YACT: POLL: do you check your battery's water/fluid?

[OrganizedChaos]

i do, but it seems most people don't. i've noticed its usually the same people that they need a new one every 3 years.

 

[nsafreak]

Nope its a maintenance free battery anyways.

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: nsafreak
Nope its a maintenance free battery anyways.

Same here.

That needs to be added to the poll.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: nsafreak
Nope its a maintenance free battery anyways.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I thought all modern automotive batteries were sealed... or are you talking about looking at the green dot??

 

[PAB]

Originally posted by: Rumpltzer
I thought all modern automotive batteries were sealed... or are you talking about looking at the green dot??

I've bought many batteries in the past 5 years, all of them still need water.

 

[Theguynextdoor]

dry cell here.

 

[George P Burdell]

Originally posted by: nsafreak
Nope its a maintenance free battery anyways.

Agreed.

The last car I used with a battery needing distilled water, was four years ago in a third world country.

 

[imported_Truenofan]

the vehicles i use, require checking the batteries for fluid levels, so you could say yeah, i do.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Gell Cell FTW!

 

[Rastus]

Even the maintenance free batteries run out of electrolyte. When the battery starts getting low, I take a screwdriver and pry the top off and fill it up. Can usually get another year out of it that way.

 

[j00fek]

i just bring it back every two years and get a new one

 

[Demon-Xanth]

If it weren't sealed I would. But no caps=no way to check nor add.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Sealed battery, nothing to check on my cars. You'd have to be seriously cheaping out an buying no-name batteries to get an automotive battery that needed maintenance today.

ZV

 

[Linflas]

Not since they made them maintenance free and removed the 6 little screw caps.

 

[Marinski]

i add a little water every now and then. Never had to replace a battery yet.

 

[Heisenberg]

I didn't even think you could still find batteries that aren't sealed...

 

[Staples]

I bought a maintenance free battery.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Sealed battery, nothing to check on my cars. You'd have to be seriously cheaping out an buying no-name batteries to get an automotive battery that needed maintenance today.

ZV

QFT

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
I didn't even think you could still find batteries that aren't sealed...

Same here.
But I did check and add water on my first car, ten years ago.

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Sealed battery, nothing to check on my cars. You'd have to be seriously cheaping out an buying no-name batteries to get an automotive battery that needed maintenance today.

ZV

nope

directly from sears


"Our best selling DieHard.

3 year full replacement limited warranty*, 100 month limited warranty*
Extra power for today's complex vehicles
Our best-selling DieHard
Designed for your climate
Maintenance free
See store for complete warranty details"

now look at the pic


and here is Exides latest Extreme batt...its sealed also

those things in the middle are for adding more. My battery lasted 9yrs by checking and adding more water to it depending on what it needed. Gel or "spiral cell" batts are guarentied not to have a cap.


spose your going to tell me the diehard gold is a crap battery?

 

[AMCRambler]

Optima yellow tops have gel in them. Not fluid. And they're sealed. So no, I don't do anything to my battery.

 

[Umberger]

sealed batteries FTW.

this poll FTL.

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: AMCRambler
Optima yellow tops have gel in them. Not fluid. .

thats funny.....They are filled with acid, then the lead plates are wound and surrounded with fiberglass type material . They are totally sealed. NO GEL in optima red/yellow/blue.

and directly from optima
"Nonspillable
Because of its completely sealed case, Optima Battery Yellow Top are extremely safe and corrosion resistant. Acid can't leak or spill, making them clean, user-friendly and environmentally sound."

BTW optima went straight down teh drain since they were bought out.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: mooseracing

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Sealed battery, nothing to check on my cars. You'd have to be seriously cheaping out an buying no-name batteries to get an automotive battery that needed maintenance today.

ZV

nope

directly from sears

"Our best selling DieHard.

3 year full replacement limited warranty*, 100 month limited warranty*
Extra power for today's complex vehicles
Our best-selling DieHard
Designed for your climate
Maintenance free
See store for complete warranty details"

now look at the pic

and here is Exides latest Extreme batt...its sealed also

those things in the middle are for adding more. My battery lasted 9yrs by checking and adding more water to it depending on what it needed. Gel or "spiral cell" batts are guarentied not to have a cap.

spose your going to tell me the diehard gold is a crap battery?

No, I'm going to tell you that those "things in the middle" are not supposed to be removed. Note that both cases you show are black and opaque. Batteries that are supposed to have the user add water are always translucent with fill level markings on the sides (a "min" and a "max" line). Batteries that are designed to have the user add electrolyte also have screw-caps, not sealed caps that you have to break off. The last battery I had lasted 9 years too, in fact, it was still working fine, I simply replaced it out of paranoia (was an OEM Motorcraft battery in a '95 Lincoln Mark VIII). I never added a thing to it.

Do you also punch holes in old AA batteries so you can refill those too?

Short response: Sure you can add electrolyte by breaking your battery, that doesn't mean it's designed for that.

ZV