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Battery water, followup summary

To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Battery water, followup summary
From: Barney Gaylord <barneymg@MGAguru.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2003 20:51:11 -0600
At 05:30 PM 2/24/03 -0600, Barney Gaylord wrote:
>....
>So here's the challenge, .... Can anyone come up with documented proof 
>that drinking water might actually harm a car battery, and if so, what 
>exactly would be the mode of failure of the battery as caused by the 
>water? ....

I am surprised (and sort of disappointed) that the responses to this 
challenge died out after just one day with only 7 replies on this list and 
4 more privately.  In summary, the response were:

 >" I wouldn't be surprised if certain particular mineral-and-pH 
combinations turned out to be harmful to car batteries, ...."

 >"I've been using tap water in batteries for 40 years and haven't killed 
one yet."

 >"Technically speaking, "drinking water" will not harm the car battery."

 >"We (my father & I) have used tap water in car batteries for as long as I 
can remember with no apparent ill effect."

 >".... I have not seen any tests done to prove this out but this is why 
distilled water is being recommended."

 >"I'd imagine that the minerals in the tap water may have some detrimental 
effect on the chemistry. On the other hand, I've used tap water for many, 
many years in cars and the batteries have almost always lasted past 5 years."

 >"Jim Albeck of Agoura Hills, Ca. .... has a neat item that has saved many 
a battery and more important, a whole lot of money"

 >"Drinking water' in the UK at least, can legally contain a whole range of 
other compounds .... and pure spring water has been known to fail 
drinking-water purity tests because it did NOT contain things like 
aluminium sulphate and chlorine added by state-run water purification plants."

 >"If .... water from the tap or typical mineral water as the commonly used 
drinking bottles contain ...., the liquid mixture between the sandwiched 
plates get contaminated with wrong materials."

 >".... The water is evaporating, but the mineral content it carried is 
left behind.  Over time, the concentration of minerals will build up to a 
much higher level than that of the water you're using."

Credit to Craig White for the most effort at finding some research reports 
on the web.  Once you weed out the problems specific to deep cycle 
batteries, the many remaining seem to hint or imply and even state openly 
the one should not use tap water in a car battery.  But none of them ever 
actually commit to a proof that the stuff will harm a battery, or place any 
quantitative values on how much harm it might cause.  One of the most 
comprehensive reports on an attempt at accellerated life testing states 
outright that it is inconclusive and the test does not accurately reflect 
real world usage.  Bummer.

So I'm still searching for a conclusive answer, as so far there seems to be 
no absolute proof that drinking quality water will actually harm a car 
battery, at least in any significant form.  For a little longer essay on 
the matter and a bunch of web links to pertinent and related information, I 
have posted the current results and the continuing challenge on my web site 
here: http://MGAguru.com/mgtech/electric/ba_102.htm

For those of you with more time to waste, or an overwhelming curiosity, or 
a yen to back up a particular point of view with some real world facts, 
happy browsing and feel free to thrash the subject some more at any 
time.  I love playing devil's advocate, shining a light on the truth, and 
logically poking holes in theories.  Show me the proof.

>Barney Gaylord
>1958 MGA with an attitude
>http://MGAguru.com

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