Hole in battery

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Willowflowage

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 22, 2018
Posts
79
Location
Ladysmith Wis
While drilling my last vent hole in my new battery box I got into the middle cell of one of two of my 6v golf cart batteries. (Idiot)
  It lost most of the liquid. After a quick repair with some epoxy I pulled about a quarter of fluid from the other two cells and topped all three off with distilled water and put both on my battery tender/charger in series.
    Will I need battery acid tomorrow? Not sure if I did  stuff right but didn't want cell exposed long. The batteries are three years old and lithium would be my choice when they were depleted but not ready for that yet. I read to have two matched 6v. Is this going to screw me up? If I bought a new one to replace should I be buying two new then?
 
Sounds like you did what you could to salvage a bad day...

I would check voltage and see if it's taking a charge and holding it.

 
Willowflowage said:
And the epoxy leaks. What good is one golf cart battery?

Well that Bites....SO much for saving the day.

Unless you happen to have a place nearby that might have used 6 volt batteries your going to have to spring for another new battery. It would be better to have matching aged batteries but if your considering lithium down the road I would just grab another 6 volt and keep going.

 
Arch Hoagland said:
OP said: " The batteries are three years old and lithium."

He said the batteries are 3 years old....And he wants to replace them with Lithium at a later date.

At least that's how I read it..
 
I think maybe just one new. Amazon has some 100 amp lithium for under 600 but that's half of others.
But I know little on these and may be ok with two different aged 6v's for a couple more years.
 
If there's a battery distributor nearby, I'd take the battery there and see if they can revive it by patching the case properly and re-establishing the proper electrolyte mix.  Also take the other good battery so they have a state of charge reference.

Otherwise a single new 6 volt battery would be your best bet until you can afford the new Lithiums.  I'd get the cheapest 6 volt I could find, on the basis the remaining battery has diminished in capacity over the past 3 years.
 
It lost most of the liquid. After a quick repair with some epoxy I pulled about a quarter of fluid from the other two cells and topped all three off with distilled water and put both on my battery tender/charger in series.
    Will I need battery acid tomorrow? Not sure if I did  stuff right but didn't want cell exposed long.
The loss of acid and subsequent dilution of all three cells will alter the chemistry of the battery.  It needs more acid, but you can't just pour in a few ounces of sulfuric acid and be ok.  It's not an easy DIY tune-up; the proportions need to be correct.  Bite the bullet and get a new battery. Better yet, two new batteries if the budget can take it.
 
FLA battery cases are usually polypropylene which can be hot air welded.  A small hole like that is an easy fix (compared to say a big crack).  You'd dump out the electrolyte, fix the case and then return the electrolyte to the cells.  Good as new.  I recall Harbor Freight sold an inexpensive plastic weld kit but they're not hard to find.

By adding water you've disrupted the proper concentration of electrolyte.  If the battery was fully charged when this happened you could simply start over with 100% charge concentration and you should be fine.  If the battery wasn't fully charged then you need to bring the concentration up slowly over a number of charge/discharge cycles until it's correct.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Willowflowage said:
Going to get new same battery to hopefully get me by for a couple of summers.
Thanks everyone!
$125

When $125 is a problem, maybe this RVing stuff is not for you yet.

My goodness, everyday can be a bill of $125 or more if you have bad luck.  I figure you were Doing It Yourself for that project. 

It can get spooky!  Work hard and save money for a nest egg.  You will need it to camp!

Heck a blown tire  will cost $125.  Might not want to just PATCH it to save a buck.

This lifestyle cost MONEY!

Are we having FUN yet? ;D
 
When $125 is a problem, maybe this RVing stuff is not for you yet.

My goodness, everyday can be a bill of $125 or more if you have bad luck. I figure you were Doing It Yourself for that project.

It can get spooky! Work hard and save money for a nest egg. You will need it to camp!

Heck a blown tire will cost $125. Might not want to just PATCH it to save a buck.

This lifestyle cost MONEY!

Are we having FUN yet? ;D
Not really my point. Looking for friendly advice on a forum.
 
Willow,
I have a possibly less expensive idea.....
Call the local golf courses or cart rental and ask if they might have a used but decent GC2 available. You could score a couple season old for a lot less than new. I suspect the that cart shops are not real busy this time of year, but they are working on getting ready for the next season.
Matt
 
Sounded troublesome to me. Or they would have just upgraded to what they wanted.

Lordy,
 
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