Re: (ET) FW: battery care

[Steve & Carol Welch <welches dejazzd com>]

It wasn't (but probably should have been) on a maintainer.  I've  
since corrected that.  The plates weren't exposed yet, but I knew I'd  
be plugged into shore power and it would be bubbling away.  Since I  
didn't know what constituted "dangerously low", I erred on the side  
of safety I guess.

Thanks for the advice!


On Aug 8, 2008, at 9:35 AM, Tim Humphrey wrote:

> Ahhh the ever popular risk management assessment....
>
> What happens if I do not water this battery ??.
>
> a. nothing
> b. it sparks across the plates and explodes.
>
> What happens if I water this battery with (relatively) unknown water??
>
> a. nothing
> b. It is contaminated with potentially damaging minerals and shorts
> the battery out.
>
>
> Given just those options and information, I would agree with your  
> decision.
>
> However, if the electrolyte was still slightly over the plate tops,
> then I would have done nothing until returning home.
>
> You were only in danger if the plates were exposed. Do you keep it on
> a maintainer when not in use? I had a motorhome once that was left
> plugged in to shorepower all the time by the previous owner. When I
> bought it, the 1 yr old house battery pack was completely bone dry.
>
> --
> Stay Charged! (but not overcharged!)
> Hump
>
> The most important substance needed to make a successful project is
> the "glue" that makes you stick to it! -- Lee A. Hart
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: elec-trak-bounces cosmos phy tufts edu
> > [mailto:elec-trak-bounces cosmos phy tufts edu] On Behalf Of Steve  
> > Welch
> > Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 10:10 PM
> > To: RJ Kanary
> > Cc: Elec-trak
> > Subject: Re: (ET) battery care
> >
> > No...I was away from home - on the road without many options.
> >
> > On Aug 7, 2008, at 10:05 PM, RJ Kanary wrote:
> >
> > > Depends on the mineral content.Ever have that water analyzed ?
> > >
> > > RJ
> > >
> > > Steve Welch wrote:
> > > > Hi all,
> > > >
> > > > A quick battery care question:  I was camping last weekend with
> > > > our  trailer.  It has a large 12v non-maint free house battery.
> > > > I  happened to check the electrolyte & discovered it was lower
> > > > than I'd  like.  Evidently I had missed it in my routine prep
> > > > checklist.   Anyway, I tried a number of local stores looking for
> > > > distilled water  to top it up, and surprisingly, found none.  I
> > > > ended up using well  water filtered through a Brita carafe, as I
> > > > didn't feel comfortable  letting it go till we got home.
> > > >
> > > > I have always used distilled for batteries...  Any harm in a bit
> > > > of  non-distilled getting mixed in??
> > > >
> > > > Thanks in advance,
> > > >
> > > > Steve
> > > > Alltraxed E20
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Elec-trak mailing list
> > > > Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
> > > > https://cosmos.phy.tufts.edu/mailman/listinfo/elec-trak
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Elec-trak mailing list
> > Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
> > https://cosmos.phy.tufts.edu/mailman/listinfo/elec-trak
>
> _______________________________________________
> Elec-trak mailing list
> Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
> https://cosmos.phy.tufts.edu/mailman/listinfo/elec-trak