I guess you have to live in the Caribbean... you can get distilled water
on every island!!!

But in the USA one can't fid it....

hummm...


Joe Wood wrote:
Well, you know, I tried that. Went around to NTB (a large tire and
battery warehouse around here). They sell and service nothing but no-
maintenance batteries. No distilled water around.

Joe Wood

Meindert Sprang wrote:

And nobody has come up with the obvious source of distilled water:
where do
you go when your car battery needs a water refill........right!

Meindert

It is at Kroger, Safeway and Publix around here. On the bottom shelf on
the water Aisle. Just look for it. It is cheaper than "spring" water
so it gets stuck in a bottom corner somewhere.

hanz wrote:
I guess you have to live in the Caribbean... you can get distilled water
on every island!!!

But in the USA one can't fid it....

hummm...


Joe Wood wrote:

Well, you know, I tried that. Went around to NTB (a large tire and
battery warehouse around here). They sell and service nothing but no-
maintenance batteries. No distilled water around.

Joe Wood

Meindert Sprang wrote:

And nobody has come up with the obvious source of distilled water:
where do
you go when your car battery needs a water refill........right!

Meindert






--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.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.

"Mark" wrote in message
om...
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

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?

On 17 Sep 2003 14:47:48 -0700, (Jim Woodward)
wrote:


Do you have a reference for an RO membrane taking out viruses? About
half of the people I have talked to believe that the membrane will
take out viruses, the rest want a UV sterilizer in the system to kill
them. Everyone seems to agree that bacteria are stopped by the
membrane.

There are articles available on the net that WEREN'T produced by
distiller manufacturers warning of toxics coming through the membranes
from bacteria. The articles I read, and I'm sorry I didn't save the
URLs because I have a distiller at home, said the bacteria were
blocked by the membrane, BUT, the bacteria caught in the pressure side
of the membrane were BREAKING OPEN and spewing toxics into the
pressure side that WOULD flow through the membrane under pressure into
the drinking water supply.....

One wonders if this has something to do with the massive sicknesses on
some cruise ships......??



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?

In article ,
(Jim Woodward) wrote:

Hello again, Bruce:

Three things:

Seawater RO makers typically specify output as around 150ppm total
dissolved solids -- a far cry from distilled, but it tastes good. You
can get more or less distilled water (less than 0.1ppm TDS) from an RO
system, but it takes much more than a standard single stage drinking
water system.

Do you have a reference for an RO membrane taking out viruses? About
half of the people I have talked to believe that the membrane will
take out viruses, the rest want a UV sterilizer in the system to kill
them. Everyone seems to agree that bacteria are stopped by the
membrane.

Batteries:
Let me call your attention to a thread started by Glenn Ashmore in
rec.boats.building -- "A really big battery bank deal." $300 each for
new 1400AH 6V UPS sets by East Penn.

I'm looking at those, but would also be interested in tapping your
"Been doing this for 30 years now, and have some experience in the
field." What would you buy for Fintry's house battery set -- we need
1500-2000AH (nominal capacity) at 24VDC? The plan is to discharge
them around around 50% on a daily basis for house loads when we're at
anchor. My knee jerk reaction is flooded Rolls/Surrette units as they
are local (Boston area) and have a good rep, but I'm not wedded to
them. I'm looking for best overall cost-effectiveness. Weight is not
an issue.



Jim Woodward
www.mvFintry.com

Hello Jim,
The Rolls/Surrette Batteries are "Top of the Line" Batteries and would
certainly do the job, but at an elevated price, over what a standard
Deep Cycle system would cost. A lot of the High Seas and Coastal
Freighter Fleet use them in their SOLAS Required Emergency Power Systems.
When I was a Fed, I liked to see them installed, as it showed that the
Owners were at least congnisant of Safety. 2000amp/hrs is a very large
bank, and I don't have a lot of experience in that size. Most of my
experience is under 1000Amp/hrs, but in principal they are the similar.
I am partial to L16's, and Exide Flooded Single Cell Forklift Banks. I
have seen a few of the later that range up into the 2000Amp/hr range at
36Vdc and 48Vdc. They have great longevity, but the initial costs are
rather steep compared to the L16 and the consumer type batteries.

It really is a matter of what one can afford and what will the final
application and loading will be. I really like my AbsolyteII AGM Bank,
but my Alscom buddies seem to think that they don't standup in the long
term when compared to Standard Flooded Telco Cells. I've only had this
AGM Bank for three years, so the jury is still out on this system, as
far as I am concerned.

Bruce in alaska