12 volt battery rehab

[Hotrod RLC]

i saw where you could bring a old battery back to life by using magnesium or epson salt / i had one on a tractor that would loose its charge overnite so i had a bottle of magnesium pills outdated so i disolved them in hot water and filled each cell ful and left the plugs out of the holes ,then put on charge for one hour , installed the battery back on tractor 2 weeks ago and it has not lost charge since anyone else do this 

[Ianab]

Haven't looked at the chemistry involved, but battery failure like that is usually "sulfation", where crystal of lead sulfate build up on the battery plates, and can drastically reduce it's capacity. 

Something that dissolved some of that buildup might give you a useful amount of capacity back? Won't make it into a new battery, but hey, if you get another year out of it, it's a win. 

[mike_belben]

Native wolf has tried epsom salt and full fluid change.  

I burn salfation off the plates with a hot charge after top up with deionized water.  You need 3/8 vent slit space above the water and dont breathe the flammable gas that bubbles out. 

Its best not to wait.  Longer or deeper the discharge the less recovery possible.

[Hotrod RLC]

MAGNESIUM SULFATE OR EPSON SALT CHEMICAL CLEANS THE PLATES AND THEN GOES ON TO BOTTOM OF BATTERY 

[Al_Smith]

After decades of fiddling with lead acid batteries I've come to the realization you can only "rent " a battery .They start to degrade about the time you add the acid to them .I don't fool with them any more just buy a new one which usually cost about $100 because I don't buy cheap ones .
Now then going back to my submarine days those huge batteries had a bubble system using low pressure air  that kept the impurities in suspension .It worked to some degree but weather it would be practical on a farm tractor battery is questionable .
Another practice was to  put the batteries on a discharge without the huge diesel powered generators on the line .These periodic  methods of charge /discharge cycles  were supposed to counteract the plates getting sulfated .Those BTW were 250 volts .

[Al_Smith]

Another thing .On a farm tractor unless it's used with the engine at higher speeds and especially if it has a generator is the charge rate will be lower .If it's got an alternator like a GM one wire the charge rate will be higher to some degree .I don't think I even own anything with a brushed generator they've all been converted to alternators .---and that solved that ----  

[Hotrod RLC]

I WAS SETTING AROUND NOTHING TO DO ..OLD AGE YOU KNOW AND SAW ARTICLE ABOUT EPSON SALT.. I WAS GETTING READY TO GO THROW AWAY ANOTHER 100 DOLLERS OR SO ON NEW BATTERY  so idecided to try the above so for i have rehabed 3 batteries dont know how long they will stay charged  but 100 dollers to me is worth trying to save  these old ky hillbellies are little on poor side these days  :D :D

[Wayniac]

how much do you put in

[Hotrod RLC]

mixed epson salt and water brought to a boil /removed cell plugs from battery .filled each cell full .put on charger with cell caps off  charged parly on high then medium which brought the solution to boiling point  / removed charger reinserted battery caps  reinstalled battery on tractor 2 weeks ago stil good to go // epson salt cleans battery plates residue falls to bottom of battery 

[Ljohnsaw]

Sooo... you don't dump part of the acid to make room for the salt solution?  How much do you add, about 2 tbs of solution?  I've got two batteries I picked up that I'd like to experiment on.

[peakbagger]

There is also the approach of using a battery desulphinator. Very popular with big stationary batteries. 

[mike_belben]

use a turkey baster with a piece of maple tubing stuck in it to draw your acid down.  dont spill it all over your hands and feet trying to pour. 

the battery "boiling" is not a case of temperature but gassing off sulfates and fumes are flammable and poisonous so be careful.  do it outside. 

[jb616]

I watched a youtube video where they hooked the battery to a welder, no chemicals involved. It was a reputable channel, not a scam. Uncle Tony's Garage.

Reviving Dead Batteries With A Stick Welder - YouTube

[btulloh]

Interesting methods. Turkey basters and viagra seem a little sketchy for me personally but if you get useful results it's a good thing. I'll be interested to see how the revived battery does over time. 

Was this particular battery less than 5 or 6 years old and just succumbed to letting it go dead?  

I've never seen a battery that died of old age come back to useful life.

The newer chargers have a desulphate mode. I've used it on a few batteries I let discharge to zero.  Mixed results, but worked on a couple occasions. I wonder if that's similar to the welder method?

With the price of batteries these days it's worth trying to squeeze as much life as you can out of a battery. If I keep a battery properly charged and maintained I usually get the full lifespan, but I slip up now and then with stuff that gets sporadic use and kill the battery before its time. 

[mike_belben]

I fix power tool batteries with my mig.  Just turn off the gas and wire to zero the  use voltmeter to see what range youre at. I zap it a few times reverse polarity to discharge and then switch to normal polarity to raise the voltage of the pack.  

[Hotrod RLC]

BATTERY NORMALLY JUST HAS ENOUGH ACID TO COVER THE PLATES  POUR EPSON SALT SOLUTION IN TO TOP OF PLATES LEAVE BATTERY CAPS OFF HOOK UP CHARGER IT WILL BOIL SOLUTION BACK OUT OF BATTERY THAT IS NOT NECESSARY CLEANING PLATES SAME TIME BATTERY DONE APPROX 3 WEEEKS AGO USED TRACTOR TODAY STARTED NO PROBLEM 

[mike_belben]

CAPS OFF

YOUR CAPS ARE DEFINITELY ON.    ;D

we here are an older, mellow crowd who understand that you are a seasoned gent who did not grow up on the internet.  a friendly piece of information, society generally considers "caps lock" -meaning typing in all capital letters- to be 'yelling' at the audience, and it can cause you some backlash from the misunderstanding.  probably not here, but out on less friendly sites or social media at large.

fill your batteries to 3/8" below the vent slits with deionized water -not tap water- and charge.  the low electrolyte level is why your batteries are dying.  i have not tried to epsom salt but will try it soon.  


i have rescued countless batteries with a fill and a hot charge. seems i need to do one every week sometimes.  it would be nice if the addition of epsom salt improved the recovery rate.  id say 1 in 8 dont come back.  depth of discharge and delaying a recharge are the major factors.  dont draw them down and dont let them sit there dead. 

[Al_Smith]

Once upon a time in this local a guy by the name of Mel sold used batteries he got for a dollar each .They were usually batteries that according to his minimum pay employees tested bad ,They would dump the fluid and "hot shot them " with pure acid ,quick charge them and sell them for $19 .95 with a thirty day guarantee .In summer they might make 60 days if lucky .Then get them back for another dollar and strip the lead for scrap and bury the cases next to a section of I-75 .Well over the years the acid from those cases caused a bridge abutment to fall apart .The Ohio EPA really laid it on him .I say poetic justice was served on that old pirate . ;D 

[Hotrod RLC]

i am sorry about my typing and spelling ability..84 years old and did not go to school to learn to type or spell // /school of hard nocks have no such studies  again except my sincere appoligies 

[mike_belben]

Nothin to apologize about buddy.. Just figured ya didnt know. 

[kantuckid]

There is also the approach of using a battery desulphinator. Very popular with big stationary batteries.

One of my battery tenders, an Optimate, has that mode and a VG tender but I cannot attest that it's saved a battery as yet. 
In the nearest town to me, some years back, a guy who owned an old motel had a side business of rehabbing batteries. He'd buy them in bulk from salvage yards then do whatever he did on them and re-sell for a price that was maybe 25% of a new one. I never bought into his thing but I have used a few that came from salvage cars when the dates made sense for the price. I have also sealed a few leaker batteries on wrecks but once they sulphate much I buy another one. 

[kantuckid]

CAPS OFF

YOUR CAPS ARE DEFINITELY ON.    ;D

we here are an older, mellow crowd who understand that you are a seasoned gent who did not grow up on the internet.  a friendly piece of information, society generally considers "caps lock" -meaning typing in all capital letters- to be 'yelling' at the audience, and it can cause you some backlash from the misunderstanding.  probably not here, but out on less friendly sites or social media at large.

fill your batteries to 3/8" below the vent slits with deionized water -not tap water- and charge.  the low electrolyte level is why your batteries are dying.  i have not tried to epsom salt but will try it soon.  


i have rescued countless batteries with a fill and a hot charge. seems i need to do one every week sometimes.  it would be nice if the addition of epsom salt improved the recovery rate.  id say 1 in 8 dont come back.  depth of discharge and delaying a recharge are the major factors.  dont draw them down and dont let them sit there dead.

Your "caps lock" comment reminds me of the guy on a motorcycle forum who once chastised me for my "gratuitous" use of italics... Yes, I am from that older, mellower crowd and perhaps a seasoned gent? ;D  

[mike_belben]

at 78 you are getting pretty salty  ;D

it doesnt bother me at all that anyone types in all caps but its a social thing .. like zipping your fly.  i mean do you want your buddy to tell you 'hey your fly is down'.. or the pretty girl you finally worked up the nerve to ask out? 

[kantuckid]

Hmm, since I haven't "asked a girl out" since 1970, I'll go with my buddy telling me to zip up. BTW, most all my bibs still have buttons. 

[doc henderson]

I graduated HS in 1978.  I had to take typing my sophomore year.  I said many times, I am not going to be a secretary.  did not have a clue, that computers would come to be everyday stuff, and steered by a keyboard.