Re: (ET) Alum+h2o replacement for acid in lead batteries

[Tim Humphrey <hump evgrin com>]

Here is just one example that makes my BS detector go off-----> 



> 
> My friend claimed that you could take a weak lead acid battery, one
> that was still able to be charged but whose lifecycle was nearly
> finished and convert it to an alkaline battery by dumping out the
> battery fluid and replacing it with a mix of water and alum. 
> 
> It is sodium aluminum silicate, chemically speaking. Also goes by
> sodium aluminosilicate, aluminium sodium silicate; sodium
> silicoaluminate; silicic acid, etc. 

So he's going to convert an acid battery into an alkaline battery by 
dumping out the acid and replacing it with a different acid...

Sounds like it's still an acid battery to me. HOWEVER, alum is not any of 
the items he describes.... alum is indeed an alkali, otherwise known as 
......

al·um 
–noun Chemistry. 1. Also called potash alum, potassium alum. a crystalline 
solid, aluminum potassium sulfate, K2SO4·Al2(SO4)3·24H2O, used in medicine 
as an astringent and styptic, in dyeing and tanning, and in many technical 
processes.  
2. one of a class of double sulfates analogous to the potassium alum, as 
aluminum ammonium sulfate, having the general formula 
R2SO4·X2(SO4)3·24H2O, where R is a univalent alkali metal or ammonium, and 
X one of a number of trivalent metals.  
3. (not in technical use) aluminum sulfate.  


SO, what is he adding?? 



When I was a kid I used to "revive lead-acid batteries by dropping an 
un-buffered aspirin into each cell. the acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) 
obviously raised the acid concentration of the electrolyte and gave me 
more charge temporarily, usually enough to re0frire my engine and gets 
somewhere to replace my battery or fix my alternator.......
Never did do any scientific type of testing to measure results.




--
Stay Charged!
Hump
I-5, Blossvale NY