rejuicing batteries?

we have a cushman at work. the 6 batteries got dry (how'd that happen). i put about 6 coffee cans of water in them. i remember hearing about putting vinegar in batteries or a rolaids or buying an acid pill to make them hot again?
anyone have those hazy memories?

That's what battery chargers are for.

When they get that low on fluid I have a container of battery acid and fill them with acid.

I remember a little blue bottle on the counter of the auto parts store decades ago. Used it once on a weak battery. After a over nite charge that battery worked a couple more years.
As for where did the battery acid go?
2 things come to mind.
Boiled away over long period of time due to overcharging OR spilled out when someone tipped theCushman over.
If it boiled away then the plates should be sulfated and refilling with acid will work but may fail from to much sulfur.

When I worked at a auto parts store as a teenager owner used to take the interstate batteries that came back defective and pour out the acid. Fill them with water and charge over nite. Repeat.
Then refill with acid and charge. About half of them would take and hold a charge. We would sell them as used or use them in the stores vehicles.

when i used to work in a parts store, the track workers, would come in and buy a box of battery acid and share it among themselves after questioning some i found they would rummage the area and collect old discarded batterys, pour out the contents and refill with new, and charge them up dont know how long the battery lasted but based on what they drove it may have outlasted the car they had,[ saw 1 old chevy that actually had baleing wire for spark plug wires, sparks flying all over under the hood, but she was still hitting on 5 out of 8 cylinders note, the 'track workers' here work at the local horse track, they are very poor people, usually living in a tack room with public facilites, just about slave labor with "poor documentation" it doesnt pay to complain unless they want the green and white bus to come visit, never got it, it seems if a gent has a stable of high dollar race horses he could afford to pay a reasonable wage for their care too

I got a plastic bag of acid once and redid some batteries. Helped their life but the killer was sulfate piling up on the bottom which eventually shorted them out. That was the neat thing about the smaller amp-hr batteries with the smaller surface area hence shorter plates. It took longer for the sulfate to pile up and get to the plates so they rejuvenated better.
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The fun part: One day I went in the shed to get something and noticed the bag was collapsed. Upon looking closer, one of the corners was nipped off, kinda ragged, like a rat chewing on it!

Ha boy did that sucker get a surprise of a lifetime.....what there was left of it.

Mark

Always wondered how adding an alkaline/antiacid to an acid battery makes it work better.

You can add a solution of epsom salts ( a couple of teaspoons in distilled water) to each cell, which will dissolve the sulfates that threaten to short out the battery. Once the lead plates are gone, the battery is dead but the salts will give you as much life out of the battery as possible.

You want to look like Freddie then go ahead but you can't pay me enough to add more acid to any battery. BOOM get the idea. It's called hydrogen gas.
Walt

I don't think there is any snake oil that will work for any period of time. Try your salts, battery acid and report back.

I purchase a batteryminder charger about 6 months ago, $110. It is suppose to desuflate batteries, however the manufactor says it may take up to 2 months do get the job done. I could have bought 2 excide batteries from Rural King and have change left over. I'm not totally impressed with the battery-minder charger.


About a month ago, a person gave me a heavy duty battery he used as in his boat as trolling battery. I added 1/2 gallon of distilled water to battery. One cell had the top part of plates exposed to the air. 3 of the cells took a charge right away. The other 3 were flat. A month later 2 of the dead cells are back and the one with the exposed plates is only 25%.

Here are the simple facts. Discharge a battery and you produce hydrogen, oxygen and Sulfates on the plates. Some of the hydrogen and oxygen excape as a gas and some remain as water. This is why you have to add water.

Charging the battery reverses the process combining water and sulfates making H2SO4, battery acid. If you have sulfates remaining on the plates, your battery will never take a full charge, it needs to be desulfated. There are many opinions on the best way to do this.

Some claim their snake oil works best, however how many of those claims are backed up with load tests. You can take any battery to places like NAPA or Auto Zone and they will load test the battery for free.

Again, try the snake oils, fast charging, slow charging, then take battery to NAPA and Please report back on what they tell you. This isn't the first time your question has been asked, and it mostlikely won't be the last.

George

this truck drives all day everyday in a factory and is on the charger when sitting.
thanks for the ideas.

I"ve used epsom salts several times in my tractor battery and it takes a charge and appears to cause no harm.