I am asking for help here.

Befre we start, these are not car batteries but 1500 amp/hour deep cycle batteries on a solar installation, but regardless the principle, I imagine are the same as a car battery. They are flooded lead batteries.

They have stood for a while and have discharged to an extent. They are six by 2 volt for a 12 v system. They still hold 2 plus volts per cell but even with 20 amps being thrown at them for six hours the charge has barely risen.

Google searches having many selling "secret" reconditioner chemicals and reconditioning services.

Can any one offer suggestions or even know what the "secret" reconditoning chemical formula is ???

Mike

Perhaps get in touch with Nick Chapman via email: [email protected]

I used to work with him yrs ago when i was doing my electronics apprenticeship. He has been in the game for a very long time and maybe able to help out?

Solarworks: http://www.solarworks.com.au/

_________________

http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

Batteries that have been left a while will sulphate - ie crystals of lead sulphate can grow between the plates and create short circuits - stuffed basically.

Some tricks are the use of high voltage battey zappers and Jaycar sell such a kit that was written up in Silicon Chip last year. When I get around to wind power again I will get one -

There is a chemical treatment - Zinc sulphate I think - got the stuff in storage in our other house - never used it

Also heard of draining the cells and filling with boiling water shaking it about and pouring out and drainging (careful both hot and acidic)

Nothing guaranteed to work

_________________
David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

How does the zinc sulphate work ???? I mean chemical reaction wise that is;

Short of going to DHA for analytical grade where would you get it.

We would like to reco these batteries as they are a very expensive battery to buy.

Mike

I'm not sure it is zinc sulphate - I only know someone told me this method would work and gave me the stuff to try - I shoved it in a box and it's still there 18 years later - It's in our rental property and I can't readily get in there to look it up.

_________________
David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

Bias Boating sells a product called Inox battery conditioner. Says it dissolves sulphation.
92mls $8.95
1L $49.90
www.biasboating.com.au

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

this site seems to indicate it is possible to reclaim sulfated (sic) batteries usuing a low current recharging process, but I think a case of wishful thinking.............

http://www.semarine.com/store/home.php?cat=85

_________________
1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

You can get Inox battery conditioner from Supercrap and some reputable spare parts stores.

I seem to remember a story about a guy who worked for the electricity commision of NSW as a battery attendant, the story goes that he had the same battery in his car for 20 years, he used to periodically pull the top off the battery and clean out the crud (sulfate) from between the cells then put it back together and seal it up with bitumen. I think 20 years may be the elastic part of the yarn though

No that is how batteries were serviced in the"olden days" plates were a lot thicker and lasted longer as well. But with planned obsolesence and company profits and high cost of labour we have developed into a throw away society.

_________________
David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

CTEK chargers are claimed to be quite good at de-sulfating batteries, but also quite dear ($200+). I would search boating and campervan/caravan websites unless you can find specific solar power ones like Hanra suggested.

I'd been thinking of getting one, but have put it off for now as my two Protecta's are managing now the new bike isn't as temperamental as the old one.

Alex might be able to get a discount through Ashdowns for you if you decide to go that way.

KB

_________________

Thanks KB

The batteries are at Goolma and transporting them isn't a good idea as they dont travel well and Goolma doesn't have the power resources to power a pulse charger. So its a chemical soultion and hopefully that will work.

The gnerator (1.8 KVA) struggles to power the thirty amp charger.

Mike

Mike,

I went to Fraser with some mates over Christmas. One guy bought a new fridge, so he had two 40L fridges to keep his food cold for his family of 7. He had two 100AH Deep Cycles to provide power. Unfortunately for him, he didn't research the current draw of his new fridge, and both batteries were dead by the next (first) morning.

The indicator lights had gone black - brand new batteries saying they were completely unserviceable, supposedly throw away jobs. We were able to get both hooked up to chargers off a couple of (big - 60kVA and 80kVA) diesel generators. It took four days to get one of them up again! It was black for three days, then went through the colours (red and white?) to green. Unfortunately for my mate, both batteries were down at the charger again the day after they came back... So the first thing I'd say is don't give up on them because they're not changing in six hours. They probably are needing desulfation, but throwing charge at them for long enough may well see more improvement than you might currently be expecting.

Secondly, with the generator and the charger... Is it a modern charger? Modern chargers apparently don't always work well with modern generators. I've got a 2000W 4 stroke (but very, very cheap) generator and a 30A charger. kVA is related to W - 1kVA can equal 1kW. However, there is a variable in there... But a 30A charger, at, say, 14.4V, only requires 432W (Watts = Volts by Amps) - the 1.8kVA generator should be more than capable of providing that. However, as mentioned, they don't always work well because modern generators require a resistive load, and modern chargers aren't a resistive load. Modern generators don't provide power unless they feel the current being drawn. So a trick used by caravanners is to hook up an incandescent light bulb to the generator as well as the charger. The light bulb draws current, so the generator provides more current, which enables the charger to work more effectively.

And CTEK chargers - which are very good and have up to 8 stages (including specialised desulphation routines) are available at much nicer prices through online stores on everybody's default auction site... I saw a 25A model on there for $360 (again, online shop, high number of sales, with PayPal, not a single seller), where the local shops all wanted over $500. I don't have a CTEK, I have a Sidewinder. 30A for close to $10/A.

And the funniest thing about the guy whose batteries died on Fraser? He's now moved out of town, away from the grid, and has to rely on Solar, Wind, a 5500W generator and 630AH of batteries for power! Thankfully he's having more success keeping his food cold there than he did on Fraser.

Maybe my post won't help you, maybe it's not applicable. But all the best with it!

super crap also stock it from memory

_________________