Is it worth it?

[Mudrig150 298]

Is it worth it to buy a battery desulfator? We have a couple batteries that have issues, especially my battery. It can get almost up to 13 volts but when you put any load on it the battery loses all charge within 30 seconds. Turning my single halogen headlight on causes the battery to drain from almost charged to dead in about 5 seconds.

 

We also have a battery with plenty of gray spots on the plates, and it barely holds a charge.

[ebinmaine 63,070]

Absolutely NOT something I'd spend money on.

There's no proven consistent science to show that it works.

 

I did some research this past summer and just couldn't find anything that genuinely shows repair or even improvement across the board.

 

If we could actually FIX a battery  instead of buying a new one at today's prices Johnson Controls and Penn would have been out of business already.

 

 

I wasn't fond of it either... But I bit the bullet and bought a new battery.

 

 

[Stepney 2,314]

It may be witchcraft, but honestly I've had some dumb luck with the things. I've dragged many many batteries out of scrapyards, and if the plates are good, I'll give them a mix of hot water and Epsom salt, and let them cook on a desulfator/charger I've had. After about 2 days, a battery that wouldn't light a pair of lamps would reliably start a tractor. And often keep doing this for another year or two. No more jumping required. I've tried the experiment with a regular old charger and it's never worked once. With this little job, out of perhaps 30/40, only one to date has failed to come back. 
Call it luck or coincidence, I don't know. 

The big battery in our John Deere rider .. forgetting the model.. is original from 1998. It's been on an early Battery-MINDer trickle since day 1. 

Edited December 10, 2019 by Stepney

[ZXT 2,394]

3 hours ago, Stepney said:

It may be witchcraft, but honestly I've had some dumb luck with the things. I've dragged many many batteries out of scrapyards, and if the plates are good, I'll give them a mix of hot water and Epsom salt, and let them cook on a desulfator/charger I've had. After about 2 days, a battery that wouldn't light a pair of lamps would reliably start a tractor. And often keep doing this for another year or two. No more jumping required. I've tried the experiment with a regular old charger and it's never worked once. With this little job, out of perhaps 30/40, only one to date has failed to come back. 
Call it luck or coincidence, I don't know. 

The big battery in our John Deere rider .. forgetting the model.. is original from 1998. It's been on an early Battery-MINDer trickle since day 1. 

Not witchcraft in the slightest. The Epsom salts dissolve the buildup on the plates, which is typically the cause for them to die in the first place. Generally the only batteries that can't be revived are ones that have either frozen or have warped plates. What desulfator/charger do you have?  

 

Mudrig, I can vouch for the method working, and I only have a "dumb" charger. The biggest issue is finding how to dispose of the acid you remove, if you don't re-use it. Once you've rinsed the battery a few times with the Epsom salt solution, you're supposed to flush the battery out with water and then refill it with either what came out of it or a sulfuric acid and distilled water solution. Do not use tap water. The minerals in the water will cause buildup on the plates.

 

If you do decide to play with batteries, do your research. As I'm sure you know, sulfuric acid will burn holes in you and whatever else it comes into contact with, other than plastic container. Don't have sparks or flames anywhere near you. There are multiple videos on YouTube that are pretty good. I'll have to see if I can find the one that I liked, even though he didn't finish the process completely by refilling with acid.

 

Edt: Here it is 

 

Edited December 11, 2019 by ZXT

[Stepney 2,314]

ZXT, mine is an older BatteryMINDer model 1500. 

I've both flushed them and just topped up with epsom salt water. Both cases seem to work well. 

[ebinmaine 63,070]

You guys have definitely got me curious again.

@ZXT I'll watch that video later.

Thanks for posting..

 

I do actually have a battery on the shelf is like to try this on.

 

 

[ZXT 2,394]

1 minute ago, ebinmaine said:

You guys have definitely got me curious again.

@ZXT I'll watch that video later.

Thanks for posting..

 

I do actually have a battery on the shelf is like to try this on.

 

 

He has 2 other videos as well I think. At the worst, you'll only be out a few bucks.

[ZXT 2,394]

I do/did have a battery-reviving project going on a Duralast AGM battery dated 5/16. I had it in my Porsche. The climate control unit has an issue and won't send power to the A/C compressor, so I have it jumperd with a toggle switch. I forgot and left the switch on overnight twice which drained the battery. First time, it charged back but didn't seem as strong. After the second time, it wouldn't hold a charge. I robbed the battery out of my other Porsche and set the bad battery aside for a few months.

 

Last week, I was reading up on reconditioning batteries to see if anything could be done to AGM batteries. I learned that they also can lose water like a traditional lead-acid battery. I pulled the top off, got as much distilled water as I could get in each cell, put it on the charger last night which only has a 1 hour timer. It sat overnight, and I checked it a few minutes ago and it had 12.5v in it. Put it on a carbureted old dodge truck that I have, and I cranked it for about 30 seconds until it started without pumping the gas pedal. It's 32 degrees outside and it cranked consistently fast. I think I saved it.

[Mudrig150 298]

I am aware of the danger of sulfuric acid. I've had experience and know the burn risk. We had a battery explode in an old truck we had, completely melted the plastic radiator fan.

I am also aware that you do NOT add normal water, only distilled.

 

So, first, should I just add some distilled water and see if that helps? The battery was fine before it sat next to the garage door for months, so maybe the water all evaporated?

If that doesn't work, add epsom salt and distilled water, then put on the desulfator?

[ZXT 2,394]

36 minutes ago, Mudrig150 said:

I am aware of the danger of sulfuric acid. I've had experience and know the burn risk. We had a battery explode in an old truck we had, completely melted the plastic radiator fan.

I am also aware that you do NOT add normal water, only distilled.

 

So, first, should I just add some distilled water and see if that helps? The battery was fine before it sat next to the garage door for months, so maybe the water all evaporated?

If that doesn't work, add epsom salt and distilled water, then put on the desulfator?

If it's a non-AGM, you should be able to pop the caps off of the top and see if it's low. If the water is covering the plates fully, then that probably isn't your issue. If it's low, top it off and trickle charge it for a while. Might just bring it back. Probably wouldn't hurt to put it on the desulfator anyways. How old is this battery?

 

If it doesn't come back from that, I'd do what the guy in the video above demonstrated and drain the battery and flush it a few times. 

[Mudrig150 298]

1 hour ago, ZXT said:

If it's a non-AGM, you should be able to pop the caps off of the top and see if it's low. If the water is covering the plates fully, then that probably isn't your issue. If it's low, top it off and trickle charge it for a while. Might just bring it back. Probably wouldn't hurt to put it on the desulfator anyways. How old is this battery?

 

If it doesn't come back from that, I'd do what the guy in the video above demonstrated and drain the battery and flush it a few times. 

The battery is only a few years old. Worked perfectly fine before we took it out of the 414-8, albeit being dead when we got it, and a bit low on cranking amps. Sat in front of our shed door and it just lost all ability to hold a charge. 

[lynnmor 6,764]

You have a battery that is a few years old that hasn't been maintained or kept charged?  Some only get a few years from batteries that weren't abused.  If you want them to last, they must be kept fully charged at all times.

[Mudrig150 298]

1 hour ago, lynnmor said:

You have a battery that is a few years old that hasn't been maintained or kept charged?  Some only get a few years from batteries that weren't abused.  If you want them to last, they must be kept fully charged at all times.

The previous owner let it sit for a good while before we bought it at the auction. Battery had nothing in it. Took a charge and kept it okay, but now it doesn't hold anything. It lights up a test light fine until you put a load on it, then it goes dead in seconds.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Mudrig150

[ZXT 2,394]

On Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at 6:43 PM, Stepney said:

ZXT, mine is an older BatteryMINDer model 1500.

I've both flushed them and just topped up with epsom salt water. Both cases seem to work well.

Yesterday I ordered a BatteryMINDer model 1510 from Amazon. I received it today. Both it and the 1500 had excellent reviews, and since it was only $4 more, I went for the newer model. I'll put it to work this weekend and see how it performs over the next week or two! If nothing else, it should be a good tender.

 

Edited December 13, 2019 by ZXT

[Stepney 2,314]

3 minutes ago, ZXT said:

Yesterday I ordered a BatteryMINDer model 1510. Both it and the 1500 had excellent reviews, and since it was only $4 more, I went for the newer model. I'll put it to work this weekend and see how it performs over the next week or two! If nothing else, it should be a good tender.
 

Mine was from before the 1510 existed. I remember they mailed me a flyer for the new 1510. I never read into it. Had my 1500 for nearly 8 years now and another before it. No faults have shown yet, besides the wires breaking at the clamps a few times. It's working almost every day of the year. 

[ZXT 2,394]

3 minutes ago, Stepney said:

Mine was from before the 1510 existed. I remember they mailed me a flyer for the new 1510. I never read into it. Had my 1500 for nearly 8 years now and another before it. No faults have shown yet, besides the wires breaking at the clamps a few times. It's working almost every day of the year.

Excellent! I hope the 1510 proves to have the same longevity as the 1500. I'm not quite sure of the differences between the two, IIRC, they appear identical. I'll have to do some research.
 

[Herder 2,354]

Well I've been following along here and have pickup on some things, an interesting post.  Cant say I would ever give it a try.  I am going to stick with the same old same old.  A battery tender, charging and exercising the herd during the colder months.  Seems to be safer in my book, that being said and yes this is just a suggestion.  If your going to work with things like salts, acids and water the first rule of thumb is to add an acid to water!! this will give you a "dilution" and not an "explosion"  You can add distilled water to battery because the acid is already diluted.  This is safe.  Never add water to an acid solution. this causes the acid to boil over and possibly explode.  Your safety is worth a lot more than a $60.00 battery. Be careful. I have heard in the past that some will regenerate a dead battery by draining it, flushing it and mixing their own acid solution. That's when the fun begins.