# Battery acid?



## Platdigger (Jun 9, 2008)

Has it been determined that trying to "clean" the sulfuric acid from old automotive batteries, for reuse, is just not practical?
Randy


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## donald236 (Jun 9, 2008)

this is just my opinion , but i think that it would not be pratical becauseyou can just get new at your local auto store but i could be wrong so dont hold me to this .


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## Platdigger (Jun 9, 2008)

Well, if it didn't cost much to clean it up, I would be starting with basically free acid.
Randy


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## donald236 (Jun 9, 2008)

this is very true so i stand corrected , i do apologize


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## Platdigger (Jun 9, 2008)

No apology needed Donald, you said nothing wrong.......

I am just curious if someone knows if this could be done, and how......?
Randy


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## markqf1 (Jun 9, 2008)

Randy,
I don't know whats involved with cleaning it up, if anything.
The scrap batteries are only worth about 40 cents a pound around here, but I doubt that they recycle any of the h2so4.
I would say it would be cheaper to buy it from a parts store and then cook it down, so you know that you don't have any contaminants such as lead or other chemicals (well water) that may have been added inadvertantly, by adding water to the cell.
Funny, it's called electrolyte.

Mark


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## Pilgrim2850 (Jun 9, 2008)

Randy,


I just tried to get battery acid at walmart and pepboys. No one carries it in my neck of the woods anymore. That would be interesting to know the results of getting it out of an old battery. I just got a new battery from walmart and they will pay me back $9 for the old one.

larry


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## catfish (Jun 9, 2008)

Hi larry:

Try NAPA, they have it in stock. They can order it by quarts, 2 gallons or five gallon quantities. It is very in-expensive. It will be about 35 % concentrated, so you will have to cook it down. The battery acid out of a good charged batterey will be about the same. 1280 spg or 1.280. Concentrated battery acid (sulfuric) will be about 1.80 spg for 90% plus concentration.

Lots of luck

Catfish


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## Platdigger (Jun 10, 2008)

Hi Larry, yea, if there were no problems with it, it would be a cheap way to make nitric too.
Randy


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## Irons (Jun 10, 2008)

Platdigger said:


> Hi Larry, yea, if there were no problems with it, it would be a cheap way to make nitric too.
> Randy



There isn't much lead in the battery electrolyte and it would be fine for making Nitric or HCl if you distill it.

If you know a scrap yard that recycles batteries they would probably pay you to take the acid off their hands or at least give it away.

If you have the batteries, charge them up to convert any lead sulfate back to lead oxide. This will increase the specific gravity, thus the sulfuric content.


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## Platdigger (Jun 10, 2008)

Thanks Irons, that's what I was looking for......
Randy


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## solar seeker (Aug 1, 2010)

What I do is I open the lids on a car battery (yes they do have lids if you look closely) then I pour out the acid. After that I filter it through a coffee filter and boil it down in a heat resistant glass container until the water boils out and the acid begins to boil which is obvious because it boils less and changes from steam to very nasty sulfuric acid fumes. After letting it cool I store it in a glass container and that's all there is to it.


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## Anonymous (Aug 1, 2010)

> There isn't much lead in the battery electrolyte and it would be fine for making Nitric or HCl if you distill it.


It would certainly not be cost effective to do either of these.However it is true that you could make either of them with 30% +/- sulfuric gathered from an expired battery.However it should be noted that the actual volume of dilute sulfuric is minimal in auto batteries,usually between 1.5L and 2L,and after concentrating it to 90+% your end result would be in the range of 500ml of 90+%. I buy 5 gallons at a time of 34% for $24.After concentration I end up with just under 2 gallons.Clearly an expendable amount of money for almost 2 gallons of 90+% sulfuric.


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## solar seeker (Aug 1, 2010)

since when is free or very cheep not cost effective ?


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## Anonymous (Aug 1, 2010)

You are right,I am sorry.If you have enough batteries to supply you with the volume of sulfric that you need then please accept my apologies.As stated before I can buy about 2 gallons of conc. sulfuric for $24,and each battery will yield right around 500ml of the same.So it would take about 8 batteries to accumulate the same amount of acid that I can just buy of the shelf for $24.For my use I would rather spend the money and know that I am getting a large quantity of clean unused sulfuric,that I can start concentrating now,and not have to take the time to find batteries,transport them,lift them several times,and of course attempt to drain them.I cannot justify the time and effort it takes to do all of that,for a minimal amount of acid.
However you are exactly right,one of the main purposes of this forum is to show members how to use untraditional methods to accomplish a goal,when traditional methods are unavailable.So if you can get the acid for free or cheaper than It is to purchase it,then by all means do so.As stated before,I apologize.


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## butcher (Aug 1, 2010)

I think he means battery acid new is 35% H2SO4 and water, in a dead battery if cell is dead the sulfuric is all in the lead sulfite powders and cell contains water, if the cell is good and that cell is discharged the sulfuric is also bound with the lead plate and the cell is mostly water, but if the cell is good and charged then there will be sulfuric acid in the water, it can be checked by specific gravity, this is also how we check to determine battery condition.

now Napa sells battery acid dirt cheap, and messing with batterys is not only a hassel, messy, dangerous, (I know I have used them), it is more economicle for me to buy my sulfuric from Napa,
or concentrated from hardware store, unless you live where you cannot, battery acid can be used no doubt, and you can also make sulfuric acid by burning rocks, but when it sells so cheap why, the rocks are free,but the hassle is not.
if just acid from battery with recyclable value why cut off top, just set them upside down on square catch basin, turn in uncut battery for $


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## solar seeker (Aug 4, 2010)

The way I figure it you get about 3 pints at most of 30% acid per smaller car battery you open. At the scrap yard they buy car batteries for $ 1.50 each I expect that you could pay about $2.00 each and buy several batteries that weigh at least 20 pounds each, 13 pounds of which is likely to be lead. The scrap price for lead is 7 cents per pound which I calculate would give about 91 cents per battery if I sold the lead back to the scrap yard each battery would cost $1.08 . After concentrating the acid each battery yields about a pint of fairly clean 90% acid. So the way I figure it I would pay $32.00 for the same 2 gallons of acid unless I resell the lead in which case it costs $17.36 for the acid ideally. I haven't actually put this into practice yet so I don't know how much it will actually cost but if my math is correct it should cost about the same or less for the same quantity of acid which should be at least as good as the drain cleaner I could buy at the hardware store. 
:?: :| 
When I look at the figures it doesn't look like as good of a deal as I had first thought but it's still a little more fun to do it this way.


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## Platdigger (Aug 5, 2010)

Well, if a guy is buying the batteries for 5 dollars, and selling them for 10...

Then keeping the acid is a freebee.
Except for the hasle of dealing with it, of course.


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## dtectr (Aug 5, 2010)

You must have a lot more excess energy than i do! but then, most everyone does :lol: 
I haven't seen a battery yet that wasn't covered in road & engine grime, including grease & motor oil, as well as residue from leaking radiators. Many spray the terminals with a grease to protect from corrosion & also have acid neutralizers applied.

Trying to charge a long-dead battery, even on a trickle charge, can be VERY dangerous. If there are several bad cells or an internal short they can overheat, swell & explode. The warning on the battery sticker is VERY real, you just don't know what happened to it before it made its way to the junkyard. As my Grandpa always used to say, "People don't don't sell used cars because they run TOO GOOD." Same applies to a lot of scrap.

I'm not recommending "No", I'm just saying "Be careful." Your eyesight & beautiful unscarred skin lol is worth a LOT more than 2 lattes at Starbucks, which is what you can usually get your sulfuric for (Rooto at Ace Hardware).

just my dos centavos.
jordan


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## Anonymous (Aug 5, 2010)

Could not agree more.
I wasn't trying to discourage anyone from saving money,but sometimes,the time and energy spent to accomplish a goal,simply to save a couple of dollars,is hard to justify.


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## jimdoc (Aug 6, 2010)

Playing around with leaky old batteries are sure to give
you some holey clothes.I have ruined many clothes with
picking up batteries for scrap.It doesn't matter how careful
you are,eventually your favorite pants will become holey.

Jim


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## solar seeker (Aug 6, 2010)

Well that's an occupational hazard of wearing your favorite pants while you're picking up batteries. If you wear clothes that already have a few holes or paint splatters then a few more holes won't hurt anything so long as you keep your skin intact. :lol:


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