» Fixtures »A very simple DIY key for battery plugs

A very simple key for do-it-yourself battery plugs


Hello, dear visitors of the site.
Today I want to tell you about a very simple, but at the same time, very convenient homemade product.

I'll start in order ... We all drive cars, and we all know that in car there is a rechargeable battery.

In order for the battery to serve faithfully for many years, several steps must be performed:
1. Monitor the electrical equipment of the car.
2. Avoid "deep discharge" of the battery.
3. Monitor the electrolyte level in the battery.

To fulfill the first condition, you just need to measure the voltage supplied to the battery terminals from the generator from time to time. (At idle with the “stove” and dipped headlights turned on, it should be at least fourteen volts!)

You can forget about the second condition, if after starting the engine, it works for you for more than half an hour each time. (This is exactly the time it takes for the battery to compensate for the capacity spent on starting the engine from the generator). If you drive mostly “short dashes” around the city, then, from start to start, your battery confidently moves to the so-called “deep discharge” - a sharp avalanche-like discharge of the battery to critically low values. Experiencing the battery "deep discharge" is not always. And certainly, it will never pass without consequences - even if the battery is restored, part of the capacity will be lost! Therefore, even if your battery at first glance seems to be “fully charged”, and “smartly” turns the starter, it is still necessary to remove it and charge it about once every six months on a stationary charger.

But the third condition is very easy to observe ... You just need to unscrew the plugs from the battery from time to time and, having looked inside, make sure that the liquid level is higher than the package of plates in each "jar" ... (This, of course, does not apply to more expensive , “maintenance free” batteries, in which there are no plugs, and in which the vapors are condensed by a special design and sent back to the battery).

And with this, at first glance, a very, very simple action, we often have problems ...
For the simple reason that battery plugs have a specific groove, through which, at first glance, you can unscrew the plug "anything" ...


In fact, this “anything” is just not at hand ... You can, for example, use a coin ... But there is acid !!! And after use, it’s advisable not to put the coin in your pocket ... Ehh ... Sorry for the coin ...)))

Many people try to make it a screwdriver ... Most often it does not work out even with a very wide screwdriver, since the plastic of the corks is very soft and the groove is cross-shaped (which further weakens the cork). Usually, a screwdriver rotates, deforming the plastic ....

Below I will describe the manufacture of a very simple and very convenient key that will allow you to unscrew the plugs from the battery eliminating the contact of hands with acids, and without tearing the splines of the plugs.

For this we need:

1. The M8 washer increased.
2. Cork from a plastic bottle.

Once, in search of this very “anything” (about which I wrote above))), I noticed that the enlarged washer M8 fits very tightly into the groove of the battery plugs, and it is most convenient to use it.



As you know, flat washers according to GOST are divided into ordinary and enlarged (in which the outer diameter is three internal)


So, on its basis, I decided to make a key.


To make a convenient “handle”, I decided to use the usual cork from a plastic bottle:


The puck is placed in the cork "on the edge":


And fix, completely filling the cork with hot glue:



All!!! That's the whole homemade !!!
After hardening, we get a very convenient key.


Now, without touching our hands on the battery housing, on the surface of which there may be acid, we insert our key into the groove of the plug and unscrew it:


At the same time, our key fits into the groove so precisely that it is fixed tightly in it so that the plug remains on it after being turned out:





After checking the electrolyte level, we wrap the cork back without touching it with our hand:

That's all ... Such a key will not take another place in the car and will always be at hand.

And finally, I want to say that to add to the battery, if the level is low, you can only distilled water! (Not electrolyte!)

If you fulfill the three conditions I mentioned above, even the batteries of inexpensive manufacturers will last you a long time. At least, I did not have a case that even a cheap battery left less than seven years!
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24 commentary
My daddy treats like that correctly.
Charges in time, rests the mass during a long idle time, charges with small currents in storage. I always remember that he watches the batteries. Now quality has fallen dramatically. Buy cheap now and time will show a short life. therefore, love is moving to new technologies. They constantly ask me if we restore the batteries, but it doesn’t help much there.
Author
I haven’t left any of the many batteries bought with new batteries for less than seven years ... And these were cheap - Ukrainian and Belarusian ...
Dear (who are on machines from the conveyor, for example. Like the one in the photo) nursed for ten or more years ...
..The main reason why our people die from batteries is that they only check charging when it’s “already necessary” ... (And then it's too late))))), and very few people take it off charge if it is not sat down ... We bought the battery without charging and immediately put it on the car ("So the seller said it was charged !!") and that's it !!! They drive until it is covered ... ("But what to charge it with? It’s twisting it !! So it’s not sat down!"))). And with this approach, if enough for two years - that's good! )))))
Papik bought a Tyumen one for a 6-vazovskaya one and a half years. Says fig, apparently the old will be restored and ride on it.
Well, I have been nursing for 5 years. 10 of course not. I had a friend, on his Lada there were alkaline batteries. From an airplane of some kind. He bought a car with them and sold them after 10 years. They had metal cases, half scattered. But they worked.
pogranec,
The manufacturer guarantees 5-10 years. But you need to try, quality / price / conditions.
And how many care for such batteries? Well, under equal conditions.
AGM can be placed in any position, even upside down.
They are increasingly used in cars. If you read the reviews for "AGM under the hood"
Campaign they are very tenacious. At least, the voltage from the generator is not more than 14.4 volts, it will not work to recharge.
The main thing is not to allow a deep discharge.
I’m not the first to put it on, my comrade has a few.
Now my leader and I set myself.
Time will certainly show, but the reviews are mostly positive. The fact that the market, a battery with liquid electrolyte comes in horrible quality.
In my understanding, no better. We drilled the case, solder, spend money on a large amount of electrolyte ... replacing it will not work.
Of course, if you don’t know the density and where the electrolyte has gone ... then it’s dangerous. But with water, you can just kill a battery unknowingly.

Last year I rode a scooter, under the seat was a car battery. It meant, I have a goat, young, nimble such. Here she loved to jump on everything. She took a jump, the scooter fell and the electrolyte leaked. It has been dry for six months already ... I don’t know what to do with it, throw it away?
Author
I think it was you who answered my answer to Dmitry about inverted, or cracked batteries?)))

If so, then these were my advice to Dmitry ...)))). This is all better than just adding electrolyte to the battery, which needs to be thrown away ....
Valery,
Why such perversions? I understand the year the wild capitalism began. There is no money, but you need to ride. Then, yes, they did hydrometers, electrolyte themselves, and they washed it and poured powder on the market, bought it, pulled it all the way. Now I do not see the point. Although there is experience, but let it be better not to use it -)))
Maybe cranked, but not critical. Always unscrewed.
Author
There was a battery - constantly drove the electrolyte from under the traffic jams. I don’t know what the problem is.

If there was no overcharge (the spike at the terminals is above 15 volts), then only one thing suggests itself - the “short” in the plates. If the car stood for a couple of days - was there no self-discharge?
Well ... I’m saying this all in relation to the fact that they didn’t forget to get both plugs out of the ventilation holes in it and they were definitely not clogged-coked with mud .... You checked this first of all, I think ...)
Another battery can easily fill up on one side,

If the old one is already strong - most likely it will die (Crap, crumbled from the plates, gets stuck between them and short-circuits). If new - drain, rinse with water, pour new ...
May crack the case,

To discharge !!! ... But you can use this opportunity to drill a hole in the bottom, completely drain everything, thoroughly rinse it several times with distilled water, drain it, seal the case, and fill in a NEW electrolyte ...
Author
And I always unscrewed the plugs with a wide screwdriver.


Have the slots never turned?
There was a battery - constantly drove the electrolyte from under the traffic jams. I don’t know what the problem is. I changed traffic jams, it did not help. Another battery can easily fill up on one side, it can crack the case, but anything ...
And if you add water instead of the leaked electrolyte, you will "dilute" the electrolyte and the battery will work lousy.
Author
What is the starting current low?


Because the "real" ...)))) This is the "native" battery of a German car.(Which was put on the conveyor).
And the current on it is indicated according to the German DIN standard. Other manufacturers, mainly, indicate in the European EN standard, and even cheat ....
(Pay attention to the bottom line - according to the EN standard, or, according to the American SAE, the current of this battery will be at least 850 A)
Author
And how can it leak out ???
Author
The electrolyte is used EXCLUSIVELY to replace it! Any topping "ruins" the battery.
AGM and now I'm not worried about topping up, though the price is higher than that of lead-acid.

I did not know what AGM is. Looked
AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) is a lead acid battery manufacturing technology
The difference between AGM batteries and classic batteries is that they contain absorbed electrolyte, not liquid
those. still lead acid. Well, the most interesting
Charging them requires special chargers
- how to charge in a regular car. All info from Wikipedia, maybe they wrote something wrong there. I wonder how much they cost you and were there any problems?
And I always unscrewed the plugs with a wide screwdriver.
Good idea. I bought AGM myself and now I'm not worried about topping up, though the price is higher than that of lead-acid.
Why is such a starting current low? 520 with a capacity of 110 Ah?
And finally, I want to say that to add to the battery, if the level is low, you can only distilled water! (Not electrolyte!)


It is possible and necessary to add electrolyte if you know that it has leaked out, and not just evaporated.
You didn’t meet this ... Recently there was a battery, I unscrewed the plugs with a spoon with a wrench! It is unclear why they were so sticky, whether the plastic was somehow soft. And unscrewed with a "crunch", so to take it off, it took a lot of effort. On new batteries, the plugs are often tightened too.
It sits so tight that the stainless steel spoon twists.

By the way, you can cut the handle from a spoon, bend it, you get a great key. A spoon needs an ordinary dining room, USSR. You can still grind a little grinder.
Author
The quality is really falling ... (I think you had in mind the level of difficulty)))) .... The reason is constantly and very busy ... There is almost no time for homemade products, and what I do is not always time and the desire to take pictures ...

As for the key, I have not yet met a single traffic jam that he wouldn’t fit to ... They are standard ...
And in my car, usually, there are no spoons ... And in the basement (where I do charging and maintenance - too)))). Yes, and not every spoon will go ... For example, at home - with thick painted handles "for ceramics", in the country house and so on - ordinary, but the top is not rounded ...))))

As for the "fingers like a terminator", then here you are absolutely not right ... Plastic plugs ....
N-n-well .... Is it that someone had pulled them with this spoon with all the dope! )))))
Hmm, Valery, something the quality of homemade products falls ... far from every stopper you unscrew this thing, and you need your fingers like a terminator.

P.S. I unscrew the usual tablespoon

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