In the old days on my
dad's commercial fishing boat we had 8Ds with tar tops. When they went bad
you'd take the battery
up on the pier, take the caps off and let all the hydrogen vent, empty the
battery of electrolyte (stored in a pail), torch the top till it got soft
enough to pull the case away, then take a hose and blast away all the gunk
between the plates. Put it all back together, put the electrolyte back in,
reseal the tar and use it for another couple of years. We were dumb to do
this, but at least we wore goggles and full raingear to protect ourselves. I
swear 8Ds were tougher and heavier back then. It took two strong people to lift
them in the old days and now I can lift an 8D by myself with some effort.

Subject: battery maintenance, old school style
From: (BOEING377)

When they went bad
you'd take the battery
up on the pier, take the caps off and let all the hydrogen vent, empty the
battery of electrolyte (stored in a pail), torch the top till it got soft
enough to pull the case away, then take a hose and blast away all the gunk
between the plates. Put it all back together, put the electrolyte back in,
reseal the tar and use it for another couple of years. We were dumb to do
this, but at least we wore goggles and full raingear to protect ourselves. I

I can see it nowadays, hazmat spill response units, men it gumby suits, spill
booms surrounding the pier, coast guard, epa and local authorities. The
citations would probably weigh what that ol 8D weighed.

Dennis

Umm "Chlorine" gas ?? mebbe you mean Hydrogen ??
In years gone by replacing battery cells was routine at repair shops,
naturally precautions along the lines mentioned were taken. I would feel
that on a pier there would be good ventilation :-)

--
Regards ............... Rheilly Phoull

"David Oswald" wrote in message
...

"Den73740" wrote in message
...
Subject: battery maintenance, old school style
From: (BOEING377)

When they went bad
you'd take the battery
up on the pier, take the caps off and let all the hydrogen vent, empty
the
battery of electrolyte (stored in a pail), torch the top till it got
soft
enough to pull the case away, then take a hose and blast away all the
gunk
between the plates. Put it all back together, put the electrolyte back
in,
reseal the tar and use it for another couple of years. We were dumb to
do
this, but at least we wore goggles and full raingear to protect
ourselves. I

I can see it nowadays, hazmat spill response units, men it gumby suits,
spill
booms surrounding the pier, coast guard, epa and local authorities. The
citations would probably weigh what that ol 8D weighed.

Also sounds like he's lucky he didn't end up on www.darwinawards.com

Lighting fire the incendiary tar on the top of an *explosive* mixture of
chlorene gas? I heard of a guy who found himself wearing a toupee the
rest
of his life after using a candle to illuminate a bubbling cell so that he
could see inside to ascertain how much electrolite had leaked out. *boom*
toupee time. ...I think his eyebrows did eventually grow back. I doubt
he
ever found his dignity again though.

David Oswald wrote:

Also sounds like he's lucky he didn't end up on www.darwinawards.com


Yes indeed! The practice was SOP before the average intellegence level
dropped, but *NOT* using a torch. Hardware stores used to sell dynamite
too, back when common sense was, well, "common" and JC Whitney and
others sold what was essentially a knife-tipped soldering iron for
cutting thru the tar. The gas BTW is Hydrogen - no Chlorine in lead-acid
batteries.

Regards,
Howard

Yes indeed! The practice was SOP before the average intellegence level
dropped, but *NOT* using a torch. Hardware stores used to sell dynamite
too, back when common sense was, well, "common" and JC Whitney and
others sold what was essentially a knife-tipped soldering iron for
cutting thru the tar. The gas BTW is Hydrogen - no Chlorine in lead-acid
batteries.

I am not saying that I am that old, but I remember my dad doing that in back of
the garage
for some of his customers.

Leanne

"Vito" wrote in message
...
.. The gas BTW is Hydrogen - no Chlorine in lead-acid
batteries.

Unless they're drowned in salt water?

--
Jim B, Yacht RAPAZ,
Summers in the Med, winters in UK
jim[dot]baerselman[at]ntlworld[dot]com

(BOEING377) wrote:

I swear 8Ds were tougher and heavier back then.

They were. Modern case materials have dropped the weight; almost all
the weight is the lead plates nowadays.