bringing a battery back to life?

farmallboy15 · Aug 6, 2012

I have a battery that i have never used. It came with a non
running tractor. It says it was made in 2008. So it is not that
old... I charged it and today it would not turn a cub over. But
when i put the battery pack on the starter it started right up
and after removing the pack the cub kept running. Is there
anything i can do to bring the battery back to life in order to
start and run a tractor? Can i just top it off with acid? I can
not see the acid inside of it...

sflem849 · Aug 6, 2012

I have heard a teaspoon of epsom salts in each cell might help, but I have never tried it.

farmallboy15 · Aug 6, 2012

Is it legal for me to buy those anymore with the bath salt
zombies out there? Lol

CNKS · Aug 6, 2012

Not really. When you "charged" it didn't take a charge, meaning it is essentially gone, but the problem could be in your charger also. I have a new charger that doesn't work right. Batteries work longer when either used or with a charge maintainer on them if they see little use.

Geo-TH,In · Aug 6, 2012

I purchased a charger, Batteryminder, for over $110. It was to desulfate batteries. I bought it in December 2011. To date, I've only been able to bring one battery half way back from the dead. I would just have just as soon bought 2 excide batteries from rural king instead of buying the charger.

Many clain adding something to the cells work. I say load test the battery and tell me just how healthy it is. I have a load tester as well as a hydrometer to determine the condition of a battery. I don't believe in snake oils.

Live and learn. The best thing you can do is keep an eye on all your batteries, don't let them go dry and don't let them get drained.

Sorry, this isn't what you want to hear.

George

rustcollector · Aug 6, 2012

Fill the battery to proper level with distilled water. Then charge at a 2 amp rate of charge for 24 hours. There is no guarantee that the battery will hold a charge. If the battery is still bad, use it as a core. Once the battery acid level is below the plates for any length of time, usually the battery is past holding a charge.

Owen Aaland · Aug 6, 2012

(quoted from post at 18:10:47 08/06/12) Fill the battery to proper level with distilled water. Then charge at a 2 amp rate of charge for 24 hours. There is no guarantee that the battery will hold a charge. If the battery is still bad, use it as a core. Once the battery acid level is below the plates for any length of time, usually the battery is past holding a charge.

24 hours is a good start. After that time if the battery will maintain 12 volts without the charger connected it is a good indication that it may be resurrected but it may take as much as 100 hours of slow charging to fully recharge a battery that has been run down and allowed to stay that way for a period of time.

I have found some that will not pass a load test after charging for 100 hours but after allowing them to sit for a month and then recharging again they may be serviceable for a long time.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 6, 2012

I have a batt. charger that came from TSC or Walmart and didn't cost that much. If a battery will take a small charge after 24 hrs you put it on a programming called "recondition" for another 24 hrs. It works pretty good.

Only will work if the battery can take a charge though. If it won't take a charge, then it prob has a bad cell from sitting and not being used.

Good luck

rhtx55 · Aug 6, 2012

You might try draining the electrolite (acid) out & replacing it. It doesn't always work, but it is worth a shot. Then re-charge with a slow trickle charger for 24 to 36 hours as noted above. Is it a six or twelve volt battery?

farmallboy15 · Aug 6, 2012

It is a 6 volt. I had topped off the acid. And put it on the
charger again. I hit it a couple times with 100 amps to try and
knock some corrosion off the plates. If it still doesn"t charge
after 24 I will try to drain and refill it...

ken house · Aug 6, 2012

friend says add teaspoon epsom salt to each cell. trickle charge and then add load and discharge. then trickle charge again and use.

teddy52food · Aug 6, 2012

Sometimes running them in paralell with another good battery will bring them back. I would add acid rather than water to the cells so it is just above the plates.

Va Gasman · Aug 6, 2012

45 years ago at state fair I saw a Carnie selling a tube of new life for a battery. He had a linclon with dead battery. added 1 tube the size of tube of toothpaste and the lincoln fired right up. He alsso was selling a booster for the coil that would let the Lincoln run on one cylinder!

Fritz Maurer · Aug 6, 2012

The problem is not the lack of electrolyte, but the simple fact that as the battery ages, sulfate and plate material falls to the bottom until it builds up to the plates and shorts them out. Even if you could get this crud out of the bottom of the battery, you still have the worn-out plates to deal with. Simply speaking, when you charge a battery, you are actually dissolving the plates. This is necessary to reorganize the protons and electrons so the battery is in "a state of charge". If the battery is heating when you charge it, the game is nearly over. Charge troublesome batteries outside in case they explode while burning through a short. Also disconnect the power before removing the charger clips, lest you make a spark and the battery explodes. After getting away with it for thirty years, I've had several go off on me during the last two years, one of them cost me my hearing for the day. Nowadays, my batteries become door stops when they turn up dead a couple times.

WSJ · Aug 6, 2012

1. Buy a new battery, cut to top off both batteries.
2. Remove the case top, plates, acid and plate material residue form the bottom of the old battery, clean and dry the case.
3. Move the new battery top with all the plates and acid from the new battery into the old battery case.
4. Seal the case with a plastic welding gun.
Congratulations, you brought the battery back to life.

gene bender · Aug 6, 2012

What did the hydrometer read when you said it was charged it should have read 1260 or so on all three cells. The hy is the only way to know when its fullcharged.

Dave_Id · Aug 7, 2012

Great info... I had no idea. Some things you just take for granted. Thank you for your post.

Owen Aaland · Aug 7, 2012

You should add only pure water to fill a discharged battery, not acid. The reason is that as the battery discharges the acid turn to water. Adding acid to a discharged battery will result in too strong an acid solution after the battery is fully charged. Once a battery is fully charged you can then use acid or water to get to the correct specific gravity but if has changed very much from where if should be most likely the battery is about shot anyway.

teddy52food · Aug 7, 2012

Most of my batteries last 8 to 10 years. I never add water only weak acid from an old battery. If you add water it dilutes the acid & reduces the voltage . Then the regulator stays on high charge & cooks it off again. Any wetness on the top of a battery is not water, but acid. Put some baking soda on it & you will see it foam.

Owen Aaland · Aug 7, 2012

(quoted from post at 13:31:30 08/07/12) Most of my batteries last 8 to 10 years. I never add water only weak acid from an old battery. If you add water it dilutes the acid & reduces the voltage . Then the regulator stays on high charge & cooks it off again. Any wetness on the top of a battery is not water, but acid. Put some baking soda on it & you will see it foam.

Yes some of the acid will condense on top of the battery but baking soda will foam some from just water. Overcharging will separate the hydrogen and oxygen atoms from the water molecule and actually increase the strength of the acid. The free hydrogen and free oxygen escaping from the acid solution is what makes a battery explosive.

The chemical reaction in the battery as it discharges converts the acid to water. The plates are lead and lead oxide submerged in diluted sulfuric acid. The chemical reaction changes the lead oxide to lead sulfate and the lead to lead oxide. The loss of the sulfur in the acid leave just water. When you recharge a battery the sulfur is released from the lead sulfate and the water returns to dilute sulfuric acid.

This page describes the process.

http://pvcdrom.pveducation.org/BATTERY/operlead.htm

bringing a battery back to life?

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