Filling Batteries.

[Soundguy]

I would not pressurize the system. Now.. a tank vent to allow air in as the acid depleats should be fine and keep the flow rate fairly steady.. especially with gravity helping out..

soundguy

 

[Darren]

I appreciate the concern thats been expressed. One of the situations I'm dealing with is that the supplier of the acid went to a cheaper jug about a year ago. I've actually had a cap come off when I was pouring acid into a battery. Excitement is holding a tilted acid jug on top of two stacked boxes, about six foot off the ground, with one hand and holding the nozzle with the other, with acid assisted by gravity doing its thing. Fortunately the nozzle is a dead man design. FWIW, I do wear goggles when filling batteries.

The jugs have two caps opposite each other on the top. The smaller covers the vent which has to be punctured before you can drain the acid. The other is intended to be removed and replaced with a cap with a length of hose attached.

I'm not sure what the specific gravity of battery acid is but it's obviously heavier than water. With my current setup I知 working with a head that gives me about .64 psi with water. With acid It's probably about .8 psi. That's enough pressure to rapidly fill a cell. I'd be happy with a setup that could maintain about 1 psi through a complete fill. We're not talking high pressure.

The more times I have to transfer acid, the more opportuniy I give Murphy. I'd still rather use something like a ten gallon tank that I could just pour the acid into and then dispense. With about 1 psi, I'm not going to get a catastrophic failure. I like the nozzle I'm using. With the dead man feature it's simple to stop the flow as compared to a valve of some sort. I can set the tank in another container to catch leaks. I still need suggestions for a tank source and appropriate bulkhead fitting. I also need a gauge that will indicate low pressures accurately.

 

[em14]

If I were doing the filling and looking for a better and quicker method to use I would be talking to some Chemical Suppliers and asking for advice there!
Leo

 

[bucmeister]

From all you have described my suggestion would be to find a way to elevate the acid container higher above the batteries. With water you get a static pressure increase or .44 psi per foot of column so a 50' length of tubing hung straight down would/should register about 22 psi at the bottom, your heavier acid would have more pressur than that. So if you got your 10 gal jug and put it 5' higher than the top of the battery you should in theory have 2-3 psi at the outlet. Another help would be to have a large dia tube for the first 4 to 4.5 feet then choke it down after the (hopefully) installed shutoff valve.

 

[GOLDBERG]

We fill batteries at work from a 30 gal drum. I don't know where they get it from but it works using compressed air to siphon the acid. works really quick.

 

[Soundguy]

Big difference in a compressed air run syphon, and a pressure expelled fluid..

The syphon method won't explode the tank if a problem occurs.

soundguy

 

[Darren]

I've seen compressed air driven drum pumps. From what you're saying someone makes one that is designed for acid. That would work. I could use a 55 gal plastic drum as a reservoir.

 

[Egon]

Maybe the easiest solution would be to check with the acid suppliers and find out about the dispensing systems.

 

[Darren]

The acid supplier would probably have a heart attack. The acid is packaged in a box within a box. You're not supposed to remove the jug from the inner box. One of the changes they made was to redesign the jug to eliminate the handle. The thing that looks somewhat like a handle isn't sufficient to get a good grip.

the setups that I've seen look like a workbench with a shelf to hold the boxed acid. My current setup is a makeshift version.

I checked on air driven drum pumps for acid service .... $800 to $2600. Using an elevated tank to get the higher head pressure will take up shop space which is in short supply. One of the problems is dedicating a space for something like that.

From week to week we never know what's coming in. The 44 batteries should be enough for three months. The folks that send us batteries also send us as many as 50 - 60 11.00R24 tires to either dismount or mount plus we get the entire axles from 6x6 trucks for service. The tires (three piece rims) are assembled flat on the floor. All in all, we'd be better off with a battery fill setup that can be assembled or dissasembled quickly.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Do you have a forklift there where you can lift the drum or tank to get the height for a good flow? Just lift it up when you want to fill the batteries and then lower back and store it when you are done.