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no battery acid in battery

i guess this is electrical...

it's not on a ford either, but i guess it could apply.

anyway, we've got a polaris 6x6 (basically a 4 wheeler) and the battery wouldn't hold a charge. we bought a new battery and everything works fine. turns out...there's no acid/water left in it at all. i assume that's our issue

if it is, do we just add distilled water, or do we add acid too?
 

john112deere

caffeine junkie
Staff member
10,807
405
central Vermont
I've always added just distilled water, but that was to top up, not completely fill.

I'm kind of thinking there's an underlying issue here, though- kind of sounds like the battery was overcharged (either by the 6x6 or when you were trying to charge it) and boiled all the fluid off.
 

6L PWR

Kansas Chapter member
Acid doesn't boil out though, just distilled water is all that EVER should be added.
 

bowtiehatr

Certified Ford Tech
you can buy battery acid at a parts house dirt cheap. i recycled a battery for one of my trucks for 11 bucks and it is still holding up.
 

d-kuzmen

Master Ford Tech
2,109
79
Connecticut
crossed my mind - i'll keep an eye on the new battery and see if it happens to that one too.

everyone agree that i should just add water and try it out?

I would think if it's empty that just adding water is not the answer, i'd get some acid and fill it. Then try.
 

6L PWR

Kansas Chapter member
I would think if it's empty that just adding water is not the answer, i'd get some acid and fill it. Then try.
I don't know if small batteries are the same as larger ones or not and I know you're a tech, but I've rented PWC's, with small batteries similar to his, for the past 20 years. I had one go bone dry, I filled it with acid and it (according to the manufacturer) boiled over inside the hull and blew apart causing some serious damage to the inside of the waverunner. It actually seperated the top and bottom hull. I was told by Yamaha to NEVER put acid into a battery that had already been filled as the acid does NOT boil out, only the water does. Therefore, the solution wouuld have a double strength acid if you added more, like I had done, and cause a dangerous situation.

Please note again, I'm no tech, just going by experience here.
 

Bob Ayers

North Carolina Chapter member
1,474
111
Durham, NC
crossed my mind - i'll keep an eye on the new battery and see if it happens to that one too.

everyone agree that i should just add water and try it out?

Instead of waiting to see if the new one goes dry, measure the voltage across the battery when it's running. It shouldn't be any more than about 14.2V-14.4V.

And, only add distilled water to your old battery........
 

d-kuzmen

Master Ford Tech
2,109
79
Connecticut
I don't know if small batteries are the same as larger ones or not and I know you're a tech, but I've rented PWC's, with small batteries similar to his, for the past 20 years. I had one go bone dry, I filled it with acid and it (according to the manufacturer) boiled over inside the hull and blew apart causing some serious damage to the inside of the waverunner. It actually seperated the top and bottom hull. I was told by Yamaha to NEVER put acid into a battery that had already been filled as the acid does NOT boil out, only the water does. Therefore, the solution wouuld have a double strength acid if you added more, like I had done, and cause a dangerous situation.

Please note again, I'm no tech, just going by experience here.

See im always thinking auto battery's. I'd liked to have seen that when it blew apart.
 

msb71

Virginia Chapter Leader
1,624
28
Hampton,VA
Man Todd I hate to joke ya about the waverunner separating but jeez you make it to easy,,,lol
 

6L PWR

Kansas Chapter member
I'd liked to have seen that when it blew apart.
It blew the seat about 50 feet. It wasn't actually me trying to start it, luckily, but it singed the hair off my employees legs. It was pretty scary when it happened. Sadly, the fire extinguisher didn't work either. Does everyone know that when you're going to use a dry chemical fire extinguisher, that you should hit it on the ground several times and shake it up prior to pulling the pin and using it? Yeah, we didn't know that. We pulled the pin, hit the trigger and listened to it hiss. Then we threw it down and shoved the waverunner off the dock!!
 

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