Hello all,
I recently had to remove a couple of batteries form my solar battery bank cause they would no longer hold a charge, voltage gets to 14.5 volts but quickly drops to 10 volts when disconnected from the solar charger. I paid over 200$ each for these batteries and it breaks my heart to throw them away so I decided to try and recondition them using Epsom salt.
I removed the acid and replaced it with an epsom salt and distilled water solution, once filled I took a voltage reading and to my surprize the battery read 11.56 volts without being charged. I then charged it to 14.5 volts, let it rest for an hour then connected to my CBA (computer battery anaylizer), start voltage was 13volts and 1 amp current draw.
After 20 hours of discharging the battery, it still did not drop under 11 volts. I will continue monitoring the charge discharge cycles and record my results but so far this seems to be a winner.
Cheers Hitman
@Hitman
Can you tell me how much salt for one liter of distilled water?
I have lots of old batteries that I can try it too.
Regards,
Romero
450g of magesium sulfate (epsom salt) in 2 liters of distilled water.
If you need the exact procedure I posted it here:
http://www.itawk.com/?blog=2012/9/reconditioning_of_a_lead_acid_battery
I'm really impressed with it so far and I'm doing another discharge run today but at about 5amps, don't think i'll have to wait 20 hours again but it would be nice.
Cheers Hitman
Quote from: Hitman on May 22, 2012, 07:57:36 PM
450g of magesium sulfate (epsom salt) in 2 liters of distilled water.
If you need the exact procedure I posted it here:
http://w2.itawk.com:8080/?action=trackback&value=15
if you cant access port 8080 just let me know and I'll post the entire method I used, I'm really impressed with it so far and I'm doing another discharge run today but at about 5amps, don't think i'll have to wait 20 hours again but it would be nice.
Cheers Hitman
Thank you, I will try it too but first I need to get some epsom salt.
Regards,
Romero
Hi Hitman,
How much voltage should be left when discharging a battery, before I recharge it again?
I depends the type of battery, example a car battery should not go below 12 volts but if your using a golf cart battery you can go down to 10.6 volts and deep cycle are at about 11.5 I think. The battery I'm testing at the moment is an Excide Marine deep cycle not sure of the amp hrs it has, it was salvaged from the trash along with another much bigger one.
Cheers Hitman
Oops! I thought we need to drain it all ;D my battery is a sealed type car battery.
Alright here are the results for the first three charge/discharge cycles, the third run didn't look very good. I will continue a few more cycles and if there is no change I will try a radient charge.
I'm not sure yet but I think this turned my battery into a big alkaline cell, only time will tell.
Cheers Hitman
After multiple charge discharge cycles my battery was no longer holding a charge again and the only way to bring it back up was to replace the salt solution in the battery, so as I suspected we are only turning the battery into a big non rechargeable cell.
I've also started the same procedure on another battery but using radient energy to recharge and so far things don't look good.
Cheers Hitman
Quote from: Hitman on June 01, 2012, 04:18:30 PM
After multiple charge discharge cycles my battery was no longer holding a charge again and the only way to bring it back up was to replace the salt solution in the battery, so as I suspected we are only turning the battery into a big non rechargeable cell.
I've also started the same procedure on another battery but using radient energy to recharge and so far things don't look good.
Cheers Hitman
Other mixtures should be tested, I am sure there must be something better than the existing solution.
Romero
Quote from: Hitman on June 01, 2012, 04:18:30 PM
After multiple charge discharge cycles my battery was no longer holding a charge again and the only way to bring it back up was to replace the salt solution in the battery, so as I suspected we are only turning the battery into a big non rechargeable cell.
I've also started the same procedure on another battery but using radient energy to recharge and so far things don't look good.
Cheers Hitman
after cleaning with the salts have restored the content with distilled water and 6 moles of sulfuric acid?
http://ecee.colorado.edu/~ecen4517/materials/Battery.pdf
Quote from: Wings on June 01, 2012, 10:39:26 PM
Quote from: Hitman on June 01, 2012, 04:18:30 PM
After multiple charge discharge cycles my battery was no longer holding a charge again and the only way to bring it back up was to replace the salt solution in the battery, so as I suspected we are only turning the battery into a big non rechargeable cell.
I've also started the same procedure on another battery but using radient energy to recharge and so far things don't look good.
Cheers Hitman
after cleaning with the salts have restored the content with distilled water and 6 moles of sulfuric acid?
http://ecee.colorado.edu/~ecen4517/materials/Battery.pdf
OK so now you want me to remove the salt solution and replace with distilled water and sulfuric acid correct ?
Cheers Hitman
Quote from: Hitman on June 02, 2012, 08:17:38 PM
Quote from: Wings on June 01, 2012, 10:39:26 PM
Quote from: Hitman on June 01, 2012, 04:18:30 PM
After multiple charge discharge cycles my battery was no longer holding a charge again and the only way to bring it back up was to replace the salt solution in the battery, so as I suspected we are only turning the battery into a big non rechargeable cell.
I've also started the same procedure on another battery but using radient energy to recharge and so far things don't look good.
Cheers Hitman
after cleaning with the salts have restored the content with distilled water and 6 moles of sulfuric acid?
http://ecee.colorado.edu/~ecen4517/materials/Battery.pdf
OK so now you want me to remove the salt solution and replace with distilled water and sulfuric acid correct ?
Cheers Hitman
check
"With the mixture in the battery, and the battery fully charged specific gravity should be 1.650 to
1.850 in summer and up to 1.300 in winter. If the reading is too low add more acid."
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~pcaffell/Battery_Maintanence_Tips.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93acid_battery
@wings
Thank you I will try it.
Cheers Hitman