Battery water?

[6U684]

I ran out of distilled water today and used reverse osmosis filtered drinking water instead. That a battery killer? Leonard

 

[Allan in NE]

I've used plain old tap water since I was a pup. No adverse effects yet. :>)

Allan

 

[LenND]

Years ago (like40 some) the service stations used to keep their battery water in a rubber pouring cantainer. BUT it was filled out of the city tap. Out of sight-out of mind ---maybe. I have never used anything but tap water in mine unless I happen to have some clean rain water handy.

 

[msb]

Its close enough to be called pure.

 

[ScottyHOMeY]

Unless you have some wicked hard tap water, you should be alright for topping off a battery, and the stuff you used is probably better than hard water.

If you have to add enough over time that the mineral content hurts your battery, you have problems other than the battery.

 

[rustyfarmall]

Same here. Never had a battery fail until after the warranty is up. Just like the manufacturer intended.

 

[MarkB_MI]

By the time water gets through your RO filter, it is nearly as pure as steam-distilled water.

 

[2t2@IA]

The RO treated water should be fine regardless of the quality before it was treated. So far as using untreated tap water--it depends on what the quality of the water is. Our tap water on the farm was 113 grains hard and had a high iron content. Would not have wanted to have used it in a battery!

 

[RAB]

'Distilled' water is probably not, these days. Intensive energy requirements for that. Most will have been de-ionised by passing the raw water feed through an ion exchange column to remove inorganic salts and maybe a carbon filter if water has too much organics (not likely as they would use drinking quality water as feed!).
Deionised is probably superior to distilled on a purity basis.

As posted earlier, excess water top-up requirement for a battery indicates something more sinister. OK, battery might be in the wrong place - too hot - but more likely one cell is going bad (one cell water-need different to the rest?) or the whole battery is 'tired' (near worn out) or you have an over-charge situation for one reason or another.
Regards, RAB

 

[NEsota]

As a battery manufacturer employee in the early 70s, my information was that the manufacturers did not use distilled water. They used tap water. Knowing that some tap water is pretty nasty there may be some that should not be used but unless you detect something bad in it when you drink it, I would go ahead and use it in batteries.

 

[6U684]

I hadn't looked at the batteries in my old 212 lawn tractor or the battery on the Swisher pull behind mower for far too long. Both have been put to the test mowing deep grass for hours in 90 degree weather here in NE Iowa (historical rain records for Aug). The tow behind battery did not take a charge after filling so it will have to be replaced. The 212 battery seems to be working ok so far. Thanks for the comments. Leonard

 

[Walt Davies]

When I went though school for service station they said to save a little money keep an old distilled water bottle with a little in it in the back of the garage but just use the tap water to fill the batteries it won't make enough difference to worry about. I guess they never saw my well water. I wouldn't put that stuff in a good battery. I don't see anything wrong with your RO water its pretty darn clean.
Walt

 

[Anonymous-0]

I suspect in some situations, using non-distilled water does shorten battery life. Screws up steam-irons too (if anyone uses them anymore). When it comes to batteries in cars and tractors though, I doubt it matters much. Their use, and charge-rate does not cause much water use. In other uses though, batteries can normally use a lot of water when all is right. A solar-electric system, for example. Mine has a battery bank with a price tag of over $3000. They are all true deep-cycle, 6 volt batteries of conventional flooded/liquid acid design (Rolls/Surette). Come with a 10 year warranty but usually last 15 years if mineral-free water is used. Keep in mind, that large battery banks with high price-tags usually have a high-tech charger with an "equalization" charge-function that is supposed to be used every few months to make the batteries last longer by overvolting. This process churns up the electrolyte and boils off water. If they were constantly refilled with a water loaded with the wrong minerals - it would shorten the life of the batteries.
In regard to reverse osmosis - it does not remove as much as a true distillation process - but not all RO setups are the same. I use RO on making maple sugar and it uses drinking-water membranes. I've had the water analyzed after RO and many minerals are still present. There are many databases on the Net showning lab tests of various brands and types of water - some sold as spring water, some as RO, and some as distilled.
I contacted "Poland Spring" water company, owned by Nestle to find out about the distilled water they sell in my local store for $1.79 per gallon. They claim it is indeed, distilled by the conventional heat and condensation process as well as being carbon filtered.
I suspect some people have well or spring water that has low mineral content. But, not here in NY where I live. We've got some areas here that have won contests for the best tasting water in the country - and I suppose that taste is caused by the resident minerals.