Generally, only lead-acid batteries require the addition of water, which allows the electrolyte inside the lead-acid battery to be evenly mixed. Although battery technology is still evolving, adding water to lead acid batteries is still common. Adding water to a lead acid battery is something that we can do ourselves. If you do not know how to add water to lead-acid batteries, in this article, we will take you together to understand the lead-acid batteries to add water related issues, I hope to help you.
Adding water to lead-acid batteries is mainly related to the capacity of lead-acid batteries. When the capacity of lead-acid batteries is above 60% of the starting capacity, your batteries do not need to add water. When the capacity of the lead-acid battery is between 40% and 60% of the starting capacity, this is when adding water can improve the ability of the lead-acid battery to store electricity.
When the capacity of the lead-acid battery is between 20% and 40% of the starting capacity, you can add water to the battery. When the capacity of the lead-acid battery is below 20% of the starting capacity, the battery is in an extremely dehydrated state and must be replenished with distilled water immediately.
Lead-acid battery electrolyte is composed of water and sulfuric acid, in the process of charging lead-acid batteries, when the current continues to pass through the electrolyte will produce heat, lead-acid batteries in the water because of heat to accelerate the decomposition of oxygen and hydrogen, these gases from the lead-acid batteries escape, which means that the lead-acid batteries in the water is reduced.
With the continuous reduction of water in the process of use, the concentration of sulfuric acid inside the battery will become larger and larger, so that the electrons are not easy to pass through the battery, resulting in a reduction in the performance of lead-acid batteries. We add distilled water to the lead-acid battery to solve this problem.
Before adding water to a lead-acid battery, you need to take safety measures such as wearing gloves and safety goggles.
After making sure that the battery is full and that the engine has been turned off to prevent electric shock, you can determine the water level inside the battery by looking at the transparent plastic cover or the viewing hole.
Before removing the battery cover, you have to clean the surface of the battery cover to avoid impurities from entering into the battery during the process of adding water. Then you’d better use the plastic tool to pry the battery cover open, metal tools are easy to pry the battery cover directly.
When adding distilled water, you should use a funnel or syringe to add distilled water slowly into the battery, you should not fill the battery with distilled water at one time, it is best to add a small amount of times. During the water addition process, you should also check that the electrolyte level is within the manufacturer’s recommended range. Theoretically, the electrolyte should cover the electrodes, but not exceed the top of the battery cell divider.
Generally, after adding water to a lead-acid battery, wait a few hours or a day to allow the distilled water to fully fuse with the sulfuric acid. Check again whether the electrolyte in each battery cell is in the same normal range, if some of the battery cells do not have enough water, but also to add distilled water again, to ensure that the electrolyte in each word cell to maintain the same.
After all the above steps are done, your battery has basically finished adding water, you also need to fix the battery cover, do not to prevent lead-acid battery leakage, the battery cover is fixed too tight, properly tightened on it, to prevent damage to the battery cover, but also to facilitate the next time to add water.
If the electrolyte of your battery is still overflowing, you can put the battery in a ventilated place to evaporate the excess water naturally. But be careful not to use a hot air blower to force the water to evaporate. However, if your battery electrolyte has partially overflowed, you need to re-add dilute sulfuric acid to the battery to adjust the ratio of electrolyte, which is more dangerous, and we recommend you to leave it to professionals.
Adding water to the battery is for lead-acid batteries. Other batteries do not need to add water. If you want to add water to lead-acid batteries, you can refer to the above steps and precautions. However, before adding water to lead-acid batteries, make sure you take proper safety measures. If you think it is too troublesome to add water to lead-acid batteries, you can directly choose to buy lithium iron phosphate batteries when you buy batteries, which can reduce the series of troubles mentioned above.
