PROTECTING BATTERIES
Most motorists are familiar With the advice of car manufacturers -to-’: use only distilled water for topping up the cells of car batteries, but few know, why this water is necessary, and why it is not possible to use ordinary rain water.
The reason is that most tap water contains chlorine and iron, which; under certain conditions, cause the formation of growths between the plates of die battery. If these growths develop sufficiently, the • battery plates will buckle, will make contact one with the other, and allow current to leak. It then becomes impossible to keep the battery in a fully charged condition.
There are, of course, certain water softeners available .and many car owners believe that they enable tap water to be used. However, while these softeners do materially improve the water, they do not remove sufficient of the impurities to make the water suitable for use in storage batteries, and it is not wise to employ them. Only distilled water, or rain water which has not come into contact with any metal ireceptacle, should be used.
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Bibliographic details
Southland Times, Issue 23793, 15 April 1939, Page 4
Word Count
180PROTECTING BATTERIES Southland Times, Issue 23793, 15 April 1939, Page 4
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