battery oil

[Rich Janouskovec]

When looking trough a box of my parts I found a bottle labeled battery oil made in Conneticut. Does anyone have an idea what this was used for?

[W_Higgins]

I don't know, but maybe it came in a set along with a bottle of blinker fluid.

Edited November 29, 2010 by W_Higgins (see edit history)

[Guest Silverghost]

Here is the scoop on "Battery Oil"

Edison & Others developed the Nickel/Iron storage battery in the 1880s !

Edison, Exide, Willard, and others built & sold them for automotive use.

Edison stated that this battery would last your lifetime !

He was promoting them for Early Electric auto use ~

The Nickel-Iron (NiFe) battery was considered a Life-Long Battery that could last 30-50 years or more!

I was not harmed by deep discharge or repeated cycling charges.

In many ways this battery was superior to the Lead/Acid storage battery we use today as it has a very long life; and could be restored by changing the electrolyte and cleaning the plates !

The battery was built with cells in a glass or ceramic jar with a lid that could be opened .

This was an aklaline battery that used a Potassium Hydroxide caustic soda & distilled water electrolyte with Nickel & Iron (NiFe) plates contained in a glass cell with a rubber top supporting the plates & covering the cells.. The cells were connected in series with brass wing nut & wire or copper ribbon strip jumper connections..

The cells were stacked in a wooden crate and hooked-up in series.

Each cell was .8 Volts with 1.2 Volts in later production variants.

Each of the cells could be refreshed or replaced.

Edison sold this battery to the Telephone , Telegraph, Railroads , and for early penny in the slot amusement listening tube phonograph use. You often find old Edison battery jars on eBay !

The Telephone & Telegraph companys had iron battery boxes on their poles with banks of the Edison Nickel/Iron battery in them .

The railroads had iron signal boxes which also contained banks of Edison batteries.

The "Battery Oil" was poured on top of the fresh electrolyte in each cell to prevent evaporation and gassing while charging on these utility poles.

The oil would float on top of the electrolyte to give a thick protective oil film.

This would help the battery gases to re-combine instead of gassing-off while sitting long term, or re-charging. It also prevented evaporation.

You often find empty Edison Battery Oil bottles of 3-4 oz near old railroad iron signal & switch boxes in the woods near the switch & signal boxes today.

The railroad workers would use the oil and then just toss the empty bottles in the woods along side the tracks.

Look for them near the old railroad signal boxes ! You can still find many today !

The railroads and telephone/telegraph COs still used this type of battery well into the 60s-70s in some rural areas in the USA !

Edison Electric Storage Battery Co . built them until 1972~

Exide built them until 1975 !

Folks also collect the bottles, battery jars, and batteries today ! They are not worth very much~

There are 4-5 styles of battery oil bottles used over the years.

I also understand farms used this Edison battery for farm & house lighting before general rural electrification. The battery banks were often connected to a wind mill "Aeromo" generator for re-charging.

The wind mill usually used a Ford or other auto type generator.

These electric set-ups were often sold thru the early Sears catalog ! The farmer's friend ~

Electric autos & very high-end & high priced gasoline autos often used the Nickel/Iron Edison , Exide, or Willard automotive battery. Many early electric autos Ie: Detroit Electric, Baker, and other auto builders often offered a Nickel/Iron battery bank as a higher price option; As it would last for decades, if not Life-Long!

Deep discharge did not harm this type of battery as it did severly harm a Lead-Acid battery and shortened it's useful ife. This deep-discharge ability made it perfect for early electric auto carriages !

High priced gasoline autos used them also.

A friend bought a Rolls_Royce Phantom I from the Ford museum a few years ago.

It had not run in fifty+ years or more.

The old Exide Nickel/Iron battery was still in the battery box on the left running board.

My friend got the car up and running with a new modern battery~

He then decided to try to refresh & restore the old (NiFe) Exide battery.

It consisted of a large crate style wooden box with many glass jar cells inside. Each with hard rubber jar lids. Each cell was connected in series to form 6 volts.

He dumped the old electrolyte, and cleaned the plates which were in very good shape.

He then added fresh electrolyte and charged the battery.

It worked !!

Today it is now installed in the Phantom's battery box and used to actually start and run this Phantom !

It still works fine after all these decades !

And yes~ He did pour a fresh bottle of Edison Battery Oil on top of each battery cell.

If you search hard enough you can still find un-opened Edison battery oil bottles with the famous Edison script autograph cast in the glass bottle on eBay !

TRUE STORY~~~~

Believe it~

Or Not !

Edited December 1, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[Rich Janouskovec]

Silverghost,

thanks for the information. I wasn't sure if it had to do with automobiles or not but I'm glad it did. Thanks again Rich.

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

There are many "old technologies" that are just as valid today as in their day. They were often discarded in favor of products that were easier or cheaper to produce. In this case the issue was probably with the packaging and the glass containers not really being durable enough for the nature of roads found across most of the country and those glass jars being easily broken with the bouncing and jarring bumps resultant from the road conditions.

Might just be something that needs to be revisited given we have plastics today that could be used instead of glass.

[Guest Silverghost]

Jim: Don't forget the battery company wants to sell you a new battery every few years~

If your battery lasted as long as a Nickel/Iron (NiFe) battery they would soon be out of business !

Think about it ???

Edited November 29, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

If they plan to sell you 3 batteries during the life of the car, and they could sell the nickel iron battery for 3 times the price why would they care?

The hard part is finding customers willing to pay the price. Rolls Royce doesn't make that many cars.

Look at the sales of Optima batteries vs the cheapest ones Walmart sells.

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

Jim: Don't forget the battery company wants to sell you a new battery every few years~

If your battery lasted as long as a Nickel/Iron (NiFe) battery they would soon be out of business !

Think about it ???

You can bet your booties that's exactly what they have in mind. They even have that in mind with long warranty periods or the most stupid idea of a lifetime battery.

They know they are not likely to replace a battery under warranty conditions so you get to pay a premium price for something you'll likely never take advantage of with your daily driver. Many years ago when the popular thing was to market "lifetime" batteries I actually got to feeling guilty after the forth "free" battery went into my '65 Mustang. All the batteries attained a decent lifetime for a lead acid battery, but as we all know they do eventually fail.

Both WalMart and AutoZone have replaced several batteries under warranty that went into my trucks because I keep them until the wheels roll off and then stick a new set of wheels on them. Got one that is on its third engine and getting close to having logged over 1/2 million miles.

Jim

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

If they plan to sell you 3 batteries during the life of the car, and they could sell the nickel iron battery for 3 times the price why would they care?

The hard part is finding customers willing to pay the price. Rolls Royce doesn't make that many cars.

Look at the sales of Optima batteries vs the cheapest ones Walmart sells.

That's pretty easy to answer. No one is going to pay nearly $300.00 for a battery going into a daily driver they are likely to dispose of before a cheaper battery would croak.

Jim

[Rawja]

Interesting.

Wikipedia has some additional information Here

Also found a company making modern editions of them HERE

Did a quick calculation compared to the Optima Red Top that I use in my cars which is rated at 80AH. To manage the same AH rating (from what I've read the CCA wouldn't be even close) You're looking at a battery unit that is about 31"L X 14"H X 5.5"W and weighs about 100 lbs and that's before water is placed in the cells. Cost: close to $ 800.00

Even pre-supposing cost reductions for mass production the size and weight and (from what I've just read) low CCAs, and excess off-gassing make them a bad choice on a modern automobile.

[Guest Silverghost]

Has any other forum member ever actually seen any Edison, Exide, Willard ,or simiar Nickel-Iron (NiFe) battery still on an old automobile in a museum, old barnfind auto, antique electric auto, or actually used to today to power the auto or it's starting & lighting systems ?

I understand that the Coachbuilt Motors owners also have a former museum Classic auto with an original Nickel-Iron (NiFe) battery that still works & is used today; and has been in use since it was first built in the late 1920s !

WOW !!!

I have updated my first post above with new additional info ~~

Check-It-Out !

I will measure the size of my two Springfield USA-Built Rolls~Royce Silver Ghost & Phantom I battery boxes located on my running boards~

BUT~

The battery boxes are not as big as

Roger suggested above~

They are still BIG however !

Thank's~

Edited December 1, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[Guest Silverghost]

Side Note:

My Father became Chef Electrical Engineer for all Budd COs world operatons in 1948 .

He stated that on his first visit to Budd's Hunting Park Philadelphia auto parts stamping plant in 1948 he inspected an Edison Electric Storage Battery Co Nickel-Iron (NiFe) battery that was installed at the plant's electric sub-station.

It was used to cycle automatic sub-station switchgear and to re-cycle and re-set all the 13 Kilo Volt switches and circuit breakers automatically !

The battery was 5 foot long X 2 foot deep X 4 foot high.

The old Edison Script Signature logo was on it's large case.

At this time in 1948 the battery was 50 years old !

My dad worked at the Budd Co for 50 years !

When he retired the battery was still in perfect working condition.

All the service it needed was topping up with distilled water once each year.

It was on float charge constantly.

The distilled water was poured directly into each cell to proper level through the Edison Battery Oil !

The oil floated on top of this electrolyte.

It was also still there , and still in perfect condition, when the Phila plant was closed 10 years ago !

Now that's Life-Long service !

More modern NiCad batteries used in sub-stations would only last 10 years or less !

Is that progress ?

Sometimes the old products were better !

Edited December 1, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)