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Tim NH 
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Joined: 16 Oct 2012
Location: Lancaster NH
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 Topic: Battery acid level
Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 9:54am |
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In the winter I undo all the tractor batteries and charge them up once a month. Doing the 7000 the charger was taking to long. So I opened up 3 cells on each battery. The acid is below the plates. How much above them should I add distilled water. This summer those batteries will be 4 years old.
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1950 WD 1959 D14 1955 WD45 1976 7000 B 207
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Tbone95
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Location: Michigan
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 10:41am |
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Been ages since I added to a battery. . .but seems to me you "Just" cover the plates. I remember dad used to have a filler gizmo, looked like a sprinkler can with a nozzle on it. Protruded the just right amount down into the cell hole, and when it quit bubbling the level was right.
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Wispitfiremike
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Location: Milwaukee, WI
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 1:21pm |
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Dad always told me to fill to bottom of fill tube, just barely cover it which should easily cover the plates. Not sure if much different from what you are doing but another opinion.
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WF owner
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 1:51pm |
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You might want to check to make sure your voltage regulator is working properly. Overcharging a battery can result in low electrolyte in the cells.
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Tim NH
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 2:08pm |
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You know Curt the battery caps pass a lot of gas, lol. I have to clean the top of the batteries alot. Good time to take alt off and have it checked. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
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1950 WD 1959 D14 1955 WD45 1976 7000 B 207
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DaveKamp
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Joined: 12 Apr 2010
Location: LeClaire, Ia
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 2:39pm |
Yeah... those plates need to be well-submerged...
There was a time when boiling off water was an expected thing. That's when generators used mechanical regulators, and running long hours doing field work at goverened speeds with your lights off would boil them down. Plate metallurgy was a little different then, and they made thicker plates and heavier busbars back then... but nowdays, they're thinner, and more dependant upon good regulation. If you have an electronic regulator and the wiring is a little weak somewhere, the regulator will get an improper feedback signal (voltage looks low) so it will increase the field current to force output voltage up accordingly... and you'll wind up boiling 'em.
The really, really serious thing to watch out for, is when the cells' levels are INCONSISTENT... if you have low cells, and high ones, the high cells are frequently partially shorted (sulfation, contamination, freezing etc), thus, they're not charging, and the remaining cells are thus being subjected to a proportionately higher charging voltage and current.
An aside (and somewhat relevant) note... if there's a possibility that you've ever had the battery freeze, remove it from service. Not only can freezing short plates of a cell, they can also fracture the inter-plate busbars... and when this happens, the busbars will exhibit high resistance, or even arc at the fracture, which is inside the battery casing, up where all the hydrogen gas hangs out... just a little oxygen in there, and you have an explosion.
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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.
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jiminnd
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 4:42pm |
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Be careful messing with a battery and a charger, gas from acid will explode, that is from experience
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1945 C, 1949 WF and WD, 1981 185, 1982 8030, unknown D14(nonrunner)
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DiyDave
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 5:18pm |
Generally, battery openings have a tube that extends down into the chamber, a little. When you add water, add a little and check, if you see that the water is touching the tube, it will form a meniscus ( a bulge) along the sides of the tube. This is the point at which you should stop adding water... 
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Tim NH
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 5:43pm |
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I did fill the batteries to the bottom of the tube. The back battery level was a little below the top of the plates. Took maybe 1.5 cups of water in each cell. The front battery level was about 1/4" above the plates, thought it was lower at first. Those took a cup each. After three hours charging on the back battery with a battery tender I just found it was still charging. Undid the whole thing for the night. Winter is still warm here. Ill go at it again tomorrow.
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1950 WD 1959 D14 1955 WD45 1976 7000 B 207
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WF owner
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Posted: 05 Jan 2023 at 5:53pm |
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That is where I really like my automatic battery chargers. They charge until fully charged, then maintain a full charge until removed. I keep one on the RV battery all winter and move the other around from tractor to tractor. I also have on that will do 6 volt or 12 volt.
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Tim NH
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Posted: 09 Jan 2023 at 5:53pm |
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I brought the alt to a shop to be tested today. The out put voltage tested fine. He suggested I put the rear battery in the front. Buy new caps for them too. Also lay my hand on the top of each after using it this summer checking for heat. I noticed they will be 6 years old this summer. I load tested them after fulling charging. Their getting a little weak, hope to get another year from them.
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WF owner
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Posted: 09 Jan 2023 at 7:50pm |
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When my 7000 needed batteries, our local dealer suggested I change it to a single big battery. The one he recommended was a size 4DLT. I followed his suggestion and never regretted it. It started way better and only one set of connections to keep up.
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KJCHRIS
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Posted: 09 Jan 2023 at 9:13pm |
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Cover the cell plates, but leave a visible air space below the fill hole.
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AC 200, CAH, AC185D bareback, AC 180D bareback, D17 III, WF. D17 Blackbar grill, NF. D15 SFW. Case 1175 CAH, Bobcat 543B,
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Tim NH
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Posted: 27 May 2023 at 6:55pm |
So in February both batteries charged right up in a couple hours. Then in March the back one, the one that took so much water, wouldn't take a charge after a day and a half. So I took the tender off it, and load tested it. It went from weak to dead. So I took Curt's advice and put in a big battery. I'll use the other battery on my tractor diesel fuel tank pump. Thanks Curt, and you other guys too.
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1950 WD 1959 D14 1955 WD45 1976 7000 B 207
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WF owner
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Posted: 28 May 2023 at 12:51am |
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You are welcome! You know what they say about free advice; it's probably worth what you paid for it!
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KJCHRIS
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Posted: 29 May 2023 at 12:00am |
Keep liquid above the top of plates but try to allow a bit of air space/ do not overflow the holes. IF levels in cells keeps getting low was always told it's a sign of overcharging or a cell is starting to short.
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AC 200, CAH, AC185D bareback, AC 180D bareback, D17 III, WF. D17 Blackbar grill, NF. D15 SFW. Case 1175 CAH, Bobcat 543B,
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DaveKamp
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Posted: 31 May 2023 at 6:11am |
Yeah, a battery's electrolyte distribution tells you about the health of the battery.
If the electrolyte in all cells is even, that means the cells are all working together. A cell that looses electrolyte rapidly signals that the others (which aren't) are not doing well, thus, charging current is being carried through, and applying a higher charging load to the one cell that's consuming more water. If the cells all tend to maintain a proper level, A hydrometer will indicate the electrolyte's specific gravity, and in that, it's cell state-of-charge. They should all be about the same.
Common cause for bad cell, is a shorted plate, contaminated electrolyte, or fractured busbar. Internal physical damage is most often the result of freezing, but there's others.
If you suspect the battery has ANY sort of problem, remove it from the machine, and treat it like a bomb... They tend to explode when one attempts to charge them.
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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.
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Lynn Marshall
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Posted: 31 May 2023 at 6:53am |
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Tim, the 7000 looks good, but I hope that lynch pin isn't wearing a hole in the bottom of the battery.
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WF owner
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Posted: 31 May 2023 at 7:10am |
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It looks like the same setup as mine was. If it is, there is actually more clearance (between the battery and lynch pin) than it looks.
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Tim NH
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Posted: 31 May 2023 at 7:55pm |
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Thanks for the compliment Lynn. I checked the clearance today. There's a lip around the bottom of the battery. So I have to push the pin up a little over a 1/8'" before it touches the battery. I enjoyed doing that project. The hardest part was getting the hinge rod out, so I could get the tray sand blasted. Tim
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1950 WD 1959 D14 1955 WD45 1976 7000 B 207
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