The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk battery acid and aluminum

does battery acid eat aluminum more than steel or steel more than aluminum???????thanks tom

Never tried it with battery acid, but at work when we want something have reasonable structural integrity and then "disapear" at the appropriate time we make it out of aluminum and put some acid on it when the time is right...works nearly every time depending on the amount of aluminum, acid type, strength and contact time. The acids we work with are Hydrochloric, Hydroflouric, Citric and Acetic. As I understand it batteries contain Sulphuric Acid which I don't get to play with much, but I bet it would do the same number on aluminum that the others do. I would say that resistance to acid would rank something like this (strongest to weakest) Stainless Steel, Carbon Steel, then Aluminum.

Texmo,

I just have to ask...what is it that you would use this "disappear" trick on.


Stuart

oilfield widgets a couple of miles or so underground...you can't really reach that far to turn a valve on or off, but you can build a plug out of aluminum and then pump some acid on it when you don't want a plug anymore.

Texmo,

Great info, thanks...and thank you Howard Hughes.


Stuart

I'm just a layman when it comes to acid reactions to various metals, but I have seen first hand the practical application. I'm sure there's a Chemical Engineer out there in the group that can give us all the whys and wherefores of the chemical reaction.

I don't know but i have a battery box built from aluminum and it is holding up well. after 3 years

There you have it Tpyle, practical experience always trumps theoretical supposition. With Gazim getting good service after three years I would say that you could safely rely on an aluminum battery box if you want one.

which is cool cause my brother had some aluminun, i have a brake and he needed a battery tray so we built one and installed it . then i got to thinkin!!!!!!!!!!!. thats the right order is it not?fits right in with HEY YALLL watch this. thanks tom

Have worked on golf cars with aluminum frames for twenty years. The aluminum will corrode, just as steel will rust, if constantly exposed to sulphuric acid. The acid can be neutralized with baking soda. If it ever starts to corrode, first neutralize with baking soda, then coat with any commercially undercoating product and then keep washed with a solution of one cup baking soda to one gallon of water.

Maybe my battery doesn't leak but the case is completly enclosed and showing no sign of corrosion yet. I do polish it on the outside but the inside has oxidized a bit but nothing severe.