P38 battery drain !!!

[Willos]

Yes i know to look in search to research this subject, just thought i'd let a few of you out there what i found today.
My battery is not up to its usual punch and went flat on me the other week. Its a Landrover battery and the huge one found in the DSE model.
Its not that old , so put the multimeter on it. 11.96v stationary no engine on and 14.4v when engine on. I decided to take a look in the cells , which were bone dry. Ended up filling with 1 litre of deionised water. So will see if just topping it up will give it some new life or kill it.
whats the verdict ? If its run dry will it not rejuvinate or kill it dead. Interested to hear if anyone else has found this. If it does give its life back then it may be worth getting the torch out and filling it up rather than telling everyone just to fork out £100 for a new battery.

 

[Andyp38]

Over the years ive found that if a battery has run low on acid, its on its way out no matter what you add.
When it does get replaced though,i would recomend getting the highest cranking amp battery you can afford for a p38.
Ive just added a 10w solar panel charger to mine,does help the battery which is a weedy one from the previous owner

 

[Datatek]

Yes i know to look in search to research this subject, just thought i'd let a few of you out there what i found today.
My battery is not up to its usual punch and went flat on me the other week. Its a Landrover battery and the huge one found in the DSE model.
Its not that old , so put the multimeter on it. 11.96v stationary no engine on and 14.4v when engine on. I decided to take a look in the cells , which were bone dry. Ended up filling with 1 litre of deionised water. So will see if just topping it up will give it some new life or kill it.
whats the verdict ? If its run dry will it not rejuvinate or kill it dead. Interested to hear if anyone else has found this. If it does give its life back then it may be worth getting the torch out and filling it up rather than telling everyone just to fork out £100 for a new battery.

No water in a modern battery usually means the battery is on the way out, in effect the acid is boiling off as vapour. If you do a specific gravity check you will probably find the reading is low.

 

[kooky_guy]

If it's bone dry then you'll probably need to add acid too. No idea where you'd get it from though.

 

[Willos]

Put it on charge all day and no improvement in fact its worse Looks like a new one. Have an original land rover one from the dealer. Whats the gaurantee on these from land rover

 

[Datatek]

Put it on charge all day and no improvement in fact its worse Looks like a new one. Have an original land rover one from the dealer. Whats the gaurantee on these from land rover

Try www.batterymegastore DC31-1000 4 year guarantee £98 delivered to your door. It's the biggest battery that will fit in the compartment I have no connection, just a satisfied customer

 

[Willos]

Thanks for that. Had to have one today as im out and about this weekend, plus i didnt want it to loose sync and a tow to the dealer to resync.
Rang around loads and the sort of prices i got was around the ton. Gutted as around the corner a jag dealer has one for £60 , but its for the sport and the lugs are at the far end and my lead wont stretch that far, nuts !!!

 

[Irishrover]

Believe it or not, a Fork truck engineer/company is a safe bet for battery acid etc. as they use it on a daily basis for topping up the massive batteries. In the days before the "Tree Huggers" came into being, it was common to have your old battery flushed out and fresh acid/water mix to the correct SG put in.

 

[Alan C]

I spilt some battery acid a while ago (a battery fell over and was on it's side for a few mins). Cleaned up and needed to top up said battery with acid. Where to get some? Nowhere was the answer. You can't obtain it anywhere now. I ended up going to my local Halfords after hours with a battery hydrometer and raided their battery recycle bin. Tested the batteries until I found one with decent acid and tipped it out into a plastic container I had with a funnel. Stupid.

 

[Datatek]

I spilt some battery acid a while ago (a battery fell over and was on it's side for a few mins). Cleaned up and needed to top up said battery with acid. Where to get some? Nowhere was the answer. You can't obtain it anywhere now. I ended up going to my local Halfords after hours with a battery hydrometer and raided their battery recycle bin. Tested the batteries until I found one with decent acid and tipped it out into a plastic container I had with a funnel. Stupid.

You can buy sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid and loads of other chemicals in the supermarket here

 

[Alan C]

Perhaps in the UK there is just no demand anymore? There's no law about acids, they're not controlled substances. I even tried a few chemists. By their name, you'd have though they'd sell chemicals. I did say that to the pharmacists, but non wanted to help. One did show me his trade catalogue listing several different strengths of sulphuric acid in 1 litre bottles, then had second thoughts and said it was illegal to sell it to me! As if he was going to get into trouble for selling it, what was I going to do with it? Drink it, make a bomb? Nanny state.

Oh, surprise, surprise, you can get concentrated sulphuric acid from eBay!
1 Litre Sulphuric Acid 98% Gold Cleaning Pickle | eBay

 

[Datatek]

In the UK, shops have to buy a permit to even sell toilet cleaner. I suspect that the cost and paperwork not to mention Elf n Safety rules make it unprofitable to sell chemicals.

 

[zzr1200]

This maybe of use to those intending to re-acid a battery.

Battery Acid : UK Chemical Suppliers, Buy Chemicals Online

 

[fentigerover]

Try www.batterymegastore DC31-1000 4 year guarantee £98 delivered to your door. It's the biggest battery that will fit in the compartment I have no connection, just a satisfied customer

Re Battery Megastore.
Do remeber to print out your invoice if you buy from them - I didn't, thinking it would be there on line if I needed it. Come the day, couldn't get the invoice, as they had "archived" it. Had a hell of a row to get anywhere with them, but eventually my duff 8 month old battery was replaced by them. (They give a 4year warranty on Range Rover batteries).
Could have saved all the aggro if Ihad printed off the invoice in the first place!