[Shop-talk] add water to "maintenance-free" battery?

[Bob Spidell]

How old is the battery?  If you got more than 5 years out of it you got 
your money's worth (I've noticed battery quality has largely gone down 
since most are now Hecho En Mexico, even 'name' brands; Deka, for one, 
is still made in the 'States and is excellent quality).

The unloaded voltage doesn't mean much; an almost dead battery can still 
measure > 12V.    You need a load tester to tell for sure if the battery 
is still good; HF has a cheap one, but only pulls 100amps so is probably 
a waste of money, I have one similar to this (but the cables get very 
hot very quickly):

*https://tinyurl.com/y3l68nfd*

There are (much) more expensive ones available for 'professional' use 
that have fans for cooling and are probably best.  Maybe you can rent 
one or get AutoZone or some other parts house to test for you?

AFAIK there is no way to add water to sealed 'maintenance-free' 
batteries (and if you did, it likely wouldn't remain 'sealed' any longer).

Bob


On 7/21/2019 3:18 PM, Lee Daniels via Shop-talk wrote:
> I suspect this has come up before, but my quick archive search didn't turn up
> anything.
>
> The DieHard in my TR6 is several years old, but it sits on a Battery MINDer
> most of the time. Lately when I start the car, I first get one short "Rrr"
> like a dead battery. But keep trying and it turns over *very* reluctantly for
> a few revs, then (so far) builds speed, and eventually starts. After a drive,
> it starts normally.
>
> It's now sat for a day, so I figured I'd check the water level - but, uh-oh,
> can't figure out a way to get the cover off without tearing up the battery.
> See attached photo. I can pry on the two ends and get them to barely move, but
> the edges of the cover don't budge with gentle prying.
>
> Out of the car, I measure >12.8V, and it's never had any corrosion etc. Is
> there anything I can do with this thing?
>
> Thanks
>   Lee
>
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