Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | It's likely toast! When the plates of a lead acid battery are exposed to oxygen they start to corrode via oxidation. If it was tipped over for any significant amount of time, I seriously doubt if it can be recovered. Also it is dangerous to add pure sulfuric acid to a dilution of water and sulfuric acid (battery electrolyte). Simply adding distilled water to replace the lost electrolyte, will also dilute the electrolyte that remains and significantly reduce the power capacity.
Take it to a reputable battery shop and ask them to check it out. If it can be recovered, they can add electrolyte with the right specific gravity (SG) for that particular battery. Battery electrolyte SG's can and often do vary.
Your biggest problem is the lost electrolyte - it needs to be neutralized. Simply rinsing down the area with a water hose will not neutralize the acid, it just dilutes it and redistribute's the acid to new locations or much bigger area......
You can neutralize the acid by using a mixture of baking soda and water (2lb box baking soda dissolved in ~2 gallons of water). Keep applying the mixture to the area until it completely stops foaming - at that stage the sulfuric acid is neutralized. Rinse the area well with running water or wash down to remove the baking soda solution.
You can also sprinkle the dry baking soda on the area, but if the electrolyte has evaporated there will be a coating of sulfuric acid powder left behind, so you will need to wet the area so the baking powder can do its job. I prefer the baking soda solution method versus using the dry baking soda and wetting it.
Good luck!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 3/26/2012 1:16 PM
|
