are all battery acids the same?

5:12

5:12

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for example, you buy one from walmart, one from canadian tire and one from your favourite bike shop. the acid that they use to fill up the new battery, do they differ in any way? or is there a standard battery acid which specifies the 'acid contents or level'?

i saw one from walmart which comes with the acid in the box. from an online store, if i read and remember it correctly, the battery will be shipped dry with the acid pack/powder (?) for safety and u mix it with distilled water accdng to instructions. then the bike shop fills the battery up from a big container of battery acid.

thanks peeps.
 
Usually all sulphuric acid as that's how a lead acid cell works. Lead sulfate formation/depletion is necessary for the battery to work in the forward direction (gives power) and in the reverse direction (recharging). These batteries need an occasional top up as the sulphate gets taken out the equation as time goes on (it acts as an electrolyte and is a part of the electrochemical reaction), hence the need for more sulphuric acid. How the sulphuric acid is packaged depends on where you get it from.

You might want to look at newer sealed batteries though to avoid the headache of tampering with the stuff. Sulphuric acid isn't exactly very nice to deal with hence why mobsters over the years have used it to dissolve bodies. Absolutely do not get it in your eyes or on your skin and definitely wear safety glasses.
 
JC, it's not that bad; I only ruined one new shirt and a pair of jeans with it in the lab this year. ;{)
 
so i guess there isn't any specific acidity level (or whatever it's called) per battery then? ie: walmart battery acid is ok to use with yuasa battery or mix the acid no?
 
There is a specific gravity that you need. It is detemined when the battery is fully charged. Walmart Acid (probably called Muriatic acid) may not be the correct concentration if you buy it off the shelf. If the acid comes with the battery, it should be correct. Normally you would only re-fill a battery with distilled water after the initial filling with acid as only the water evaporates and leaves the electrolyte behind, in a more concentrated form. Addig distilled water restores the correct concentration. On some occasions I have drained batteries after they got messed up (my nephew tipped the boat over and the battery for the trolling motor ended up onthe bottom of the lake for a couple of weeks until we dove down and found it). Then you need to refill it with good strong acid of the correct specific gravity.
 
^^ This is why you need to use the hygrometer to check the specific gravity of the acid. Make more "dense" add more acid, make less "dense" add more water until the acid solution is in the right range.
 
i c. thanks for the replies.

i was just going to ask, if u fill up a cell with the acid the battery came with but only fill it up halfway then fill the rest with distilled water, would this be ok? but i think this was kinda answered already.

hygrometer would give the specifics then. now, is the gravity of the acid different per battery?! like battery 'a' requires a higher gravity than 'b' for example.
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