It's probably the dumbest thing I've ever done. I was putting my bed wood back in after refinishing it and had to drill some holes in the wood to accomodate the new steel bed strips. I also just mounted my battery under the bed, very high up, the top of the battery is only about 2" from the bed. So anyway, not paying attention to what was underneath the bed while I was drilling, I drilled a 3/16 hole through the bed wood and straight into the top of my new battery. It went all the way through the top of the battery case. I can stick a screwdriver through the hole and the tip comes out wet. So, is it new battery time? I was thinking maybe I could put some epoxy in the hole or maybe drive a plastic slug in the hole to try and seal it up?
It won't cost much to try and seal it ... and I'm not sure why it wouldn't work out. Removing the caps periodically doesn't hurt. And if it doesn't work out, you'll be replacing it anyway.
i have melted plastic to repair a battery, you need to be careful as there can be hydrogen gas, so no open flame.
As long as you didn't drill too deep and go into the plates, you will be fine. In the old days we would drill a hole in the exact middle of a battery and put a screw in there that would touch the plates. Then we would run a wire to that screw that would give us a 6 volt tap on a 12 volt battery. That was done when we were converting a car that originally had a 6 volt system to 12 volts and we still needed a source of 6 volt power to operate some accessories, like wiper motors on the 6 volts. It wasn't a good way to do it and shortened the life of the battery somewhat, but it was all we had back then to work with. Just fill the hole you drilled with some sort of plastic epoxy and don't worry about it. Don
You might even stick a little piece of plastic rod in the hole and seal it over with some 2 part epoxy or other non metallic sealer. Or melt it with a soldering iron or hot piece of metal used for a soldering iron.
This works, 2 part epoxy also works if you don't own a soldering iron, the stuff that looks like two different colors of playdough. If you decide to go the melted plastic route do not use a torch, hydrogen gas is real explosive. You haven't ruined your battery you just reminded yourself to pay attention.
J-B WELD or roofing tar just don't anywhere near with too much heat & make sure the hole is clean & dry. Hell bubble gum would probably work.Probably could use a wood dowel.
or you could go to advance auto and get one of those newer plastic retainer clips for honda bumpers and **** and just push it in the hole?
Ya had to bring it up didn't ya? Fine, let me help the OP feel better. When I was a 16 year old young man, building my first Chevy II, I undertook the task of fixing a bunch of large rust holes in the trunk. 6 hours later, a bunch of sheet metal, and somewhere around 70 rivets, I was very proud of what I had accomplished. Later that night, I put on my Saturday evening best and went to pick up my gal, confident that we would not be smelling exhaust gas for a change. As it turned out, we were smelling gas instead. Worried about a fire, I drove back home to have a look. Nothing obvious but everything was damp with gas. So, I took the tank straps loose to drop the tank to find the problem. As the last tank strap came off, and I prepared to catch the tank, I was surprised at how light it was. In fact, it was so light, it seemed to hover. You guessed it. 70 pop rivets were holding the tank to the trunk floor. It took days to drill them all out, drop the tank, and weld all of those holes shut. Needless to say, it was a lesson I have never forgotten.
Everyone has done a dumb trick like this at one time or another. One time we took our boat to the launch ramp and for some reason a boat that was before us was taking a real long time, so I walked up to see what the hold up was. They had the trailer backed in the water but the boat wouldn't come off. They pulled it back out of the water and they made sure all the straps were off, they were, and the guy was really puzzled why the boat was stuck on the trailer. He said he used the boat a week ago and it came off fine, and the only thing he did during the week was he installed a new bilge pump. Yep, when he installed the bilge pump he used about inch and a half long screws and one went through the bottom of the boat and screwed right into the rubber roller on the trailer ! It had effectively screwed the boat right to the trailer. He said he thought the bottoms on boats were thicker than that. Don
It's probably the dumbest thing I've ever done. Then you aren't trying hard enough! Believe me you will do dumber things before you are done. But by asking this question you have helped others with similar problems. I drove a car for years with a battery post that was very loose.
Psssh. They make sealer just for that. When have you seen battery sealer for a maintenance free battery?
Fill it with Shoe Goo. Fixes plastic stuff (and shoes). Us guys into RC cars use it for everything. Big tube at WM shoe dept. for $4.00. Enough to fix many batteries. I like the idea of filling it with a piece of plastic rod first though.
Anything that will seal it. Hardware stores also have black plastic plugs, several sizes. As long as nothing is leaking your good to go.
Thanks guys! I took your advice and melted some plastic (the battery handle) wth a soldering iron and filled up the hole. It worked rather nicely, and I even took the time to smooth it over so it looks like nuthin ever happened. And yes, I'm glad it wasn't the gas tank!
Hahaha!! That's funny stuff! For entertainment my dad used to go sit by the boat ramp after he was done fishing to watch the rookies launch and recover their boats. The funniest thing that happened was this old couple were pulling their boat up to the bank so the old man could go get his car. He was kneeling at the front of the boat trying to catch a big rock with his hand. He yelled stop and the old lady nailed the gas and ran the boat right into the rocks and the old man went flying off the front of the boat onto the sandy shore. (promting laughter from the gawkers) My dad repaired boats for a living and went in to survey the damage and leave them his card (after he managed to compose himself).
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