Battery top up water

[whammy]

I got a bit of a shock today when I checked my 4 110ah leisure battery bank, all of the batteries were a bit low on water but one of them was very low and I could not see any water in some of the cells, I only had a small amount of deionised water left from the last time I topped up and could not get hold of any more deionised water so I had no choice but to use ordinary tap water although I did use the filtered drinking water that we have on one of the taps onboard. Question is what will this do to my batteries and why was it that just one of the batteries was much lower than the other 3 when I maintain them (OR DID NOT MAINTAIN THEM IN THIS CASE) equaly. I have checked for leaks from the low one and it seems sound enough. I know it is my own fault for not checking them more often but thats life I suppose. I did a bit of search on the tinternet and some people promote the use of water created/collected from de humidifiers to top up batteries ?????

Any useful comments would be appreciated - Thanks

[Yoda]

I got a bit of a shock today when I checked my 4 110ah leisure battery bank, all of the batteries were a bit low on water but one of them was very low and I could not see any water in some of the cells, I only had a small amount of deionised water left from the last time I topped up and could not get hold of any more deionised water so I had no choice but to use ordinary tap water although I did use the filtered drinking water that we have on one of the taps onboard. Question is what will this do to my batteries and why was it that just one of the batteries was much lower than the other 3 when I maintain them (OR DID NOT MAINTAIN THEM IN THIS CASE) equaly. I have checked for leaks from the low one and it seems sound enough. I know it is my own fault for not checking them more often but thats life I suppose. I did a bit of search on the tinternet and some people promote the use of water created/collected from de humidifiers to top up batteries ?????Any useful comments would be appreciated - Thanks

 

The water used is de-ionised. That means that it has no reactive chemicals in it, because you do not want secondary reactions in a battery. So when in a panic put cold boiled water in.

Edited February 9, 2008 by Yoda

[Dylan]

The correct answer is ALWAYS use de-ironised water. That said, I have rarely used anything but tap water in many road vehicles for close to forty years. I have too used cooled, boiled water but honestlydon't know how much difference that would make. My batteries have lasted as long as the next mans. There is probably an element of luck involved. At one time "distilled water" was more expensive than petrol, and I refused to pay the price.

If you are talking about the electrical 'fridge based dehumidifiers, they just condense water from the atmosphere, and many people have used this water in batteries and irons etc. for many years.

[Sir Nibble]

Like Dylan, I have often used tap water in batteries with no apparent adverse effect. I disagree with the cold boiled bit, that is roughly vaguely sort of something like half the distillation process but if there are any contaminants present boiling the water and cooling it will have the undesirable effect of concentrating them. Dehumidifiers theoretically give you distilled water, but some of the "distilled" water I have had from dehumidifiers stinks like raw sewage. The batteries could probably handle a day or two with low levels at least as well as they could cope with tap water. Probably best to just do the best you can but don't be too precious about it.

[Tusses]

sounds like a good excuse to make your own 'Still'

 

 

 

[Gibbo]

The water used is de-ionised. That means that it has no reactive chemicals in it, because you do not want secondary reactions in a battery. So when in a panic put cold boiled water in.

 

Boiled water is even worse than tap water. Most of the contaminants in water have a boiling point higher than water. When you boil it you evaporate some of the water leaving an even more concentrated solution of contaminants.

 

Gibbo

[Nickhlx]

battery top-up water at Halfords is quite in-expensive isn't it ( not sure what people deem expensive - We have RO

( Reverse Osmosis) water on a 3rd tap on the sink at home which we use for the kettle and boiling vegetables - in several years the kettle element has not changed from its shiny bright new-ness - it cost some £400 at the time about 15 years ago but I believe are down to approx £150 at Screwfix and others now.

 

It claims to remove just about everything, so hope it will be OK for the wet cells when I get them...

 

Water from de-humidifiers has many cubic meters of "dusty" and dirty air passing over it so I would think its actually quite dirty - perhaps melted freezer ice might be a bit cleaner in an emergency ?

 

Nick

[sueanddaren]

battery top-up water at Halfords is quite in-expensive isn't it ( not sure what people deem expensive - We have RO

( Reverse Osmosis) water on a 3rd tap on the sink at home which we use for the kettle and boiling vegetables - in several years the kettle element has not changed from its shiny bright new-ness - it cost some £400 at the time about 15 years ago but I believe are down to approx £150 at Screwfix and others now.

 

It claims to remove just about everything, so hope it will be OK for the wet cells when I get them...

 

Water from de-humidifiers has many cubic meters of "dusty" and dirty air passing over it so I would think its actually quite dirty - perhaps melted freezer ice might be a bit cleaner in an emergency ?

 

Nick

 

Gibbo is right about the bioled water, it will only concentrate any Iron, Copper, Calcium or Manganees (wish I could Spell), but it will remove any chlorine.

 

Don't even think about using mineral water, but there are parts of the country that can use straight tap water, better to have it analysed first though.

 

Daren