WATER FOR ACCUMULATORS

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 42, 4 May 1928, Page 13

WATER FOR ACCUMULATORS

In the article on coustruction of a B acumulator on April 13, "Megohm" stated as follows: "If distilled water is difficult to procure, water that has_ been boiled and allowed te cool is a_ geod substitute. Where there is «hoice, rain-water is better than artesian, as minetal salt." The above was not intended to be’ a recommendation to. use anything . but. distilled water where it con!d be procured, and there is a distinct preference | shown for the use of rain-water rather . than artesian, for the reason stated. A chemist writes to say that he cannot understand the object of boiling the water, as it will only destroy bacteria. The idea of boiling the water is not the writer’s own idea, but well known to many, and is intended to puisfy the water as much as possible in a simple way, such as might have to be resorted to in country places. Hven the presence of lime in water will be reduced by boiling, as instanced by the coating deposited inside a kettle when certain kinds of artesian wate1 are boiled, though such water is certainly not gsuitable for accumulators. , Our correspondent is quite correct on the subject, of distilled water, «bont. which he is naturally well informed, and it is undoubtedly the proper liquid to mix with the acid in accumulators. As a matter of actual experiment, however, the writer has made up accumn-. lators with water direct from the tan, with common commercial sulphuric acid, and found them to function for long periods just as well as others made ap on more scientific lines. But he does not advocate using anything but pure acid and distilled water, except in a case of fiecessity, as there is always a certain amount of risk with impure materials. Our correspondent also points ont that rain-water does not require boiling if collected in clean vessels.