batteries

I've had my motorcycle for about a year, and while winterizing i
noticed the acid level in the battery is low. This is not a sealed
battery so i know i can add fluid to get it to normal levels. The only
problem is i'm not sure what i should be filling it with. Do i use
distilled water, or should i go in search of an acid to fill it with.
Thanks in advance.
Mike

 

Distilled water...once the acid has been added to a battery, you should only
add distilled water to it...or so I've heard

 

You've heard correctly. What evaporates from a battery? Water. What
should be replaced when that happens? Same thing; water.

-Don

 

charged? The specific gravity gets very high as the battery charges.
And it looks like the battery is fully charged, from your hydrometer
reading...

Dangnabbit! I should proof read my posts more carefully...

That paragraph should read:

"What happens if you add electrolyte to a battery that is NOT fully
charged? The specific gravity gets very high as the battery charges.
And it looks like the battery is fully charged, from your hydrometer
reading...

 

Thank you all for your input, and help, lot's of useful information in
these posts for me including a better understanding of these batteries.
I'll put some distilled water in there for now and charge er up.
Hopefully have some juice still.

Peace
Mike

 

You can trickle charge a typical motorcycle battery safely at about
1 amp to 1.5 amps without overheating it. Then stick one of those
floating ball hydrometers down into each cell. If all the balls float,
but the electrolyte level in the battery is low, don't add water, go
down to your local auto parts store and buy some pre-mixed electrolyte.


The last time I bought some, it cost about $2 for a gallon, it came in
a plastic bag, inside a cardboard box. A gallon of electrolyte should
be enough to last for ten years.

Alternatively, you might take your own clean plastic bottle to a store
that sells lots of batteries and ask them if they will sell you about a
dollar's worth of electrolyte...

But, do not try to mix up a batch of electrolyte from distilled water
and pure sulfuric acid. If you pour the water into the acid, thinking
you're going to gradually dilute the acid, it will boil that water
*immediately* and you might get splattered with pure acid...

The lead man in the battery shop did all the acid and water mixing...

He had a 500-gallon tank sitting over a huge tiled sink so any spillage
would go directly to the drain...

He put on a rubber apron, rubber gloves, and a face shield, and he very
carefully added the acid to the water...