Help! Berlingo battery replacements

[cianof]

I think the quality of the di-ionized water used is crucial.

I wouldn't be too confident with the level of service that you'd get from the Citroen franchised garages.

[sparky]

I make my own distilled water from a distiller you can buy of the net for £120 it makes 4 litres at a time
In the instructions it said the vessel will need regular cleaning so I thought Ill distill de-inonised water to save cleaning I made a batch of 25 litres and was shocked at the amount of sediment left in the bottom of the vessel.
I think you should only use distilled water in nicads as de-inonised water doesn't seem that pure.

Neil.

[ChrisB]

I'd vouch for the water quality side of things as well.

I boiled off a egg cups worth of so called de-ionised water and was surprised by the amount of crud left in the bottom of the vessel

I have a supply of "pure" water thats used in medical industry etc which leaves no trace of any crud once boiled off and also has a very high resistivity compared to de-ionised water.

ChrisB

[moojw]

ok so the water is also an issue, I think that seeing as I already have problems I should try for the best water supply.

ChrisB, you mentioned a supply of "pure" water thats used in the medical industry, is this supply something others could also purchase/use?

Sparky, would you have a name of the distiller you bought of the net? would you recommend the one you have, I see there are an abundance of them out there. You can even distill 60% abv alcohol well if it wasn't illegal

[sparky]

Ive bought my distiller just over a year ago now from www.justmagnotherapy.com.
Its 4 litres capacity model no MH943T/S Ive had no problems with it, quick dilivery arrived in 2 days and yes I would recommend it.

[Cogito]

An ion exchange resin deioniser is used for Think nicads and the resistivity of the water shold exceed 1 Mohm. Keep this water with a tight lid since CO2 dissolving will make it acid and carbonise the potassium hydroxide electrolyte.
I use a Micromeg from Elga water industries. Best for clubs as it is quite dear but with two resin filters will last a very long time. Has a built in water quality tester for added security.

[timpootle]

I fear I poisoned my batteries on my last watering. Range is now down to 20 miles, only just enough to get to Manchester and back. This makes me very sad.

Use the cleanest water you can find, I think we must say.

[Flying John]

I thought distillers were a no no when it came to HM Customs and Excise and yet here is a health company actively selling them. What is to stop peeps making their own moonshine.

Perhaps I should not have been overly concerned at my Home made distiller of water for my Blingo Batteries.

John

[Cogito]

Various people have tried to refill these SAFT NiCads with electrolyte with variable success. One I have spoken to has weighed new modules to find that they are underweight. He connected the battery and hydraulic filling hoses and filled the modules with concentrated Potassium Hydroxide. He then overcharged the pack so that extra electrolyte ran out and at the end ran water through to flush out the hoses to help stop any isolation fault error messages. SAFT modules should weigh 13.2 kg when filled with coolant I believe.
It is is possible to drain the electrolyte of a fully charged module by inverting it and so refilling it. This stuff is extremely caustic and is more salt than water so the procedures are risky.

[Flying John]

I dont think I would want to refill the cells with Pot Hydrox as this is a nasty Alkaline. If you have lost the electrolyte then I think its time to scrap the cell.

But restoring the lost water with home made distilled is fine - but as others have said quality is so important and it makes you wonder how many of our Blingos have got a build up of crud in the bottom of the cells due to garages using impure water of the de-ionised kind.

John