Battery Question

#1

During Rockingham I noticed that the vent tube on my battery had come loose. Battery water/acid was spilling out of the vent down into the rear quarter panel. I’ve rinsed it all out and reconnected the tube, and will probably put a twist tie on it so it doesn’t come loose again.
But it got me thinking, is there anyone that uses an unventilated battery to eliminate leaks. All that turning and bumps has got to cause alot of water to go out. I would think the only reason for the vent is so the corrosive vapors do not stay in the trunk. My car is pretty well ventilated now so is i even a concern?

John

#2

drumbeater wrote:

[quote]During Rockingham I noticed that the vent tube on my battery had come loose. Battery water/acid was spilling out of the vent down into the rear quarter panel. I’ve rinsed it all out and reconnected the tube, and will probably put a twist tie on it so it doesn’t come loose again.
But it got me thinking, is there anyone that uses an unventilated battery to eliminate leaks. All that turning and bumps has got to cause alot of water to go out. I would think the only reason for the vent is so the corrosive vapors do not stay in the trunk. My car is pretty well ventilated now so is i even a concern?

John[/quote]

A charging battery emits hydrogen gas. As in the Hindenburg. Batteries vary a lot these days. Vented or not, wet, gel and dry. If electolyte is spilling out of your battery, I’d get one that is “sealed”, be it wet, gel or dry, so nothing will spill.

The trunk isn’t the biggest area of spark hazard, but in the unlikely event that it filled with hydrogen gas and ignited, it would be the kind of flash fire that was mostly dangerous to hair and eyebrows.

I think the common SpecE30 battery thought process was something along the lines of “hey Mr. Parts Man, give me some big-ass heavy battery”.

But you never know, so in the event of a crash I’d keep your hair and eyebrows out of the trunk.

#3

Although you’ll have to fab up a mount, an Optima Red Top does the job nicely and there’s no danger of an acid spill or need for venting. The battery design also means that it is unlikely to fail as a result of vibration of shock loading.

#4

Yeah, when I was adding water back to my battery I saw chunks of stuff floating, presumable off the plates. That sealed optima sounds like a good option.

#5

drumbeater wrote:

[quote]Yeah, when I was adding water back to my battery I saw chunks of stuff floating, presumable off the plates. That sealed optima sounds like a good option.[/quote]Optima is a brand name spiral cell AGM battery…

There are similar batteries available for less than you can pay for an optima. Go to the local battery mart or something and tell them you want an AGM batt in Group size 48 or 91 That is the factory size. If you want big and heavy, that is the one…

I remember one of the few places I could get the ‘correct’ battery with the vent was a diehard.

Any 12 v. Auto type batt that will fit will work to start the car and you can save some weight if you need to.