reviving a dead LA car battery?
- Thread starter JoBo
- Start date
I can't imagine this would be very successful. If I remember correctly, the positive and negative plates are made from different materials - for a reason.
If the battery is dead then the only realistic solution would be to buy a new battery.
I've watched that YouTube channel before, and they do crazy things such as make pistons out of timber to see what happens. Fun to watch, but not to be taken seriously.
If the battery is dead then the only realistic solution would be to buy a new battery.
I've watched that YouTube channel before, and they do crazy things such as make pistons out of timber to see what happens. Fun to watch, but not to be taken seriously.
The chemical/physics process is attempting to dissolve the hard sulfation, but doing so produces a lot of heat, it also reduces what's left of the cathode and anode.
Doing this internet trick even on old style vented/refillable batteries the risk of explosion is quite high, on your sealed lead acid battery it's guaranteed........
Doing this internet trick even on old style vented/refillable batteries the risk of explosion is quite high, on your sealed lead acid battery it's guaranteed........
Hmm I might think the first casulty would be the battery charger. I hope it has a fuse or over load trip to protect it.
Sounds like the usual Utube BS to me.
We have in the past put a solar panel direct on to bigger batteries and just left them to charge and cycle for a while. A solar panel is self limiting with current and the voltage will get high if the resistance is high. Did it work to break down the sulfate and get them going again ?? Sometimes !! Did they become new again, hey not likely !
Jaahn
PS leaving them in the sun to warm up helps to activate them too ! in moderation !
Sounds like the usual Utube BS to me.
We have in the past put a solar panel direct on to bigger batteries and just left them to charge and cycle for a while. A solar panel is self limiting with current and the voltage will get high if the resistance is high. Did it work to break down the sulfate and get them going again ?? Sometimes !! Did they become new again, hey not likely !
Jaahn
PS leaving them in the sun to warm up helps to activate them too ! in moderation !
This was the follow up to the above video.
Yep - I'm a YouTube qualified battery restorer! Yep, don't do this indoors, but I'm going to! Zapping a dud battery, full of acid - what could possibly go wrong?
I'm all for saving money, but with some things you, really need to buy another one.
I'm all for saving money, but with some things you, really need to buy another one.
I better not mention back when I used to regroove car tyres with an angle grinder to get another 10,000 kms out of them by the sounds of it.
... or how you deal with a blocked cat! (laxatives won't work).
The polarity reversal could work in a simple wet cell if the plates are of the same design and material, but note it is fully discharged first which is intended to make the plates the same. Then charging the opposite way reverses the reversible reaction. It may work by breaking down a layer of solid sulphate that otherwise doesn't dissolve readily. It won't help if there's a structural fault. You could then revert to the original polarity by fully discharging. The Russian guy was only using 12V charger, so no high voltage. Uncle Tony's welder is essentially a transformer/rectifier converting 120V to something like 30 or 50V DC (did he say?), so > 12V but no polarity reversal. So it's just like overcharging with a bad regulator and probably works by the high rate of gas formation blasting off solids from the plates. It may be rather like how an ultrasonic cleaner works. the test would be how much material ends up on the bottom of the cell. The old trick is to drop a lead acid battery on a plank to shift the sulphation. Not going to work for AGM. Epsom Salts are claimed to dissolve them and restore a battery.
p.s. Uncle Tony's battery was apparently a new battery that had been discharged and left for a few years. Try it again with a 5 year old battery that won't hold a charge, because it will likely have a lot more degradation and sulphation of the the plates, maybe even shorted in a cell.
The polarity reversal could work in a simple wet cell if the plates are of the same design and material, but note it is fully discharged first which is intended to make the plates the same. Then charging the opposite way reverses the reversible reaction. It may work by breaking down a layer of solid sulphate that otherwise doesn't dissolve readily. It won't help if there's a structural fault. You could then revert to the original polarity by fully discharging. The Russian guy was only using 12V charger, so no high voltage. Uncle Tony's welder is essentially a transformer/rectifier converting 120V to something like 30 or 50V DC (did he say?), so > 12V but no polarity reversal. So it's just like overcharging with a bad regulator and probably works by the high rate of gas formation blasting off solids from the plates. It may be rather like how an ultrasonic cleaner works. the test would be how much material ends up on the bottom of the cell. The old trick is to drop a lead acid battery on a plank to shift the sulphation. Not going to work for AGM. Epsom Salts are claimed to dissolve them and restore a battery.
p.s. Uncle Tony's battery was apparently a new battery that had been discharged and left for a few years. Try it again with a 5 year old battery that won't hold a charge, because it will likely have a lot more degradation and sulphation of the the plates, maybe even shorted in a cell.
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he did mention in a video later on ... the battery was still working fine and showing no issues