Recycled Yellow Snow

[la7qz]

Hi

I just bought some battery water to top up my four T105 6V batteries that were looking a bit thirsty. The product I bought is called "Grand Prix Battery Water" and is manufactured by "Universal Chemical Corp.". I don't know whether this is a local company here in St Maarten, as there is not contact information on the label on the bottle.

Now, you would think that battery water is battery water, but this battery water is yellow!??? It sort of looks like recycled yellow snow. The blurb on the bottle says: "Use Grand Prix battery water instead of fresh or distilled water. Grand Prix battery water is filtered for purity using state of the art treatment." It also says "CAUTION: Keep out of reach of children" and again in Spanish: "ADVERTENCIA: Mantener fuera del alcance de los ninos".

In other words, what I have here is a bottle of yellow water that is dangerous to children. Makes you wonder, doesn't it...

Owen

[kurt]

never heard of "battery water" always used distilled from the grocery store.....

[MattM]

Ironic they claim its filtered whereas distilled is about as clean as you are going to get over the counter.  And then to claim its toxic.  Something just isn't correct in their label.  It is either pure or it is not.

[DanG]

I was a big believer in Wallermart distilled at .68¢ a gallon until I noticed the majority of times there is a strong twang of Castor Bean oil infused into it from their production line lubrication scheme. Having ~extremely~ slight oiling over a period of years probably will not hurt FLA batteries but if you use the water for anything else...

I hate to say it but you get what you pay for - their brand distilled may be the first runs through systems producing other brand lines or lacking some final filtration. If it is purity you want pay the going rate for bottled water from the local drug store, etc.

I have another question - What about Ozone? Many bottled water products are finished with ozonation as final insurance keeping the product sterile until it is opened. I believe the bubbles seen clinging to the insides of a fresh gallon jug consist mostly of ozone. Is it harmless over long periods on lead plates of flooded batteries?

[electrak]

Maybe it's DiHydrogen monoxide or Hydrogen Hydroxide, those could be dangerous in large amounts

[Capt Slog]

I can't see the ozone staying in there long enough to cause a problem.  I doubt whether it will affect the inside of a battery very much anyway.  It is capable of attacking rubber and maybe some plastics (certainly as a gas) but again, I doubt you will have a lot of trouble if the concentration is low enough that it is able to be sold in a plastic bottle without any problems.

[fungus]

"

Maybe it's DiHydrogen monoxide or Hydrogen Hydroxide, those could be dangerous in large amounts"

Hmm .. maybe I should check for them ... LOL

[ghurd]

Crap.  My batteries have a lot of it in them.

The worst thing about that? I put it in there myself.

G-

[TheCasualTraveler]

     I had my wife, the health food queen, pretty worried about the DiHydrogen Monoxide in our food. I said don't worry honey, it needs to be a teaspoon or more to be dangerous.

[Flux]

I don't like the sound of that yellow stuff, what kills kids may not kill batteries but it isn't very inspiring.

Distilled, de mineralised or de ionised water is the normal choice. I don't think any form of filtering other than reverse osmosis will do any good.

In many areas spring water is fine but I wouldn't necessarily assume that bottled water is ok. Unless you have had previous experience or can get it analysed it may be risky.

In real life, batteries are not as fussy as some think, but certain minerals are definitely bad. Water from de frosting fridges and even rain water collected in plastic bowls is often ok, but rain water in polluted atmospheres or marine areas may not be so good.

Awkward in remote places, but most places have battery suppliers or maintenance people that normally keep something suitable in bulk.

At one time that battery manufacturers would analyse your local water to see if it was safe to use but that sort of service probably vanished long ago.

Flux

[asheets]

http://www.dhmo.org/

I'm particularly concerned by reading the Material Saftey Data Sheet for the stuff...

http://www.dhmo.org/msdsdhmo.html

[ghurd]

I recall some famous artist that died from inhaling only a tablespoon of the stuff.

He must not have heard about the dangers associated with it.

G-

[coldspot]

Battery water-

 Well, I've been using store bought distilled,

less than a $1.00 USD.

 But have started collecting dehumidified water

when playing with my dehumidifier I'd like to use as a summer-time dump load,,.. ?

 RO water I also have and will use for the next topping off of the cells.

 "Yellow Snow"

 Recycled or not, I'd walk around it, I don't want the girlfriends pets to have any issues with my boots!  LOL    

$0.02

PS: Yellow, Glow under UV lights water, for my liquid cooled PC, (evil grin), That I call

"Lost River Water", (two rivers drop into the lava rocks by our Atomic power plant, {First in the World, plant}, S.E. Idaho), so I claim my special water is from a cave I found out by the "Craters of The Moon". LOL!!!

 Then all I do is take normal distilled water and add a couple dollar store "High-Lighter" markers busted open and dropped in. Makes it a yellow/green tint but lights up big time under UV,(Black lights), running in the clear hoses inside my PC.  

 

[SparWeb]

It also says "CAUTION: Keep out of reach of children"

I agree that label is useless.

Most kids already know you aren't supposed to eat the yellow snow.

:^)

[if you don't get the joke I ain't gonna explain it]

[dinges]

"But have started collecting dehumidified water"

Bugger. I thought I was the only one who had a small flask of dehumidified water. It's stored in a cupboard next to the flux spray.

Sorry... Couldn't help myself

Peter.

[richhagen]

I tried to look up your product on google.  It occurrs to me that in some parts of the world, batteries are shipped dry, and water and acid is added to them.  It seems plausible to me that what you have there is a battery acid solution of sulfuric acid and water which would be added to flooded batteries when shipped dry.  I am not certain, but it would account for the warnings and the yellowish color.  If you place a drop of it on some baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and it bubbles furiously, you can be pretty sure that it is an acid solution.  Use a glass eye dropper, or some other inert tool to get a drop of it out of the container.  If you don't have access to baking soda, you could perform the same test on calcium carbonate, which since it is usually found in concrete, could be performed by placing a drop of the substance on a piece of concrete and observing for any bubbling, just wash it off with sufficient water afterwords.   Just my thoughts on it anyway, Rich Hagen

[Lumberjack]

I keep a large supply of dehydrated beer handy myself.... :}

[Ekij]

Actually pure H2O is toxic in large (say > 1 liter) quantities.

Human body fluid has concentrations of salts and other 'impurities' disolved in it, as does tap water.

If you drink too much pure water it will actually pull these salts out of you (to equalise the concentration) which can prove fatal.