Crystal formation. Advice sought.

[mael]

[mael]

[redriderno22]

[kevinsatterfield]

[mael]

[mael]

Well, I still wonder what that crystal formation is?

Of course the electrolyte could have been contaminated with any number of things, so it wouldn't be right to expect a clear answer.

That jar is back on the shelf. It's been there for about a week since I shook it, and the crystals are coming back, but they are not long and spiky yet.

There's another jar sitting next to it which contains the 'electrolyte' from a battery I had tried alum in. That battery was quite weak, so I removed the acid and replaced it with an alum mix. I changed it again for a new does of diluted alum, so that jar contains some acid, sulfates, and alum. - The crystals forming rapidly up the sides of the jar are not such the mystery that the H2SO4 crystals are.

Well maybe it's no big deal.

[SeaMonkey]

According to Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, only a few lead salts are listed that form colorless, needle-like crystals; the acetate and the carbonate could be a possibility, the nitrate would be unlikely.

Here in America people sometimes put aspirin or vinegar or sulfonic acid additive into weak lead acid batteries in hopes of restoring life.

If people in Japan do likewise, then it's possible it could be some of the compounds that would be formed with the additives.

Or, they could be chelates from the EDTA - those would be soluble and tend to crystallize.

As for the insoluble precipitate, that could be lead sulfate, lead particles and lead dioxide that has shed from the plates.

Wishing you well, Mael, in your search to discover what those crystals are.