Checking water level in black battery

chickey

Hi just wondering is it necessary to keep water levels topped up in a black car battery and if so how do check if water is needed/how much etc? used to have a translucent battery and kept and eye on this adding water as necessary. dont think current battery is maintenance free as it has caps on the cells which can be opened.

is it possible to add too much water? would this cause problems?

thanks

Ferror

If it has caps you should check it.

Open the lids and check that none of the "plates" are exposed (seeing bare lead is bad) by shining a torch in... There should be about 10ml of liquid above the top of the plates, if nothing else it will help prevent corrosion.

Ferror

...too much water dillutes the acid too much which reduces efficiency.

You could use a hydrometer to test the electrolite but imho that'd be overkill.

stratos

Don't forget use distilled or rain water. no tap water. I know you know this already.