Battery left on concrete floor

[Dborch41]

Lots of places have very hard water, it will destroy a battery or cooling system, kettles and pots. So no not a myth.

Distilled water is so cheap why is this even a thing? I use it as washer fluid (it rarely freezes where I live) because it doesn't leave hard water stains. I can get it for a little over a dollar a gallon.

 

[walterjay]

At my dads gas station we used to refill batteries with chlorinated city tap water.

Ya I'm skeptical about that. My tap water is hard city water. It has chlorine bleach, flouride, and a lot of calcium in it. Calcium builds up in my sink faucet, stains my sink, and builds up in my water heater. I'm not putting that in my battery.

When I lived in another city with cleaner tap water, I did use tap water because I was in high school because I didn't know any better. It didn't cause any short-term battery problems with a year or two, but I don't know if it might have affected long-term battery life.

 

[Carlostrece]

At my dads gas station we used to refill batteries with chlorinated city tap water.

That's a gas station I wouldn't bring my car to for maintenance.

Just because you did it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. Hopefully it wasn't hard water.

1 gallon of distilled water at Walmart costs around $1 in early 2026. 1 gallon of distilled water would be more than enough to top more than 100 batteries, IMO. So for less than 1 cent per battery you could do a good job in 2026.

Why on earth would anyone risk a car battery's health to save less than 1 cent?

This shows why many battery manufacturers went to permanetly sealed designs. Permanently sealed batteries retain their water longer. Also many people don't check or fill their batteries, and of those who do - they can't be trusted to use distilled water.

So let's make a sealed battery. Even if it's a flooded battery, lets make it a sealed design. I'm sure that's what most manufacturers think, and for good reason.

 

[Carlostrece]

Distilled water is so cheap why is this even a thing? I use it as washer fluid (it rarely freezes where I live) because it doesn't leave hard water stains. I can get it for a little over a dollar a gallon.

I mixed distilled water with 20/10 concentrate for my wiper fluid.

 

[walterjay]

That's a gas station I wouldn't bring my car to for maintenance.

Just because you did it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. Hopefully it wasn't hard water.

1 gallon of distilled water at Walmart costs around $1 in early 2026. 1 gallon of distilled water would be more than enough to top more than 100 batteries, IMO. So for less than 1 cent per battery you could do a good job in 2026.

Why on earth would anyone risk a car battery's health to save less than 1 cent?

This shows why many battery manufacturers went to permanetly sealed designs. Permanently sealed batteries retain their water longer. Also many people don't check or fill their batteries, and of those who do - they can't be trusted to use distilled water.

So let's make a sealed battery. Even if it's a flooded battery, lets make it a sealed design. I'm sure that's what most manufacturers think, and for good reason.

This was way back a long long time ago. Would never do that today. WalMart did not exist back then.

 

[MParr]

Lots of places have very hard water, it will destroy a battery or cooling system, kettles and pots. So no not a myth.

Exactly! Anyone who has drained a water heater or had to have a radiator rodded out will know not to use tap water.

 

[fantastic]

I put my basement sump pump batteries off of the floor due to safety not that I'm concerned about the topic. When I ran my garage off 300 watts of solar with WM Deep cycle batteries they went straight to the concreted floor. They lasted a long time & stayed cooler.

 

[Carlostrece]

I put my basement sump pump batteries off of the floor due to safety not that I'm concerned about the topic. When I ran my garage off 300 watts of solar with WM Deep cycle batteries they went straight to the concreted floor. They lasted a long time & stayed cooler.

Good point. A battery on a concerete floor is cooler. The concrete is a giant heat sink. My battery is sitting on concrete floor with a battery maintainer hooked up to it. It can leave it hooked up indefineately without fear of the battery heating up. So in that case I think the concrete is a good thing.

 

[Dinoburner]

Never had a battery under five years old die on a concrete floor but have had an older battery die in a week or so. Older batteries also seem to be damp while on concrete. The older battery that died, down less than 9 volts, took a recharge and was used in an old riding mower for a season.

 

[4wd]

You can leave them on concrete but the + must face N.
(pass this on) …

 

[Carlostrece]

Never had a battery under five years old die on a concrete floor but have had an older battery die in a week or so. Older batteries also seem to be damp while on concrete. The older battery that died, down less than 9 volts, took a recharge and was used in an old riding mower for a season.

A 5+ year old battery can die just from being moved - no matter what surface you set it on. If you hadn't moved it, it would probably still have died soon.

My goal is to get 5 years from a flooded battery. Anything beyond 5 years is extra gravy. I think anything beyond 3 years is gravy.

So you did very good getting 5 years.