Spotlight with lead acid battery

[Matty F]

I bought a "1 million candlepower" lead acid battery spotlight & charger some years ago (for 2 GBP), and it's given very good service. The instructions stated that it could be recharged only 25 times. The battery has at last given up would not hold a charge.

I opened it up and discovered that the battery had three rubber caps over the vent holes. I removed these and filled the holes with distilled water. It seemed to soak up lots of water. After a charge it's as good as new again. If you try this, don't try the first charge with the rubber caps on, as they will pop off and fly around the room!

[Dave Baker]

When you charge a lead acid battery the volume of acid increases. If you have a flat battery with low fluid level you should only top it up to just cover the plates before recharging it and then see where the level has risen to afterwards before adding any more water.

[Matty F]

The battery is a "sealed unit". When the torch is in normal use the battery is on its side. There is no fluid level, since there seems to be some kind of absorbent material between the plates. All the water I have added has soaked into the absorbent material. I was just saying that the battery is now working again with the addition of distilled water. P.S. the torch and charger cost 6 GBP