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Larry Larry is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 5,275
Default Battery watering I found...

"Roger Long" wrote in news:7jssg.19899$O35.637
@twister.nyroc.rr.com:

Does this have a small float switch for each cell or does it depend on
water seeking its own level?

In the latter case, how does it work on a heeled sailboat?



You only fill it with a squeeze bulb once in a while, not continuously.
There's a float valve in each plug that shuts off the water when the level
gets below the filler. The rest of the time it's a safety vent.

The level in a heeled sailboat is the same as it is, now. The plates on
the high side are exposed to the air as the electrolyte levels with
gravity. The vents in the middle of the cell don't get messy until you
broach or pitchpole the boat upside down. A sailboat battery is always the
wrong way....a topic we haven't explored much worrying over why $800
batteries are better than $65 batteries. I suppose AGM or Gelcell
batteries are better than wetcells in a heeled over sailboat, but it never
seems to make a difference that I can tell, because there's always lots
more lead in the plates than there is electrolyte to eat them.