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Reviving a dead battery!

  • 25-05-2017 9:17pm
    #1
    Toyotafanboi
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭


    I watched a video on YouTube before about reviving dead battery, so I said I'd have some of that.

    I do not own a multimeter but I have some basic Lidl alternative. The battery in question was bought in 2012 and the car it was fitted to was parked up in 2014 with the battery connected and was started once a year with a power pack from 2014 until now.

    What the video said, in simplicity, was to empty out the old acid from the battery, fill it with fresh deionised water and charge trickle charge the living sh1t out of it.

    So I did. But instead of deionised water, I used tap.

    Yesterday morning the battery didn't even light the red LED, it was stone dead, nil poua as they say in the Eurovision.
    20170524_141912.jpg

    Charged it for around 8 hours yesterday and when I took it off, I got "partially charged". Not too shabby. The cells looked very still though which wasnt promising.
    20170524_215509.jpg

    Went back out to it this morning and tested it again and it was back in destination ****ed but at least it was lighting the LED to let me know.
    20170525_120654.jpg

    Charged for another 8 hours today, the cells looked a bit more active with the odd bubble and a good healthy smell of fish in the air. Tested again and it says now that it's fully charged, mint!
    20170525_210456.jpg

    I'm uncontrollably excited to see if it holds that charge overnight.


Comments

  • #2
    jca
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,585 ✭✭✭jca


    I've done it with several batteries using a c-tek charger with the existing electrolyte. Have you got a hydrometer to check the specific density? I can't see how it can work using fresh water the laws of chemistry still have to be obeyed.


  • #3
    Toyotafanboi
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    Yeah, no I don't.

    I was going to buy a new battery for said car with a view to tidying the car up and keeping it alive so I'm curious to see how this fares out. I'm at no loss if it doesn't.

    Results thus far are promising, what is the reason that tap water shouldn't work? When I looked into this battery yesterday I could see the top of the cells dry.


  • #4
    biko
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 81,220 ✭✭✭✭biko


    I think the main issue with tap water is contaminants.
    But in an old battery, may as well use it and get another few months/year out of it.


  • #5
    jca
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,585 ✭✭✭jca


    Did you empty out the battery and then refill it with plain water or just topped it up to cover the plates? The plates were dry because only the water evaporates not the sulphuric acid.


  • #6
    Toyotafanboi
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,917 ✭✭✭✭Toyotafanboi


    Interesting to know. I'm fairly ignorant to the science behind this as you may tell :). I just topped them up, I didn't empty them first, maybe that's why it's working a bit. The battery is an 055 so it's fairly small as car battery go. I probably added 5-600ml of tap water.


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  • #7
    jca
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,585 ✭✭✭jca


    There's a very good chance it'll live again. Don't let the battery boil too much as it can buckle the plates from the excess heat. A battery hydrometer will let you know when it's fully charged, the density of the electrolyte changes as the charge of the battery increases. While they may be expensive a c-tek charger will be the best investment you'll ever make.


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