Lead acid battery fluid change

[kebabaluba]

Sulfuric acid is easy to neutralize. Calcium carbonate (lime) works well as it does not give off much heat. CaCO3+H2SO4 --> CaSO4 [calcium sulfate aka gypsum]+H2O+CO2. Or use baking soda, sodium carbonate (washing soda) or countless others.

Not sure how the lead that might be present in the solution might react-- sounds like a fun science experiment though!

So we neutralize the acid first with calciun carbonate first?

 

[92saturnsl2]

So we neutralize the acid first with calciun carbonate first?

Be worth a try! Personally I'd rather just spend the $80 every 4-5 years and avoid the headache

 

[Dinoburner]

Sounds like an exercise in futility sort of like retreading tires.

 

[circuitsmith]

You flip it to drain it, fill up with clean water and flip it again.

I know of someone trying that. The problem is the water left dilutes the new acid to the point you can't get the specific gravity up to proper level.
Then you drain and replace with new acid again, and in the end you gain...nothing.
That sludge in the bottom of the battery does not affect performance, as long as its level does not reach the plates. It's inert.

The Automotive Storage Battery by O.A. Witte 1922 Edition - Index

www.powerstream.com

 

[HogRiderNWF]

The killer to the battery is not that the acid goes bad, it's that when the plates are exposed to "air" they produce a sulfide. During use, small sulfate crystals form, but these are normal and are not harmful. ... sulfate converts to a stable crystalline and deposits on the negative plates when they are exposed to air. The sulfide cannot be removed by draining and rinsing the battery. Nice theory, but the science isn't agreeing with you.