Battery maintenance advice sought

Unscrew each of the tops using a 50p coin (a 10p or 2p might also work, but the 50p has a flat edge); don't use a screwdriver as that'll just chew them up.

Look inside each of the 'cells' and check the liquid level is about half an inch above the plates inside - they look like sheets of cardboard pressed together. If any of them need topping up then do so using the de-ionised water.

It might help to shine a torch into the cell either through the holes you've uncovered, or if the battery is translucent, through the side. Refit the tops tight enough to seal the rubber washer, but not overly tight. If you've added a significant amount of water then it would be worth checking again in a weeks time to see if any need further topping up - this often indicates excessive charging voltage.

Darren

Thanks for the advice. The water is below the tops of 4 out of 6 of the cells - I'll top up straight away.

Thanks for the advice

Noz

DONT USE deionised water only use distilled water. Deionised can damage the battery depending on the PH level

I'll also add that some batteries have plastic tabs that go from from the hole down to the plates. The water is supposed to just touch the bottom of the tabs.

Gareth

local halfrauds only sell de-ionized water, think i last bought distilled water 20 years ago, asked for some about 10 years ago and got told it's called de-ionized nowadays,

not that i care, aint bought the stuff for years, i use the water from the se-humidifier in my batteries,

3 elecsol 110 AH carbon fibre leisure batteries and a halfrauds 90 ah starter battery, the elecsols use a lot of water due to the high but complete charging given to them by the sterling 4 stage charger, starter battery will soon need checking more frequently when i fit the advanced alternator regulator to give 4 stage and 14.8 volt charging to the starter battery,

water usage is the price you have to pay if you need the batteries to get a proper charge, and not the 70% max charge a standard alternator puts in.

in a normal car tho, you dont need to wory about this kind of thing, your not trying to last a week camped in the middle of nowhere and be self sufficiant.

Think we may be confusing de-ionised with softnened water here. De-ionised water is chemically indistinguishable from distilled, and both have trace atmospheric and equipment-related impurities. Distillation is an archaic, inefficient and expensive way of doing the job, so you won't come across it now. Neither will affect the pH of the battery, the electrolyte of which contains a large amount of sulphuric acid. Water that's been though a domestic softener just has its calcium ions replaced with sodium, and all the other impurities remain. Using either of these will significantly shorten the life of the battery.