Actually, the prohibition is against doing exactly what used to be
normal battery service : adding water to acid. (Mnemonic : "Do as yer
oughter, add acid to water")
The theory as I recall, is that when adding water to a strong acid,
there is a lot of heat formed which can cause the acid to boil locally
and most likely get into places you don't want it (like your eyes !)
I've also heard stories of the heat causing a beaker to shatter. This
can be a problem around a chemistry lab, where acids are normally
delivered in a nearly pure state, and must be diluted before use.
However, battery electrolyte is already diluted (at least relative to
the above warning), so we get by with wearing eye protection and adding
water fairly slowly so any heat can dissipate.
I have added both distilled water and fresh electrolyte to low
batteries, with no problems.
Randall
Andrew Mace wrote:
>
> On Wed, 7 Jul 1999, Malcolm Walker wrote:
>
> > If you can, open up the cells and take a look inside. If the cells have a
> > signifigant amount of electrolyte (ACID!) missing, you'll need to either
> > add electrolyte or add (distilled, clean) water.
>
> Not that there are that many batteries nowadays that one can refill as
> needed, but isn't it very much a NO-NO to add electrolyte (acid) to a
> battery that already has anything in it? Isn't that supposed to be VERY
> DANGEROUS? Or am I misremembering something?
>
> Anyone?
>
> I know it's (relatively) safe to add water to the electrolyte.
>
> --Andy
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> * Andrew Mace, President and *
> * 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
> * Vintage Triumph Register <www.vtr.org> *
> * amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|