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Mineral Oil in Batteries


SWharton

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I just read about putting mineral oil in batteries. I never heard of this before and would like some input from the forum on this practice, both pro/cons.

 

Our house batteries are very difficult to access and check. The Pro-fill system doesn't fit these batteries so it is a major problem to check and fill the batteries. We will make sure the Pro-fill system fits new batteries before we buy but for now we have these batteries.

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There used to be batteries which came with that in practice from a company called ThermOil but looking at their website, it seems that they no longer sell the batteries, just their products to put into batteries. Our 1998 Cruise Master came with two of those for house batteries and I had to replace them after about 3 years. It is my only experience with their products. As a result, I'd not use that but there may be others who have had better experiences.

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I just read about putting mineral oil in batteries.

 

It's an age old practice, but in my experience... "myth". As others explain it, it seems to make sense, but personally, I've never seen any quantitative information that would indicate that it prolongs lifecycles or in any way helps to inhibit plate sulfation.

 

Properly distilled water, proper charge cycles and monitoring is proven. I would stick with the tired and true. (pun intended)

As a disclaimer.. I "have" tried it myself, but it didn't seem to make any noticeable difference on my prior to last bank (105's)... but I'm no chemist.

 

Perhaps Barb will chime in on the intended chemical process and if it's actually valid or not.

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Any manufactured product goes through extensive testing and I'm sure the battery producers are no different. I would follow the battery manufactures maintenance suggestions in this case.

Are your batteries using that much water? If so, then that may be a symptom of another problem such as too fast charging or drained too far. Can you go to a trickle type charging system which would take longer for sure but produce less heat? I check our house battery once a year and have not added any water in 3 years since new, but we are usually hooked to shore power and rarely use the batteries.

Greg

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What I understand the oil is supposed to do is help keep the acid from boiling off while the battery is being charged.

 

I've never heard of that. Only that it was supposed to help protect the plates from sulfating.

 

SWharton.. while I've never heard of or had any practical evidence that it's an actual benefit.. I've also never heard of it of harming anything. If you wanted to give it a try, I would go for it.

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The theory of using Thermoil battery demister, or mineral oil(Click the link "Thermoil or mineral oil" on the home page to read the difference between the two) in battery cells is to suppress the evaporation of water from the cells (the actual acid does not evaporate, just the water used to dilute pure sulfuric acid). This only works when battery charging is kept below the boiling point of electrolyte (about 13.8VDC), if a continuing charge above that rate is maintained when the battery is fully charged, nothing will prevent the escape of water vapor and hydrogen gas unless the cell is tightly sealed; at that point one can expect a battery cell rupture.

Interstate Battery used to sell Thermoil until they began selling their own branded battery additive. I cannot comment on the effectiveness of either, as I have not been inclined to use either.

 

2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.  John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961

 

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The loss of water is caused by electrolysis, the discharge of positive hydrogen and negative oxygen. The oil will not prevent that chemical reaction. It may prevent evaporation during hot dry weather. If you have wet cell batteries, you must check and fill the liquid often. It is not pretty and is dangerous to let the battery dry below the plates.

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