Battery reconditioning.

[recoil]

I have a battery that has had very little use, but because it has unfortunately gone flat sitting around, it will no longer hold a full charge ( wont crank for long ). I have looked for info no how to recondition a battery but they all seem to require adding a secret chemical. Does anyone know what they add, or have a way to reco a battery.

Here is a quote from one of the battery re conditioners -









The number one cause of mechanically sound battery failures occurs when Lead Sulphate crystals

turn abnormally hard and clog the plates. Sulfuric acid cannot enter the pores and the battery

starves to death. Sulphation occurs naturally in a lead-acid battery, however during the charge

phase some crystals remain, accumulate and harden between plates to the point that normal charging

will not break them down.

Reconditioning is a process of adding the appropriate chemical to the battery and properly

charging the battery to its desired needs.




There are also some great battery reconditioning video's on YouTube, but but they also say you must buy there chemicals. What are they adding?

[Yellow_Festiva]

There are little bottles of liquid you can buy from SuperCheap / Repco etc that are labled "Battery Reconditioner" or words to that effect.

[68XTFairmont]

They won't tell you what chemical it is as it is probably a cheap everyday household product and you wouldn't buy their product at rediculous prices anymore.

[recoil]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

There are little bottles of liquid you can buy from SuperCheap / Repco etc that are labled "Battery Reconditioner" or words to that effect.

Yes i have see something like this, but i thought you were supposed to add these to a new battery and they were supposed to extent is life.

[73gscoupe]

Add Epsom salts I have heard.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by recoil

Yes i have see something like this, but i thought you were supposed to add these to a new battery and they were supposed to extent is life.

I think you add it when your battery becomes tired. There is a heap of info online about this, mostly by companies selling starter kits to allow you to start your own battery reconditioning service making you hundreds of thousands of dollars a year!

Also Youtube has a heap of videos on this.

[recoil]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

There is a heap of info online about this, mostly by companies selling starter kits to allow you to start your own battery reconditioning service making you hundreds of thousands of dollars a year!

Also Youtube has a heap of videos on this.

Yes , does anyone know what that secret chemical, that none of them say what it is, is?
Maybe Epson Salt, 73gscoupe.

[recoil]

I also bought this Battery reconditioning unit a few years back from Jaycar. They only sold them as a kit you put together yourself. It was supposed to zap the Sulphate build up from the plates by using pulses of high volts. Is totally killed about 3 half good battery's before i gave up on it.

[Spanrz]

Personally, trying this method will not work. (reconditioning)
Maybe for a few months. But it's flogging a dead horse.

If it's a sealed battery, forget it. If it has vent caps, well it might work, but just for a few months.
Once the Cranking Amps run down on a battery, it's good night Irene.

You can have all the voltage you want, it can still hold the voltage for a few days, but put a load on it, and it's knackered.
It's time to turf it.

I change hundreds of batteries a year, everything from small car batteries (around 550 CCA) to the very large batteries (over 1500 CCA).
I have charged and load tested hundreds of batteries.

The secret to battery life is to not have it too flat for too long.

The rule of thumb to battery condition, is to fully charge it. Should have a standing voltage of around 12.3-12.7 Volts. If it doesn't, turf it.
It won't be above the voltage needed during a load test. (or as a test, you can watch the batteries demise on trying to watch it pump the amps at 6 volts, ahaha aka - Mythbusters mode)

Then put a load of half the battery's load capacity (Half it's CCA rating).
Whilst the load is on the battery, the battery should never drop below 9.6V.
If it does, turf it.

In saying this, all you will spend is copious amonts of time and wasted dollars only to find the battery is stuffed and needed replacement in the first place.

Originally Posted by recoil

Is totally killed about 3 half good battery's before i gave up on it.

You have just proven my method of madness.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by recoil

Yes , does anyone know what that secret chemical, that none of them say what it is, is?
Maybe Epson Salt, 73gscoupe.

I found this in the feedback of a youtube video on the topic:

I use EDTA - a salt of EthylDiamineTetraAcetic Acid, basically a polydentate ligand that loves to get its teeth (dentate) into those pesky sulphate ions that are hindering the lead from participating in the cell's electrolytic actions. I believe it is use in blood anaylsis and other biochem apps??

[recoil]

Originally Posted by BA Waggn

Personally, trying this method will not work. (reconditioning)
Maybe for a few months. But it's flogging a dead horse.

Years ago there was a battery reconditioning business i think in Bayswater, and they would sell reconditioned battery's for about half the cost of a new one. The battery's i bought from them were every bit as good as new ones, and would crank for ages. So i believe it can be done if you know what to do.

[68XTFairmont]

I had a "re-con" battery from a local wrecking yard that I managed to use through 3 different V8 cars over a period of 5 years. I have never had a battery last so long no matter how much I have spent on em.

I don't know for sure if he had the right technique or if I was just extremely lucky and got a freak of a battery.

whenever a battery dies in a car these days I still go to the same joint to buy them and I have never had any of his batteries die before selling the car it is in.