Cleaning up battery acid in the bilge>

[7tiger7]

Had several batteries crack, and I presume leak, acid into the bilge. Not sure if they had cracked while the previous owner was still alive (he passed away in Autumn), so am not sure if he cleaned up the acid or not, or if they cracked over winter.

Either way - how do I determine if I do have leaked acid in my bilge, and if I do, how to clean it up?

Thanks

 

[skipperdude]

Throw a little baking soda in and see if it foams.

Acid and a base. If it does add more Baking soda*to nuteralize the acid

*

SD


-- Edited by skipperdude on Monday 4th of April 2011 09:55:53 AM

 

[Larry M]

You can buy some ph paper.* Add a little water to the area you think might have battery acid*and test it.* You can always just add baking soda as Skipperdude said and use lots of water.* You'll have a clean smelling bigle anyway.

 

[JohnP]

Tiger,* The horse is out of the barn---but another advantage of battery boxes.

 

[Avista]

Phillip,

Baking soda will work, as will*limestone (calcium carbonate) which is cheaper if you have a lot of undiluted acid.* Diluting with fresh water (Never Salt water, it will form chlorine gas which is fatal) will probably be the easiest thing to do, as the bilge is large and the acid spill probably relatively little,*a standard car battery takes a bit less than a quart of 37% H2SO4...Call it*6 molar;*16 gallons of water will take that down to about 100 millimolar, which'll give the mixture a pH of about 1, which is pretty low.* But that's just my guess, you might want to call a battery manufacturer and ask what they recommend.

 

[rwidman]

skipperdude wrote:
Throw a little baking soda in and see if it foams.

Acid and a base. If it does add more Baking soda*to nuteralize the acid

*

Yes, but you need a liquid too.* Water.

*

*

 

[JohnP]

superdiver wrote:
As far as battery boxes go, how much air ventilation do you need? The one shown above has a small hole in front and where the wire leads go in and out. Is that typically enough?

********* Diver,* The box in my image provides good ventilation, always had standard wet cell batts and no problem, boat built in 1983.*

JohnP

*

 

[Delfin]

Tiger, acquarium pH test strips will work just fine.* Fill the bilge with water, stir, test, add baking soda to neutralize.* Baking soda is best because it will dissolve, where limestone won't.* A couple of teaspoons of baking soda in a 40 gallon tank is enough to raise the pH 1 point, so you don't need much.

Diver, you need no ventilation other than to allow for outgassing, which is small.* However, if the batteries are located in the E/R, you need to keep them cool and that requires a fair amount of air.* I located my bank in the E/R and plumbed in a separate fan to extract cooling air brought in from outside for combustion to blow over the batteries, located behind an insulated panel.* The objective is to keep them at outside ambient temperature, which significantly extends their life.

 

[Coalman]

Hi guys, I have a similar battery acid cleanup question for y’all. I had two 8D batteries in battery box when batteries boiled over. All acidic fluid, about three cups total is contained in the fiberglass box. I poured 2 boxes baking soda over and around batteries and into the bottom of the battery box then removed the two 8D batteries the next day. I hate 8D batteries!

My plan is to clean out the battery box and the acid in it. I’m planning to alternate more baking soda then when it is spent, soak up water and then clean the inside of the battery box with warm water and Dawn soap. Repeat this process until water in the battery box is 7.0 Ph.

Going back with six Duracell 6V EGC 2 FWC batteries and wired series/parallel for 12V 690 Amps as starter, house, windlass. My new motto...12V will set you free

Rick
Monk 36

 

[PM]

Lots of baking soda, lots of fresh water. Let the water slosh around for a trip or two then repeat.

pete

 

[Bacchus]

I found a spray bottle of water / baking soda solution helpful to check surfaces for successful cleanup. Doesnt require flooding with water and provides a good visible indicator.

 

[rgano]

I liked group 31 starting batteries to replace my 8D starting batteries. Tried three golf carts for awhile, but then moved then into the new house bank which was a more appropriate use for them.

 

[Bacchus]

I liked group 31 starting batteries to replace my 8D starting batteries. Tried three golf carts for awhile, but then moved then into the new house bank which was a more appropriate use for them.

I agree if purely a short, hi A application, and FLA GP31s are a good fit and a pair is pretty close an 8D. I will guess that using FLA GP31s for house risk more damage if run to higher DOD than using 6 GCs for starting... no scientific proof just my gut feel.
It sounds like Coalman has a combined house, start, windlass situation so my vote would be GCs and with 3 pairs he should plenty of start capacity provided they aren't run down too far.
I'm in a somewhat similar situation and planning ahead for future replacement of 3 - 8Ds. I moved my start from house to a dedicated thruster bank and now have a pure house bank. I have and will stay with AGM as I had a lot of acid clean up from previous owner poor practices with FLA.
When I debated whether to use GP31 or 6V GCs I contacted East Penn and asked about start vs deep cycle for the above AGMs. They responded that their GP31 and GC AGMs had similar start & deep cycle performance and can be seen by their specing both CCA and AH for both. My decision is to go with all GP31s... 2 for start/ thruster and 4 for house.

 

[Giggitoni]

Battery acid is water soluble. No need to use excess baking soda. Can you easily remove battery boxes? If so, take them out and rinse them out with a hose. Apply plenty of water to the area after you rinse them. Go for your neutral pH in the rinse area.

I’ve cleaned up several tanker truck accidents where thousands of gallons of acid were spilled onto the ground. This is one of those times where, “the solution to pollution is dilution”!