Do these things really exist?

[sloopdavidb]

Aloha,
I have heard there is a easy maintenance battery cap that allows serviceing on hard to get to led acid batteries. Any one know where I can get a line on some.
thank David B.

[Rick]

Hydrocaps are used to replace the filler caps on flooded-cell lead-acid batteries. They catalytically convert the oxygen and hydrogen back to water allowing that to drip back into the cells. They are quite tall and must be protected from impact. Greater vertical space is therefore required for their accommodation.

The bad news is that they are potentially dangerous to use on vessels that might roll in a seaway sufficiently so as to contaminate the caps with electrolyte. Should that happen they actually create so much heat that they melt down and could cause a fire.

I have seen several instances of this and recommend against vessels (other than houseboats in a placid environment) using them. They are designed for stationary use. Yes, it has been true that many boaters use them anyway. Just warning!

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Rick

Yes, it has been true that many boaters use them anyway. Just warning!

Gotta love this forum.

[sloopdavidb]

Oh well, Thanks Rick for the reply.

[cal40john]

Since he said servicing hard to reach batteries I thought he meant something like this:

Flow-Rite Qwik-Fill On-Board Battery Watering System

I never used one, haven't heard if they work or not, if this brand works or not, just knew that they existed.

John

[Islander]

I use these:
Flow-Rite Remote Battery Fill Systems - Camping World

Cheers.

[sloopdavidb]

Aloha john,
I'll look into this closer. I think this is what I was looking for.
Much Thanks. David B.

[GordMay]

HYDROCAPS must be removed during equalization.

[colemj]

I have the water miser caps on our batteries. They are not as good as hydrocaps in reducing the water loss, but they do reduce the loss compared to the original battery caps. They are about the same height as the original caps. They don't need to be removed for equalizing, and have no catalyst.
Battery Water Miser Caps

Mark

[David M]

Originally Posted by cal40john

Since he said servicing hard to reach batteries I thought he meant something like this:

Flow-Rite Qwik-Fill On-Board Battery Watering System

I never used one, haven't heard if they work or not, if this brand works or not, just knew that they existed.

John

That looks like nothing more than a squeeze bulb on a fuel line. Great idea! ..no more funnel for me.

[fawcettm]

How long do the water miser caps last?

Markf

[dacust]

I've used the Flo-Rites before. They gave instructions on how to daisy chain together for multiple batteries. I hooked up 4 batteries, but found it didn't work well. Evidentally they don't all seal well enough, and with enough of them in a chain, the leakage mounts up. When I hooked up 2 sets of 2 batteries, it worked much better. If I ever use them again, I think I'll do each battery seperate. But in my current boat it is so easy to get to the batteries, I don't think I'll use them.

[happyendings]

I have 8 Trojan 6v golf cart batteries on my boat all watered by a Pro-Fill system designed for golf carts. It works great and the ease of use means that I actually use it. With the squeeze bulb pump it was nearly $200.00 two years ago. There are cheaper units for smaller batteries made by the same outfit (I think) which I used on a previous boat with Group 27 batteries. I had none of the problems with leaking reported elsewhere in this thread but the larger Pro-Fills are definitely the way to go if they fit your batteries.