OT Car Battery water

Re: OT Car Battery water

Bill Howatt

Ideally you would have used distilled water. Just how bad the situation is depends on what minerals and things are in your water. I don't think I'd get overly concerned about your tap water addition.

If the plates were covered and the car wouldn't start there is a good chance the battery is letting you know its time is up - I always consider anything over 5 or 6 years a gift in battery life although every now and then they go a lot longer. The original battery in my 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan failed a couple of months ago so 3 years was all I got from it.

You might want to run the car for a short trip and then come home before you turn it off. When my battery failed I charged it for hours, took the van to the store and when I came out it wouldn't start. My wife had to come with jumper cables. This usually means a cell has gone bad and I had this behavior with my old Ford Tempo. So don't assume that charging the battery and the car starts has totally cured the problem.

Bill

Re: OT Car Battery water

Tom Dunlap

Yes..distilled is best.

But if using tap water were as bad as fear-mongers warn I think that more batteries would be dead. Look at how many batteries you've had in your life and multiply that out. Guess how many have even popped open a battery to see if the cells are down.

Re: OT Car Battery water

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

Yes, distilled is best; but, back when I was a gas pump jockey, and batteries needed water far more often than now, we refilled the battery water jug from the tap, and it did not seem to increase our battery replacements.

I did buy a jug of distilled water at the grocery store for our RV batteries; I was surprised at the low price.

Why modern car batteries don't need water

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

A car battery gets its "juice" by removing electrons from lead to make lead sulfate. These electrons flow through the starter (or the lights you left on) to the other side of the battery where they convert lead dioxide into lead sulfate.

Way back in the past when the battery was charged the lead sulfate of the discharged plates gets converted back to lead dioxide and lead. The conversion of lead sulfate to lead also produced some hydrogen that came from the water. This conversion made water go away and you had to top off the battery from time to time.

A modern battery has calcium metal added to the lead. The calcium prevents the generation of hydrogen because hydrogen can't form on this calcium-lead alloy at the voltages used for charging. Hence, no need to add water. Ain't science grand!

Adding hard water may have some minor effect, especially if done many times. But a battery that old is at death's door. As a battery ages its voltage decreases. When it is cold the battery voltages decreases. A cold old batter may have too little voltage to run the starter, where as when it was warm it would.

Re: OT Car Battery water

Jerry Nicholson

I haven't checked the water level in a battery in over 25 years. 60 years ago I probably checked the water level every week.

The original battery in my 2004 Dodge Dakota failed in 2007. I installed an Optima battery and finally had to replace it this year. 13 years! I am told the Optimas now aren't nearly as good as they were then though. When I sold my 1981 FIAT Spider in 1999, the Delco battery I had put in it was 10 years old and still going strong. In my 67 years of car ownership, battery life has varied from 3 months to 13 years.

Re: Why modern car batteries don't need water

Bill Howatt

I'm certainly not foolhardy enough to get into a chemistry battle with you, Bill.

OTHO, there still are 2 general kinds of batteries, maintenance free where it is impossible to add water and not-so-maintenance free where water can be added if the plates are exposed. I agree that battery developments and even tighter regulation on the charging system make water addition less of a maintenance item these days but it still may be necessary and it also may be an indication that the battery is on it latter days.

Bill

Battery is DOA

Mike L

I charged it for three hours after adding water and it just wouldn't crank the engine good enough to trust it. I looked at the MFG date and it was made 22 Apr 2014 so I think it has had a good life, and can go rest in peace at a recycle center.

Thanks for the answers.

Re: OT Car Battery water

Dale Stansbery

On vehicles that I have to depend on on a daily basis, the battery gets changed at 5 years, period. On others, depends. I have trucks and tractors so have a mix of maintenance free and old style individual caps. I recently bought the Harbor Freight battery tester for $16, I think, after the 20% coupon. It puts a 100 Amp load on the battery. It checks the battery voltage no load, voltage with load at 15 seconds, voltage recovery after load, and charging voltage. It more than paid for itself on the first truck battery that I tested, proved everything was OK, battery just needed to be fully charged. Short jaunts around farm weren't keeping it charged. The other truck, with a 6 year old battery wasn't holding enough voltage under load, alternator was putting out 14.5 volts, battery is scheduled to be replaced.

Re: OT Car Battery water

frank morgan

All you need as far as water level is 1/2" above the plates, although at the top of the plates isn't terrible. Like others have said if the battery is around 5 yrs old, its telling you its time to replace it. If the car is only used intermittently...say once or twice a week, you may be able to get more time out of it if you run the car more often (or put a trickle charge on it overnight). If the car is a late model car, they have more electronic stuff that have "vampire load" on it, that drains the battery while the car is sitting. So that's another consideration.

Of course it could be the charging circuit of the car itself is faulty (alternator?) but the quickest and cheapest thing is to get a new battery, and if that doesn't work bring it to the mechanic. Worse case, you'll fix the actual problem and you'll not have to worry about the battery for the next several years.

If you replace the battery, recommend you write the replacement date on the battery label.

BTW, several years ago I was at MIT as a rep for the electric power industry, and they showed me they where working with Ford to investigate upgrading 12volt cars to 24volt (or higher) because of all the electronics of the cars. Ford was having problems of "old lady's" only using their new cars once per week to go to church and the batteries where discharging to much to start. A secondary issue of upgrading the voltages was that at a certain point the " National Electrical Code (NEC)" kicks in - probably requiring qualified electricians to work on the car....something the dealers weren't too keen on.

Re: OT Car Battery water

Mike L

Thanks. I will get it load tested but the way it cranked after three hours on a charger and the age of the battery say it is time to go.

The car is driven daily so the charging of the battery should be fine. She drove it around 70 miles yesterday so it should have been completely charged. I have the equipment to test the Battery Monitoring Systems and reset them on Fords so I am good that way.

This is her only car, so she will et a new battery.

Re: OT Car Battery water

Bill Howatt

You are correct to replace it now.

I have had a dead battery due to interior lights being left on and it didn't take much time on the charger to get it to turn the engine over. 3 hours should have been more than enough for a battery in reasonable shape.

I'll wager that if you measure the voltage it will likely be around very roughly 10V due to a bad cell.

Bill

I was going to measure it

Mike L

but it is on the windy cold side today and I am working on a few other things. It is going to get replaced when my daughter gets home with the new one. Or she might take it to get a new one I am not sure. I will know when her and my wife tell me(-;

Re: Battery is DOA

David Weaver

local mechanic mentioned that the quality of batteries has dropped (I suspect that some manufacturers have, too, and some have gone across borders).

the first battery my old truck had lasted 8 years. When it went dead, i asked my dad (who has just given the truck to me in exchange for trading my useless car in instead of his truck on a new truck) when the last time was that he got a battery, he said "never".

With an 8 year old truck, that was his answer to everything. When's the last time you washed it? Never.

He changed the oil every 3000 miles religiously and that was it.

Point being, that was in the mid 1990s. You're almost at 7 with that one - you did well and have a core to trade in. Both of my cars are hitting "Battery year" this year in march (I change every 4 no matter what - reason being my spouse - it's not worth the risk and then dealing with the fallout of her being stuck somewhere). More than one person has told me that such a thing is risky.

Interestingly, the supply of absurdly priced funny looking batteries has increased while the quality of same (and others) has decreased.

Re: OT Car Battery water

Lee Schierer in McKean, PA

Many newer cars have sensors and alarm systems that that are continuously draining power from the battery. Some have light sensors that automatically turn the lights on when it gets dark enough outside. There is a warning in our 2012 Honda Pilot manual that warns if the vehicle is going to set idle for a week or more you should turn off the "Auto" feature to prevent battery drainage.

Lee

Quality

Bill Howatt

I noticed that the store I get my car batteries at for years used to offer longer warranty periods on new batteries than are offered now and I suspect the level of quality has dropped for this to happen.

Somebody on this thread mentioned getting, IIRC, 3 years from a OEM battery, my neighbor got that on his cars battery and I got that period out of my battery. Funny thing is that they were all Chrysler products.

Bill

Re: Quality

Henry (Raleigh NC)

The OEM battery on a Honda did not even last 3 years. All my replacement batts have lasted way longer than that - and this has been my only new car.

Cheap batteries and tires on new cars IMHO (sample size of 1!).

Henry

Re: Quality

Mark Nowicki

I learned a few things about car batteries lately (working part time as a delivery driver for a local auto parts store)

MagnaCharge is a major supplier and recycler of car batteries in Canada.

All batteries were the same, there was a cabinet near the shipping dock full of decals:

NAPA, KIRKLAND, HONDA, AC-DELCO, MOPAR etc.

They would stick on whatever was on the PO.

The parts store MagnaCharge 30 month warranty battery for a Honda Civic was identical to the HONDA OEM battery sold at the Honda dealer.

Re: NEC?!

Henry Higginbotham

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but:

The NEC doesn't apply to cars, trucks, aircraft, and a bunch of other stuff.

See NEC Article 90.2 (B).

It also isn't federal law, but rather is available for adoption by local jurisdictions.