Last week I noticed that underneath the battery on my 6 Volt 1966 Beetle there was a lot of white powder (which I assume to be iron sulphate) and a two inch hole in the battery tray. I posted on here as I thought it might be a dodgy voltage regulator over-charging the battery and causing the electrolyte to boil over. Speedy Jim agreed that it might be, but suggested that I check the charging voltage before doing anything else.
I tested the battery yesterday and it was charging at a rate of just over 6.6V when idling and just under 7.5V when revved. The individual cells were producing a tad over 2V each. There was no evidence of electrolyte running down the side of the battery and the metal cover over the top was totally clean. I topped up the electrolyte level last week and it has remained at the correct level, but there is definately more white powder there than last week and the hole is a little bigger too.
I assume that the voltage regulator is OK and that there is another cause. Intermittant fault on the regulator? Dodgy battery? Any other suggestions?
