cappers

cappers

Well-Known Member
Has anyone here refurbed their battery by emptying out the electrolyte, washing the cells with 1:1 baking soda in distilled water, refilling with 120g/L epsom salts in distH2O, then charging for 2-3 days. Lots of you-tube vids and articles but does it really work or just a temporary fix for an old battery?
Cheers.
 
What you see on YouTube etc.. pour out the acid and set to one side.
Pour in the baking soda mix, swill around etc then pour out, clean, put the acid back then charge.
The problem is, your changing the chemistry. Let's say you do manage to clean the lead plates, remove the sulphates so you're back to clean lead. The 'acid' you've put back into the back is missing those sulphates so the reaction can't take place.
You'd need to put fresh sulphuric acid back into the battery, not the old stuff.
That said, I'm not convinced the baking soda does much
 
cappers said:
Has anyone here refurbed their battery by emptying out the electrolyte, washing the cells with 1:1 baking soda in distilled water, refilling with 120g/L epsom salts in distH2O, then charging for 2-3 days. Lots of you-tube vids and articles but does it really work or just a temporary fix for an old battery?
Cheers.
Click to expand...

Used to muck about changing acid when it was cheap and easily available... (40 years ago) was never worth it IME, unless it was a LA made with virgin lead - Fulmen used to the only brand IIRC, and even they didn't last much longer ... With batteries relatively cheap now, I seriously doubt it being worth your time...
 
Battery (5 yr old Enduroline 105Ah) been on charge for ~22h now and is reading 14.0V with 3 bars (4=full); disconnected from charger reads 13.5V.
Should I leave it on charge until it shows 4 bars and stops charging or is this the max I should expect from an old battery?
 
Depends what your charger does to determine capacity and state of charge. During the charge cycle, the charger will increase the voltage. If it's only at 14.0 then likely is not completed its charge cycle.
As a battery ages, it's available capacity decreases as plates become sulfated and distressed. The available CCA will decrease, eventually to the point the car won't start. The resting voltage will also decrease, which gives you a quick (but not always accurate) window into battery health
 
kermit_rr said:
Depends what your charger does to determine capacity and state of charge. During the charge cycle, the charger will increase the voltage. If it's only at 14.0 then likely is not completed its charge cycle.
As a battery ages, it's available capacity decreases as plates become sulfated and distressed. The available CCA will decrease, eventually to the point the car won't start. The resting voltage will also decrease, which gives you a quick (but not always accurate) window into battery health
Click to expand...

When the battery is fully charged it shows 4 bars and stops flashing. Then the charger switches to a retention charge (Ultimate Speed ULGD 3.8 A1 charger ex Lidl!).
Currently still 14.0V and 3 bars.
 
I bought a battery tester to aid such situations.. Topdon BT200 - £55 on the zone ATM - sometimes cheaper on the bay :)
 
Some chargers (e.g. Ctek) have a "refresh/Recondition" setting to try to de-sulphate the plates to restore battery capacity.

Does it actually do anything.... no idea! :)
 
DanClarke said:
Some chargers (e.g. Ctek) have a "refresh/Recondition" setting to try to de-sulphate the plates to restore battery capacity.

Does it actually do anything.... no idea! :)
Click to expand...
They do this by holding a high voltage which causes the cells to gas. This encourages the sulphate crystals to fall off into the acid.
You should do it once a year
 
You have to remember that modern car batteries don't use traditional slabs of lead as the plates. For higher cranking capacity, the plates are more like waffles in appearance, which gives a larger surface area exposed to the acid, hence higher cranking ability.
However the plates are thinner than they used to be, so while sulphates still build up on the plates, the plates also erode and dissappear into a sludge at the bottom of the battery casings.
No amount of de-sulphation will repair a battery with eroded plates, which makes the whole process a pointless exercise.

It's better to simply replace a failed battery, and swap the dead one for some cash at the local metal recycling centre. ;)
 
This am the battery read 13.2V unloaded after 36h charging.
Put it into the 90 and started on the button
Now to see if it retains charge and recharges ok.
Still think a new one is on the cards in the not too distant future.
 
cappers said:
This am the battery read 13.2V unloaded after 36h charging.
Put it into the 90 and started on the button
Now to see if it retains charge and recharges ok.
Still think a new one is on the cards in the not too distant future.
Click to expand...
Measure the voltage at the battery while cranking, can't stress that enough, it will give you a fair indication on real battery health. Check is getting charged at atleast 14.4v, preferably 14.7v.
 
kermit_rr said:
Measure the voltage at the battery while cranking, can't stress that enough, it will give you a fair indication on real battery health. Check is getting charged at atleast 14.4v, preferably 14.7v.
Click to expand...
It is probably on the way out, max charging was 13.8V and 13.2V standing unloaded.
I'll check cranking voltage later.
 
cappers said:
It is probably on the way out, max charging was 13.8V and 13.2V standing unloaded.
I'll check cranking voltage later.
Click to expand...
13.8 is for older type batteries, usually the ones you can top up. Unfortunately you'll never fully charge a modern battery, reducing its life. Often you can replace the regulator in the back of the alternator for £20-30, well with doing if the alternator isn't on its last legs. A new one will be set to 14.7v
In the mean time, put it on charge once a week to keep it in good shape
 
Many many moons ago what used to happen to batteries was the plates became sulphated and bits dropped off, the bits mounted up in the bottom of the two volt cell shorted that cell out.
So what people used to do was take the acid out, cut the bottom off the battery, clean it all out glue the bottom back on and refill with fresh acid.
Now the plates are mounted in little envelopes to stop all the rubbish dropping in the bottom of the battery and shorting the cell out.
 
If we were having this conversation in a few months time, say March or April, I'd say run with it and just keep it charged up. The reality is we are coming into the cold months and the fecker will fail sometime, probably when your heading back from the pub and the car park is empty, it's peeing down with rain and blowing a gale.
 
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