Battery Acid leaked in my trunk, worried about gear

pittman wrote:I worked at a garage filling batteries, and never noticed what was leaked on my cloths until after it was washed, big holes. So if any of your gear got contaminated you will notice after you wash and let it dry. If all looks good after that then nothing got touched.

That's because your clothes are made out of cotton. Nylon reacts differently to battery acid. Washing it will not leave holes like it will in cotton. Sulfuric acid tends to change the way webbing feels when you touch it, but it can be difficult to tell its been contaminated if only a small section was compromised.

20 kN wrote: That's because your clothes are made out of cotton. Nylon reacts differently to battery acid. Washing it will not leave holes like it will in cotton. Sulfuric acid tends to change the way webbing feels when you touch it, but it can be difficult to tell its been contaminated if only a small section was compromised.

The clothes were actually polyester but the resistance depends on the purity of the acid and the temperature. A new battery would be 100% acid so there was no resistance as I am sure there will be no resistance to the gear. But not sure effect on the nylon gear as I take it you are. Anyway hope all is good with the gear, hate to find out at the wrong time.

pittman wrote: The clothes were actually polyester but the resistance depends on the purity of the acid and the temperature. A new battery would be 100% acid so there was no resistance as I am sure there will be no resistance to the gear. But not sure effect on the nylon gear as I take it you are. Anyway hope all is good with the gear, hate to find out at the wrong time.

In your typical automotive battery, the acid is actually typically only 30% sulfuric acid and 70% distilled water. That's why they say when your battery is low you fill it with water, as opposed to more battery acid. Sulfuric acid doesent really evaporate in the battery, only the water does, which means if you added battery acid instead of water to a low battery, the sulfuric acid content would be become too high and damage the battery. You only add battery acid if the battery spilled.

Battery acid is nasty, but nothing compared to pure sulfuric acid. I have spilled small amounts of battery acid on my hands. It's not the end of the world. Pure sulfuric acid, however, can cause serious damage.

20 kN wrote: In your typical automotive battery, the acid is actually typically only 30% sulfuric acid and 70% distilled water. That's why they say when your battery is low you fill it with water, as opposed to more battery acid.

Yeah that's right, brain fart on that one.

Marc801 wrote: Tossing the pack is pointless until you know it has actually been compromised. If you soaked thoroughly as soon as you discovered the spill, then see what happens. Totally soaked and washed would pose no problem for gear afterwards, so just load it up with some rocks and see if it blows out. If nothing else, don't use it for gear - but old packs are always useful somehow. As an aside, I'm still perplexed why anyone would put a car battery in their climbing pack instead of an old box from the supermarket.

I live down the block from my mechanic. I didn't think the battery would leak.

Not a total loss, I have another pack.

NicholasKoch wrote: I live down the block from my mechanic. I didn't think the battery would leak. Not a total loss, I have another pack.

Pretty much all batteries leak some acid, unless they are non-venting and there are precious few of those for cars.

Stich wrote: Pretty much all batteries leak some acid, unless they are non-venting and there are precious few of those for cars.

M I dont think I have ever seen a truly non-vented battery. Sealed AGM batteries like Optimas are still vented. They are considered sealed, but actually they are vented with waterproof grey hydrogen filters, so they are watertight but not airtight.



The hydrogen filters are the grey things in the corners.