Patch up hole in battery?

[tooch]

Just a quick question, if it's stupid then I apologise

Got a battery here (one of the ones from my surf), which due to a snapped battery strap and sliding into the aircon compressor pulley now has a small hole melted into the side of it. It basically rubbed against the pulley until it made a tiny hole and acid is spilling out now. It's literally a pinhole size.

My question is, is there anything I could patch the hole up with? Some kind of acid-proof sealer? It's a shame to throw this battery out as it's in good condition otherwise and is a pretty heavy duty one.

Cheers fellas

[IN 05 NT]

dont know what will work, but you could try araldite, pretty tought stuff.

i would recomend a new battery personally tho.

[tooch]

Yeah I thought araldite might do it.
I'll probably end up replacing it, just don't wanna spend the cash this week

[Sam_Q]

I would normaly for something plastic like that use a soldering iron and melt it solid, but batteries give off hydrogen in their normal use so maybe its not such a good idea. I say the epoxy if you have to, but otherwise I think you have to count your losses

[wa5]

dry the area and try the araldite. the worst that can happen is that it wont work. and you might get a bit more out of it.

[tooch]

Cheers guys
Sam: I thought about the soldering iron but then remembered the hydrogen thing so decided against it

I'll grab some araldite and give it a go tonight.

[Sam_Q]

yeah sounds like the way to go, oh also speaky of epoxy never use the 5 minute types if you can help it, they never seem to have the same strength as that of the 24 hour types. This makes things tricky as it runs, the option is there to use the fuel tank repair stuff thats more like a paste or just use some tape to as a dam to hold it in place. One last thing I am sure you would know this one but give it a once over with some sand-paper before you try anything.

[Lachie]

I think you would be alright to melt it with the soldering iron. Just take all the caps off the top and the battery to get all the hydrogen out. The battery will only make hydrogen when your using it, and it is 6 times lighter then air, so it disapates really quickly.

That said, I just had a look in a book about two feet to my left on my bookshelf. Epoxy is known for its chemical resistance, and excellent adhesion properties, so it may be a better option if your really worried about blowing yourself up

And I agree with Sam_Q, the longer a resin or glue takes to dry, the stronger it will be. I alwways get the longest drying time resin I can