Calcium + Sulfuric Acid = Calcium Sulfate eating the acid that makes
the battery go. Once the Calcium Sulfate is laying in the bottom,
this acid is not recoverable. It still starts the boat, but, quietly
and with little fanfare, the AH capacity of the battery just dropped.
If you do it enough, so much acid is consumed what is left runs out
very fast and capacity really suffers.

I'm amazed at the few people who know it's the ACID content that
determines when a battery has "run down". The acid is used up, FIRST.
Too much acid and the plates get holes eaten in them that cannot be
recovered (You know, that idiot that pours acid into his battery to
"replenish" it.). Using up the acid protects the plates to prevent
holes. So, the acid content is very critical in achieving AH
capacity.

Moral - If you use any water but distilled, you drop the AH capacity
of the battery every time you use it.

Use DISTILLED WATER ONLY. RO water STILL contains DISSOLVED metals,
like calcium. Don't think so? Fill a perfectly clean Teflon-lined
pot with RO water. Boil it all away and look at the inside of the
pot. Distilled water will leave NO residue. Still sceptical? Clean
off the Teflon and just leave the RO water to evaporate from the pot
over a few weeks. Same results. RO water STILL contains dissolved
solids....that eats battery acid every time you use it.



On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 01:00:03 -0700, "Ed Price"
wrote:


"Mark" wrote in message
. com...
Bruce in Alaska wrote:
It really depends on the amount of dissolved minerals in your tap water.


There's a fair amount in the municipal water here (showerheads clog
with time) and I screwed up and ruined the batteries, they only lasted
nine years.

Using distilled water is a wise idea, though; 'specially in third
world countries. And it doesn't have to be steam distilled, an RO
system produces distilled water too.


No, an RO system does NOT produce distilled water. Very pure, yes. But
distilled, no.

Distillation is the condensed vapor resulting from the evaporation of water.
Heating the water (boiling) speeds the process.

Sloppy distillation of very impure water can produce polluted distilled
water, but, assuming the process is righteous, distillation yields the
highest purity commercial water available.

I might use RO water for a battery if I didn't have distilled available, but
I'd rather use distilled water. Besides, commercial distilled water is
pretty cheap.


Ed



Larry W4CSC

3600 planes with transponders are burning 8-10 million
gallons of kerosene per hour over the USA. R-12 car air
conditioners are responsible for the ozone hole, right?