On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 18:36:26 GMT, EricP wrote:

Before the modern plastic battery weren't they sealed by pouring
bitumen into the top and this could be removed to repair the battery?

First they were separate glass bottles in wooden cases, then they were
multi-hole rubber batteries, then they were plastic. Bitumen is still
used with hard rubber (if you ever see one), plastic has always been
sealed with heat-welded plastic (probably ultrasound welded these days).

My dad's MG (1932) has glass and wooden case batteries that are at least
55 years old. They've been dry stored since new and only rarely do they
have the acid put back in them (and drained out afterwards) They're
still in good order.

--
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