What all affects battery fluid levels?

[Silverstreak]

I know that over-charging can boil out some fluid. I know that riding in bumpy areas can cause some to come out. Is there anything else (besides never checking the levels)? I had some exposed wires right before the lug on all the #6 cables......would that cause anything related to the fluid levels?
Also.......would a drought with extremely low humidity levels all summer cause any evaporation? Just trying to figure out why my fluid level got low much quicker this summer. I have never seen much overflow onto the tops of the batteries. I charged them every night.
Just curious.

[JohnnieB]

Batteries "boil" during the normal charging process, but it is gassing rather than boiling.

When an electrical current passes through the water in the diluted sulfuric acid electrolyte, electrolysis occurs and the Hydrogen and Oxygen gases the water decomposes to, collect on the plates and form bubbles, which eventually rise to the surface of the liquid. During the later stages of the charge cycle, the electrolysis action increases and a lot of bubbles are rising to the surface, so it resembles boiling water, but the temperature is far below the 212°F boiling point of water.

None of the sulfuric acid is lost in the electrolysis process, so the only thing that needs to be replace is the water, use distilled water only.

Water is also lost to evaporation. So warm and/or dry weather increases water loss.

Wetness or dampness around filler caps usually indicates the cells had been over filled or filled when batteries were less than fully charged.
A little might slosh out on extremely bumpy ground, but I'm pretty sure my batteries can tolerate more bumps without spilling over than my bladder can.

The electrolyte volume increases during charging, so fill fully charged batteries.
If the plates are exposed, add just enough distilled water to cover plates, plus 1/4" and charge. Then fill to proper level after charge is complete.
See attached drawing for proper level.

I use one of these and it saves me a lot of hassle trying to see the fluid level on the rearmost cells.

http://www.amazon.com/Plews-75-030-Capacity-Plastic-Battery/dp/B000RFUF12/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352565116&sr=8-1&keywords=battery+filler+bottle

http://www.amazon.com/Plews-75-030-Capacity-Plastic-Battery/dp/B000RFUF12/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352565116&sr=8-1&keywords=battery+filler+bottle

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If anything, bad cables would reduce gassing and gassing is a good thing.

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Charging every night is a good practice.

I have a DPI 36V charger that switches into a float charge mode after the regular charge completes and it is plugged into my cart whenever I'm not actually driving it.

[simple man]

Originally Posted by Silverstreak

I know that over-charging can boil out some fluid. I know that riding in bumpy areas can cause some to come out. Is there anything else (besides never checking the levels)? I had some exposed wires right before the lug on all the #6 cables......would that cause anything related to the fluid levels?
Also.......would a drought with extremely low humidity levels all summer cause any evaporation? Just trying to figure out why my fluid level got low much quicker this summer. I have never seen much overflow onto the tops of the batteries. I charged them every night.
Just curious.

This will absolutely cause more water use! Just heat alone will cause more evaporation. I'm happy to see you are concerned and take care of your batteries!!!

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

I use one of these and it saves me a lot of hassle trying to see the fluid level on the rearmost cells. http://www.amazon.com/Plews-75-030-C...+filler+bottle

That's what I've been using since the 70's. With very little effort, it make filling batteries idiot-proof.

[Silverstreak]

Thanks everyone.
I'll consider buying one of those fillers. It can be hard to always see the exact level of the liquid.
JohnnieB.......thanks for all that good info. On the diagram it shows a gas vent. Are those visible when filling with water? I've never noticed them.
Thanks again!

[JohnnieB]

The vent is a narrow slit in the wall of the distal end of tube that protrudes into the cell.
Notice that there is an airspace at the top of the cell and the bottom of the tube is below the top of the airspace, so fluid will be forced out while the battery is gassing if the fluid level comes to the bottom of the tube or above.
The slit gives us another 1/4", or so, leeway when we fill the batteries.

The pictures at the bottom of page in this link, shows the gas vents more clearly. They are at about the 2 o'clock position.
http://www.trojanbattery.com/Battery...ngDiagram.aspx
Also, there is a lot of good info in the pages that can be selected from the menu on the lower right.

[scottyb]

Charging at high temperatures increases evaporation. In the summer time charge at night.