richardabeattie
Well-Known Member
Is it OK to use the water produced by my dehumidifier to top up my batteries? Can't see why not!
Dehumidifier water
- Thread starter richardabeattie
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VicS
Well-Known Member
Nor can I but the advice is not to.
Tip it away with any impurities it may conatain.
Top up batteries with distilled , deionised or demineralised water
Buy from your local hardware store, not Halfrauds whose is twice the price.
You should not need so much that its cost is important
Tip it away with any impurities it may conatain.
Top up batteries with distilled , deionised or demineralised water
Buy from your local hardware store, not Halfrauds whose is twice the price.
You should not need so much that its cost is important
aluijten
Well-Known Member
You can't. It's quite simple, the water condensates against a evaporator. This water is coming from the air that is pulled through. So most of the dust in that air also sticks to the evaporator (because its wet) and ends up in the water.
So the condensate is far from pure. Hence why not. As Vic says. the money saved would be minimal and if it damages the batteries it would be even a negative saving.
So the condensate is far from pure. Hence why not. As Vic says. the money saved would be minimal and if it damages the batteries it would be even a negative saving.
PeterR
Well-Known Member
I give my dehumidifier water to the wife for the steam iron.
mersey
Well-Known Member
What about water from a condensing tumble dryer?
snowleopard
Well-Known Member
Full of little fibres.
There are several mechanisms that are used in dehumidifiers. The type that condenses water on a chilled element will give you mineral-free water but you'll still need to filter it to get rid of airborne dust etc.
Some rely on the water being absorbed by a hygroscopic chemical like those silica gel sachets you get in electronics packaging. The water from them is likely to contain nastinesses.
Perhaps you should take a tip from the truck driver who lived next door to me. He topped up his batteries from the stream at the back of the house 'It hasn't been through pipes so it's de-steeled innit?'
alant
Well-Known Member
Both are condensed water vapour, so there should be little difference between distilled & dehumidified water, other than perhaps the temperature at which the water vapour or steam is produced.
VicS
Well-Known Member
Except that distilled water will be condensed and collected in such a way that excludes dust and other contaminants.
I'd doubt if commercially you will find distilled water, the energy costs to produce it are too high.
I'd expect de-ionisation, or demineralisation, to be a much cheaper process, perhaps combined with reverse osmosis ?
ukmctc
Well-Known Member
Sounds like yes, these days as most water is not hard anymore people just use tap water, so the water collected in your dehumidifier is no different probably better.
snowleopard
Well-Known Member
Consider yourself lucky you don't live in Southern England. Most tap water has rocks in it!!
VicS
Well-Known Member
It varies enormously, even local supplies can vary.
I worked for a while in Tunbridge Wells. Water was pumped into opposite ends of the system from two different sources. One source was quite hard, the other very much less hard.
As the pattern of water usage varied during the day so the hardness where we were varied.
alant
Well-Known Member
'London' green sand source.
jfkal
Well-Known Member
But there is....
Distilled water gets produced in a closed system without ambient air present. The dehumidifier has plenty of air present as its job is to dehumidify it.... Therefore the water picks up the Co2 in the air and turns acidic adding to the acid in the battery plus all the dust and dirt washed out of the air is not helpful also. You save pennies and destroy pounds.
Distilled water gets produced in a closed system without ambient air present. The dehumidifier has plenty of air present as its job is to dehumidify it.... Therefore the water picks up the Co2 in the air and turns acidic adding to the acid in the battery plus all the dust and dirt washed out of the air is not helpful also. You save pennies and destroy pounds.
VicS
Well-Known Member
Dust and dirt certainly , although such solid cotaminants could be filtered out with ease.
but CO2 is not highly soluble ( 1.5g/1000g) and the solution is only very weakly acidic, pKa = 6.37, anyway.
The effect on a strong acid solution, such as battery electrolyte, will be virtually none and most of the CO2 will be lost back to the atmosphere.
jfkal
Well-Known Member
But then...
Well all battery manufacturers specify distilled/de-ionized water. Again, in the de-humidifier it will pick up all kind of soluble stuff from the air besides the Co2, SoX, NoX. So I still say:
In emergency okay (so will be tap water [emergency]). But other than that use pure distilled water.
Well all battery manufacturers specify distilled/de-ionized water. Again, in the de-humidifier it will pick up all kind of soluble stuff from the air besides the Co2, SoX, NoX. So I still say:
In emergency okay (so will be tap water [emergency]). But other than that use pure distilled water.
dslittle
Well-Known Member
I had the same thought so I saved my dehumidifier water in a clear plastic bottle for use when needed. Fortunately I never needed it - after some time the 'pure' water had A LOT of nasty black stuff at the bottom. The bottle had been sealed and had been kept in a cool dark place.
I'd rather spend a few bob on the real thing...
alant
Well-Known Member
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula CO2) is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state, as a trace gas at a concentration of 0.039% by volume.
Hardly worth worrying about, even if all dissolved.
