Re: Revitalising an Acid Battery ?????

I've a fairly new acid battery but its gone flat through non
use over a couple months (not through a quick discharge).

It now seems to have a dead (or at least bloody lazy) cell
and though it will charge to 12 volts, quickly drops back
to 10V, and does not have the guts to realy tutn the engine
over quickly.

I seem to remember various addative mythical methods of
unclogging a battery cell quite successfully - Does anyone
have a good remedy / product that has worked for them?

Clive

> I've a fairly new acid battery but its gone flat through non
> use over a couple months (not through a quick discharge).
>
> It now seems to have a dead (or at least bloody lazy) cell
> and though it will charge to 12 volts, quickly drops back
> to 10V, and does not have the guts to realy tutn the engine
> over quickly.
>
> I seem to remember various addative mythical methods of
> unclogging a battery cell quite successfully - Does anyone
> have a good remedy / product that has worked for them?



Apparently you flatten the battery completely and then reverse charge it 
briefly.  However my memory is hazy on this subject and as it can be 
dangerous if done wrong I'd advise against it.  Take it back under warranty 
(they're usually 2yr nowadays) or buy another if out.

Darren

"tby"  wrote in message 
news:xNvye.2049$y86.1653@newsfe1-win.ntli.net...

> Re: Revitalising an Acid Battery ?????
>
> I've a fairly new acid battery but its gone flat through non
> use over a couple months (not through a quick discharge).
>
> It now seems to have a dead (or at least bloody lazy) cell
> and though it will charge to 12 volts, quickly drops back
> to 10V, and does not have the guts to realy tutn the engine
> over quickly.
>
> I seem to remember various addative mythical methods of
> unclogging a battery cell quite successfully - Does anyone
> have a good remedy / product that has worked for them?
>
> Clive
>
>


this stuffs supposed to be good- never tried it myself

http://www.mztech.fsnet.co.uk/electrics/elc_edta.html


Ad

Hi Clive,

You battery has sulfated.  Please see Section 16 in the Car and Deep
Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org for some solutions.

Kindest regards,

BiLL.......

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 13:19:25 GMT, "tby"  wrote:


>Re: Revitalising an Acid Battery ?????
>
>I've a fairly new acid battery but its gone flat through non
>use over a couple months (not through a quick discharge).
>
>It now seems to have a dead (or at least bloody lazy) cell
>and though it will charge to 12 volts, quickly drops back
>to 10V, and does not have the guts to realy tutn the engine
>over quickly.
>
>I seem to remember various addative mythical methods of
>unclogging a battery cell quite successfully - Does anyone
>have a good remedy / product that has worked for them?
>
>Clive
>

> >
> >I've a fairly new acid battery but its gone flat through non
> >use over a couple months (not through a quick discharge).
> >
> >It now seems to have a dead (or at least bloody lazy) cell
> >and though it will charge to 12 volts, quickly drops back
> >to 10V, and does not have the guts to realy tutn the engine
> >over quickly.
> >
> >I seem to remember various addative mythical methods of
> >unclogging a battery cell quite successfully - Does anyone
> >have a good remedy / product that has worked for them?
> >
>
> You battery has sulfated.  Please see Section 16 in the Car and Deep
> Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org for some solutions.
>


(Quote from the above link)
"Replace the old electrolyte with distilled, deionized or demineralized
water, let stand for one hour, apply a constant current at four amps at 13.8
VDC until there is no additional rise in specific gravity, remove the
electrolyte, wash the sediment out, replace with fresh electrolyte (battery
acid), and recharge. If the specific gravity exceeds 1.300, then remove the
new electrolyte, wash the sediment out, and start over from the beginning
with distilled water. You might have to increase the voltage in order to
break down the hard lead sulfate crystals. If the battery gets above 125 F
(51.7 C) then stop charging and allow the battery to cool down before
continuing. Cycle (discharge to 50% and recharge) the battery a couple of
times and test capacity. The sulfate crystals are more soluble in water than
in electrolyte. As these crystals are dissolved, the sulfate is converted
back into sulfuric acid and the specific gravity rises. This procedure will
only work with some batteries."


I think I'd rather just replace the battery, than go through that bloody
lot! Probably wouldn't cost much more than buying the acid anyway.

"SimonJ"  wrote in message
news:de9i5h$dk2$1@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...

> > >
> > >I've a fairly new acid battery but its gone flat through non
> > >use over a couple months (not through a quick discharge).
> > >
> > >It now seems to have a dead (or at least bloody lazy) cell
> > >and though it will charge to 12 volts, quickly drops back
> > >to 10V, and does not have the guts to realy tutn the engine
> > >over quickly.
> > >
> > >I seem to remember various addative mythical methods of
> > >unclogging a battery cell quite successfully - Does anyone
> > >have a good remedy / product that has worked for them?
> > >
> >
> > You battery has sulfated.  Please see Section 16 in the Car and Deep
> > Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org for some solutions.
> >
>
> (Quote from the above link)
> "Replace the old electrolyte with distilled, deionized or demineralized
> water, let stand for one hour, apply a constant current at four amps at
13.8
> VDC until there is no additional rise in specific gravity, remove the
> electrolyte, wash the sediment out, replace with fresh electrolyte
(battery
> acid), and recharge. If the specific gravity exceeds 1.300, then remove
the
> new electrolyte, wash the sediment out, and start over from the beginning
> with distilled water. You might have to increase the voltage in order to
> break down the hard lead sulfate crystals. If the battery gets above 125
F
> (51.7 C) then stop charging and allow the battery to cool down before
> continuing. Cycle (discharge to 50% and recharge) the battery a couple of
> times and test capacity. The sulfate crystals are more soluble in water
than
> in electrolyte. As these crystals are dissolved, the sulfate is converted
> back into sulfuric acid and the specific gravity rises. This procedure
will
> only work with some batteries."
>
>
> I think I'd rather just replace the battery, than go through that bloody
> lot! Probably wouldn't cost much more than buying the acid anyway.
>

And with many/most modern batteries you can't access the cells to do it
anyway. The days of unscrewing the tops and checking the level are but a
memory now.....

Steve

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "SimonJ"  saying
something like:


>(Quote from the above link)
>"Replace the old electrolyte with distilled, deionized or demineralized
>water, let stand for one hour, apply a constant current at four amps at 13.8
>VDC until there is no additional rise in specific gravity, remove the
>electrolyte, wash the sediment out, replace with fresh electrolyte (battery
>acid), and recharge. If the specific gravity exceeds 1.300, then remove the
>new electrolyte, wash the sediment out, and start over from the beginning
>with distilled water. You might have to increase the voltage in order to
>break down the hard lead sulfate crystals. If the battery gets above 125 F
>(51.7 C) then stop charging and allow the battery to cool down before
>continuing. Cycle (discharge to 50% and recharge) the battery a couple of
>times and test capacity. The sulfate crystals are more soluble in water than
>in electrolyte. As these crystals are dissolved, the sulfate is converted
>back into sulfuric acid and the specific gravity rises. This procedure will
>only work with some batteries."
>
>
>I think I'd rather just replace the battery, than go through that bloody
>lot! Probably wouldn't cost much more than buying the acid anyway.
>

Mind you, it's handy to know if you're in the outback with nary a
Halfords in sight.
-- 

Dave
SE6a