First time opening a battery, cool.

The question is a bit moot at this point, but I just took the cover off the failed reconditioned battery that I had put in about 6 weeks ago; There's this dusty/sandy substance all around the bottom of the battery, I don't know if it's an indicator of some kind, or just regular dust or junk that got in somehow. Also, there's a few cells that have this red substance coated on them. Hmmmmm. Maybe this is normal...

 

Oh, I definitely got ripped off. I've got Toaster's kit coming in the mail soon which I why I'm taking this one apart. I decided not to pursue another battery from florida battery racket.com because they would charge me for the install and then I'd just have another junky battery.
Like other gen.2 owners, I've been dealing with water in the trunk for years. I've been doing my best to isolate the leaks and plugging with silicone. It's improved. I'm wondering if any of this material above is an indicator of water damage. But I know that subject has been done to death, so I know there hasn't been much conclusive evidence of water ever being much of a problem for the batteries.