battery revival

My latest battery only made it 2 years before it started to loose charge even while keeping it on a trickle charger. I purposely bought a cheap battery this time to see how long it would last because the last one I bought was a $60 Yuasa and it only lasted 2 years.

I decided I was going to try an experiment with the 2 year old cheap battery to see if I can squeeze more life out of it. But before that, a little history about the discharge characteristics. If I pull the trickle charger off and check the voltage after 2 hours it reads about 12.45 volts (not great but acceptable). 24 hours latter, it was down to 10.57. I tried recharging 3 times and the result was the same each time.

I read that it is possible to regain some life by adding Epson salt in each cell. Now Epson salt is not salt at all or sodium chloride but rather magnesium sulfate which will remove a little bit of the lead sulfate that has formed on the outside of the battery plates. The trick is to not use to much so you get a build up of lead that will shed from the epson salt in the bottom of the cell. If there is to much build up on the bottom of the cell, it will eventually short out.

Now what I did; dump out enough acid/distilled water from the battery to bring the level down to just above the lead plates or the lower level line for adding water. Use gloves folks when doing this as you don't want acid on your skin if possible... Measure 6 teaspoons of Epson salt into a pan and mix enough distilled water (not battery acid) to fully dissolve the Epson salt. (If I had to guess maybe a cup of distilled water). Heat the solution on the stove but don't boil. You are just trying to help dissolve the Epson salt. Cool the solution off (or you might warp the battery case) and top your battery off with it.

Next, I put the filler hole caps back on and plugged the overflow the best I could and I shook the crap out of the battery to help distribute the solution in each cell. Then I stuck it on a two amp battery charger for a couple hours and retested the battery as I had done before.

Results: after 24 hours battery was at 12.37 volts. Granted this isn't great but maybe as it goes through a few charge/discharge cycles and or some vibrations from riding it will get even better? I don't know how much additional time this will buy but even if it gets you through the riding season it might be worth it. If the battery isn't holding a charge anyway what do you have to loose? Maybe a dollar or two for the Epson salt and a little time...

 

the build up on the bottom that leads to a shorted cell is/was starting on yours. i tried shaking one like a mad man as i dumped it to get all that sediment out, then just put the liquid back in.
kept my lawn tractor going for the summer.
i've heard a aspirin in each cell for a car battery. they sell some junk to put in them too