells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnj92131 Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 I thought you meant one of these:Â http://www.kassoy.com/ec/1/section.asp?idDept=312 Â lol... that looks like something a drug dealer has on hand... not that I know any.. Â so how does that work? It weighs the materials weight thats floating?? Â The float is a known weight and is sealed. As the water/acid mix is sucked into the tube, you get a given displaced water acid mixture because of the fixed weight and volume of the float. The higher the specific gravity of the water/acid mix the higher the float rides in the water. Â Same thing you see with a heavily loaded ship - it rides lower in the water than it does when it is lighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metrictonner Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 A motorcycle battery is almost aways a gel-cel type so it doesn't spill when you dump your bike. It can't be emptied or filled and when the continuity reads below 12 volts it is a dead cause because it can't be brought back up to charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 The last 3 motorcycle batteries I have bought (for a 100cc Italian made Harley Davidson dirt bike), have been lead-acid batteries. When you open the box, it contains an empty battery and a bottle of acid to fill it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 16, 2008 Author Share Posted June 16, 2008 This battery had a strip of lil nipples that plugged the holes on top.. It didnt have any jelly in it just clear liquid.. Water/acid I'm guessing,, I didnt stick my finger in it to check which one though.. :D  Gentlemen, You certainly can dump the acid and refill a battery with fresh acid. Years ago, I worked at a battery factory.  One of the reasons to do this with a battery that has been sitting a while is to flush out any of the paste that may have accumulated on the bottom of the battery and is shorting some of the plates.  You need a hydrometer and you need at thermometer to read the specific gravity and the thermometer to take the temperature of the acid.  You then recharge the battery. At a given specific gravity and temperature, the battery is fully charged.  Even the maintence free, so called sealed batteries can be refilled. The trick is to pull the access cover then pull the plugs for each cell. You can then fill or check the specific gravity of the cells. What temp is best you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxRacing282 Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 when you change the acid make sure you don't leave the battery dry for too long because the insulator between the two metals can fall apart and then rendering your battery garbage. ask me how i found this out... acually on second please don't... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I'll throw in my $.02 worth, as I used to be as cheap as a person can get. Back in the day when my car wouldn't start because of a shot battery, I had nothing to do except sit at home and experiment with it. Here's what worked for me: >Start with a quick, high-amp charge. This gets as much sulphate as possible off the plates and cooks the bigger chunks at the bottom. Don't forget to take the caps off and don't get too close while it's cooking. >Then when it cools pour out as much liquid as will come out by gravity. >With caps off, stick it in a container full of water deep enough to cover the top. The idea is to neutralize as much remaining acid as possible before the next step. >Repeatedly fill up the battery cells with water and shake out the water and gunk that accumulates below the plates. Don't be timid about filling the cells. A little pressure from a fine nozzle is good. You may have to do this a dozen times. The first few times just packs the stuff between the plates making it worse than before you started. When you have got out as much as you think you can make the last rinse with distilled or otherwise non-tap water. BTW, you might want to be wearing old clothes for this step. >Find an auto parts store that will sell you battery electrolyte. This is the correct acid / water ratio, ready to put in. >Give it a nice slow charge overnight. You may have bought yourself 6 - 12 more months out of a battery that should have been thrown out- or you may have wasted a little time and money because lead peroxide crystals are shorting out used up plates. I've had it go both ways. I've also had one of these revived batteries improve after a couple weeks of driving around. I think the vibration shook some remaining chunks back down into the void below the plates. This actually works good on motorcycle batteries- especially if the battery is not used for cranking or running anything big. :wrench: Those were the days. Lots of time and no money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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