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Topping-up water in a sealed battery

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dreaming-of-driving

Member
Hey all ! Where I live (and probably everywhere now) the car batteries are all sealed up very tightly, it's very difficult to remove the cover to access the filling points without making a huge mess of the unit.

But I had a thought - is it feasible to fill all the cells with water, maybe even the right amount of water, through the breather port on the top/side part of the battery ? It stands to reason that the breather port will lead back to each cell.

If anyone has tried that then please advise. Otherwise I'll give it a go and post the (likely) amusing results ....
 
No no no!

They are sealed for life…if it needs water it’s dead as in Monty Python..

Buy a new battery :thumbsup:
 
Thanks but how is that the case though ?

Either the water balance is off, pH too low, so the battery doesn't charge >> top up water and it will work again.

Or.. the plates are actually sulphated from long term use >> In which case, drain off, rinse all the plates and clean with dilute alkali, then refill with acid of the right concentration.

Most of the time I'm guessing it's going to be the first one, especially if I never topped it up before ....
 
I guess the question I have is ... is it OK to just fill with as much water as possible ? Because some videos show technicians doing that, but I was under the impression that too much water might cause problems.
 
You're asking for trouble if you go tw@tting about with a sealed battery and I doubt your insurance company would look favourably on the reason your car burned to the ground from a dodgy battery.

Try and rejuvenate it using a ctek and failing that put your hand in your pocket and buy a new battery you cheap bastid!
:headbang:
 
LOL I gots to assume you're trolling in max mode. it's practically impossible to burn your car to the ground , I smoked every day for 20 years , including in a v8 that smelled like petrol around the clock
 
dreaming-of-driving said:
Otherwise I'll give it a go and post the (likely) amusing results ....
Click to expand...
Yeah, do that. :thumbsup:
Chances are nothing will happen but could be interesting.
 
dreaming-of-driving said:
its fine if u guys wana criticise ideas , but the criticism needs to be based on scientific reasons
Click to expand...
Must have missed that bit in the rules section. :D
 
dreaming-of-driving said:
ha, oks. its not a rule. anyone can be stupid if they like :rofl:
Click to expand...
and I would suggest you're the perfect candidate to verify that claim...
Go on, do it.
:poke:
 
AFAIK sealed batteries still have the filling ports; it's whether the plastics are welded together so well that getting in destroys everything in site.

IME a decent battery has a 10 year life span if kept charged so worrying about topping up is pointless. Eventually they die of plate sulphation (or distortion) and, at that point, it's a lot of faff to do anything about it so weigh it in and put the fiver towards a new one.
 
dreaming-of-driving said:
I may have done things in the past that appeared stupid , but I was simply gathering empirical evidence
Click to expand...
I gonna use that one on the wife next time she accuses me of doing something stupid. :thumbsup:
"You call it stupid, I call it gathering empirical evidence, dearest". Like it.
 
I attached a funnel to some tubing, which was also attached to a taper metal chopstick. this allowed water to be funneled into the breather hole. it seemed that most or all of the water just bubbled right out again, so perhaps there is a valve somewhere in the breather system of the battery. if so, that would necessitate removal of the cover to add water. here's the pics, we'll see if charging is more successful now anyway ...

20230418_200947.jpg

20230418_201118.jpg

20230418_201212.jpg
 
Each cell is likely to have its own chamber and internal seal so all you are doing is dribbling water in the common area above the cells.. :headbang:
 
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