batteries as ballast???

[Guest stopper1941]

Good afternoon, nice and sunny here in Stone Kent.

I have a few old batteries [car],if I emptied the acid out,perhaps replace with water and seal them, can anybody think of a valid reason why I coundn't use them as ballast in the bows, out of sight.They are very heavy and take up very little room.I allready have bags of sand as ballast placed there by a previous owner but I do need more wieght in the bows.

Thankyou Brian

PS. nine more days and I gain my freedom {retire} hooray

[mbird]

Hi Stopper

Unusual question to say the least . My only concern would be if the batteries were to tip over and leak the water. I would guess that even an old battery would still have some chemical reaction going on inside, and so the water could still become acidic over time, but I am only guessing.

Wouldn't a few bags of builders sand from B&Q be cheaper and spread the load on your hull a little bit more evenly ?

Congrats on your nearly retirement by the way

[Antares_9]

Unconventional, but I guess if you dispose of the acid properly then why not indeed, I assume the boat will not be crashing up and down over much.

[Guest]

you could always use the sand thats already in the boat a& make cement

Jonny

[jimbo]

Bounty Boats used bags of Cement for ballast!

[Guest]

Good afternoon, nice and sunny here in Stone Kent.

I have a few old batteries [car],if I emptied the acid out,perhaps replace with water and seal them, can anybody think of a valid reason why I coundn't use them as ballast in the bows, out of sight.They are very heavy and take up very little room.I allready have bags of sand as ballast placed there by a previous owner but I do need more wieght in the bows.

Thankyou Brian

PS. nine more days and I gain my freedom {retire} hooray

Why replace with water just leave them dry, no harm will come from that, and they will not produce any power and therefore would not short out,cause sparks or spill contaminated fluid anywhere.

Paving slabs might be better though! old or new or better still broken ones for free from your local builder/diy shop.

JohnT

[Stranger]

i would sell the batterys for scrap and buy something less (probable to leak cause problems etc)

[Stranger]

another option would be to use an electric motor and use a battery tank for balast lol