✅CLICK HERE FOR A DESULFATOR ➜ amzn.to/36S7LS2 ✅CLICK HERE FOR THE LOAD TESTER ➜ amzn.to/3rx7sUF ✅CLICK HERE FOR A CHARGER ➜ amzn.to/32PYon9 ✅CLICK HERE FOR THE POST CLEANER ➜ amzn.to/3cIxsrJ For more videos like this, check out: 👉Winterize and Maintain The Battery on a Riding Lawnmower ➜ ruclips.net/video/CJmlFxcyw44/видео.html 👉Riding Mower Video Series ➜ ruclips.net/p/PLhORnVQxJe0WEj0xabaL5Nlp2jm9XJ4vU 👉Fast Fix Video Series ➜ ruclips.net/p/PLhORnVQxJe0XtBJ__9_dvHH4Mi5shjfme 👉Chainsaw Video Series ➜ ruclips.net/p/PLhORnVQxJe0UHu7rAiYi2NDYIZnghoa25 You can connect with Steve here too: ✅Visit Steve’s WEBSITE ➜ www.stevessmallenginesaloon.com/ ✅Visit Steve’s PARTS & TOOL STORE ➜ www.amazon.com/shop/stevessmallenginesaloon ✅Follow Steve on FACEBOOK ➜ facebook.com/stevessmallenginesaloon ✅Follow Steve on INSTAGRAM ➜ instagram.com/stevessmallenginesaloon/ ✅Follow Steve on TWITTER ➜ twitter.com/SteveSaloon
I have one just like it. It is really made for rejuvenating middle aged batteries that still work but had more power when new, so I have been misusing mine by using it on very weak batteries. My experience is that they very slowly, over the span of months, have increased the power on my very weak batteries, which I use in my camping trailer. I still have yet to attempt to start an engine with either of mine and though they have more power than before, I doubt either could start an engine yet. But I still have it working on one even as I type.
I got sick of cycling my desulfator and was getting marginal results even from many cycles, so I combined my desulfator with my trickle charger, enabling me to just leave it on for weeks and even months with no action on my part. but even after months, on a very old battery, results have been mediocre.
That's great. I think I will buy one. Thanks for all your help. I have repaired a lot of small engines thanks to your videos. Also I can now fix just about any small carburetor.
This guy claims to know a lot about these small engines...Well he actually does. Anytime I have a problem with.(snow blower, lawn mower, weed wacker, blower, etc.) I go to his channel and there is a video to fit my needs. Great RUclips channel.
I'm dealing with several batteries that havn't responded the way I expected them to. I was a professional mechanic for 20 years, Smog Test and Repair mechanic licensed by the State of California and I successfully rebuilt about 20 or 30 automatic transmissions. I watched several youtube videos about De-Sulfator and Pulse Repair Trickle chargers and so far this one has the best information. I appreciate your brain work here. Thanks
I have some experience with Pb batteries, and here's my take: Batt #1: Sealed batteries still vent gasses, and thus they will eventually run out of water. I have found that a sealed battery that holds a high voltage but has high internal resistance is dried out. If there's a way you could pry or cut the vent caps off to add a little water, it may come back to life. Batt #2: It has multiple short circuited cells. I have never had any luck reviving a battery in this condition. Batts #3&4: Minor shorts or excessive sulfation, which yes the desulfator can fix. My #1 tip for reviving old batteries and significantly prolonging the life of good ones: Periodically remove them from whatever equipment they're installed in, fully charge them with a normal charger, then connect them to a float charger and let them sit on the float charger for a few days. Don't forget to keep them clean too, as the crud that builds up by the vents of flooded cell batteries can be conductive and result in a surface discharge.
I park my truck for 6 months every year. 2 batteries that when in storage I have hooked up to a trickle charger, never unplug. I just tested them with the same resistive unit seen here. As new amperage and exactly 6 years old. Letting a battery sit will look it in a few months.
it took 14 days to get the internal resistance from 12 to 7.7 milli-ohms using the Battery Minder. it pretty much stayed there for 3 yrs. now, nov 21 its up in the low 8's i'm using a cen-tech battery analyzer from harbor freight, it measures cold cranking amps (the ability of a battery to hold a charge), voltage, internal resistance (in milli-ohms). you have to attach it directly to the lead posts on the battery, not the steel clamps, to get an accurate reading. thanks for the tip on internal resistance rising indicating battery needs distilled water. kj6epl de wa8lcz.
Make sure that sealed battery is in fact a absorbed glass mat and not a gel cell. For that chemical reaction to take place creating it to gel requires certain ratios of sulfuric acid electrolyte and silica gas. Most of my vehicles use a glass mat Style since they have a longer shelf life to start with. Makes it nice when you have a classic a recreational vehicle that's only used once or twice a month.
Steve i watch you religiously ..i have been a car mechanic for 30 years and love small engines too ...i have learned many tips and tricks from you ! THANK YOU MY BROTHER from all the way from Cyprus. all the VERY BEST to you and your family .
I met an old man at a dump in Kalbar, I worked there, he used to get the failed car batteries, if the sides of the battery weren't bulging from plate expansion, he'd pour all of the acid into a bucket, he'd then fill each cell with water, then he'd drop a Denture cleaning tablet into each cell, he'd leave it over night, then tip the water out, give each cell a gentle rinse out with a hose, then put the old acid back in, and charge it up, he ran a backyard business doing that... That's another way to remove sulfation from a battery.
Epsom Salts is said to do the same (Magnesium Sulphate). Tip Acid into an emptied clean non-mains water container so that the Chlorine will not cause Lead Chroide (PbCl) to form when you return the solution to the battery. The table spoon of MgSo4 Epsom Salts added to distilled water 5 Litres (not tap) is then added to the battery and the battery trickle charged. There is a guy on youtube who shows this method. Sound Science has the PB (lead sulphate crystals) are dissolved into the MgSO4 and then after a while the battery holds its charge again. The solution is emptied and the battery refilled. If you can get battery acid H2SO4 then use that. Yet to try it as I cannot get hold of small quantities of Battery Acid locally.
@@Seal00754 Sulfuric Acid is sold as drain opener liquid at hardware stores and home centers. However most is sold as diluted sulfuric acid. One brand of undiluted sulfuric acid is made by the Rooto Corporation and is sold in quart and gallon jugs. I found it at my local Runnings farm/home center for $8 per quart.
@@chemistryofquestionablequa6252 He said he poured the acid in a bucket, then cleaned the cells, then add back the acid that was in the bucket. You should of read the whole comment before you added a bone-headed comment.
I bought an automatic battery charger for my automotive job some time ago. It actually includes a desulfating cycle after reaching a certain charge level. There were a couple of times that another tech tried a regular old school battery charger and the battery still failed either by dying quickly or just not holding a charge. I took the vehicles and I left them on the charger for several hours without disturbing them and they came back and worked flawlessly! No parasitic drain from the vehicle, just a weak battery that needed help. I used that same charger on other batteries I eventually replaced, since some are beyond repair. I am impressed by your results showing similarities with a much cheaper tool! Cheers!
When I worked at the salvage yard, I used to take batteries from the pile and test them. If they had a decent voltage 8+, I’d put them on a ‘boost to start’ changer we had there that had a 200 amp boost setting. Boils or froths the acid at 200 amp, do that for 2-3 minutes, then trickle at 2 amps overnight and next day, good battery. Get another year or two out of them.
I did Fleet Maintenance for a few years we had a couple hundred pickup trucks and they also towed trailers with large generators with a Wisconsin engine that used a large battery. We did the same first for a few seconds it got zapped with 24 V and then as you described. The original battery in my 96 John Deere backhoe lasted for 14 years before it finally needed to be replaced.🤔
I am in desperate need of help my battery is at 12 volt 888 for my moped let's go and I don't know how to get a little bit turn over it was a battery issue and now it seems to be a fuel issue
Been using BatteryMINDer maintainers/ desulfators for more than two decades. Many lead acid and AGM batteries. Most of my batteries that idle (boat, side by side 4 x 4, trailer caddy) etc. last up to a decade, sometimes more, in the Fl heat. You're right. They can't save every battery, but desulfators do work more than enough to pay for themselves. Far superior to standard trickle chargers that cost the same or more. Batteries with normally expected 5 yr max life, stored on working desulfating chargers, remain reliable for at least double that.
I've been using the Battery Tender Junior 800 mA ($39.95 @ Amazon) for numerous years with very good results. Have only come across one battery that it would not save. Some of my batteries are over 10 years old and still in good working order. Have had some batteries that took 4+ days on the Tender before they normalized. Currently have one on the Tender for over 40 hours and it has come up to 12.42 volts. It continues to come up slowly so I am sure that it will come back to a like new condition. I keep one spare battery in the garage. Normally put the Tender on each vehicle battery every 3-4 months and leave it until the Tender green light is on steady - sometimes overnight, sometimes a couple of days. If I need to drive that vehicle I just unhook the Tender and then hook it back up when parked again. I had AGM batteries in my motorhome and the Tender worked on them also. EDIT: If the battery I am dealing with has enough voltage for the Tender to get started, I DO NOT put a regular charger on it. I let the Tender do its thing. If the voltage is so low that the Tender will not recognize the battery, I do a charge to get above 10 volts and then let the Tender do the rest.
Steve, we tried desulfators at the airport on airplane batteries, and with similar results. The thought of resurrecting a very expensive airplane battery was a VERY attractive option that we wanted to explore. We also called the manufacturer (Gill) for more insight, and the discussion was well worth the time. Here’s what we learned. Batteries sulfate from a combination of two things. If the battery charge decreases to a certain point, sulfur will form on the lead plates in the battery, interfering with the reaction between the sulfuric acid and the plates. The longer the low-charge status, the more sulfate is formed. Making matters worse, the sulfate will harden over time, making dedsulfating difficult if not impossible. If you can catch a battery before the sulfate hardens, you have an excellent chance of reversing the chemical reaction and put the sulfur back into solution. If you don’t, the hard sulfur can flake off of the plates and fall to the bottom of the battery, then short the plates. Also, if you “super-charge” the battery, you run the risk of warping the lead plates. One of the best things that you can do is remove the battery when its not going to be used for awhile and bring it in the house. Put the desulfator on the thing every once in awhile to keep the battery charged. “Exercise” the battery by putting it through a charge/discharge cycle. BTW, the desulfator puts out a slow charge, and at a frequency that causes the sulfur to dissolve. That’s it! My airplane battery is in my workroom now attached to the desulfator, and will swap places with my lawnmower battery shortly. Oddly, they’re the same exact size, but the airplane battery costs $400 more. Both are 12v, but the airplane battery can be inverted (-It has little lead weights inside the caps that will seal the breather vent hole). The temptation to use a lawnmower battery in the airplane is tempting, but the penalty that the FAA would impose keeps us honest.
@@antonybrady9547 there’s an old saying with cars: “Keep the blue side up and the green side down”. -Great advice for a car, but with an airplane, banking is an essential part of flying, and occasionally flying inverted is not unusual. Unfortunately, if you fly at an extreme bank or go inverted, battery acid can leak out and corrode the battery compartment. The solution is simple. Put lead sealing weights in the vent caps that will temporarily close off the breathing holes, or spend even more money for gel cells.
One of the best and most thorough desulfator videos I've seen. Good Job. Based on your results, it seems the first two had individual cells damaged beyond the point of repair. The latter 2 had degraded cells, but still recoverable. VERY good information, thank you again.
I've tried reconditioning, dumping acid, and refilling with new acid, trickle charge, fast charge the only success I've had was to buy new batteries. I have not tried this method maybe I'll give it a try. Thanks for the info.
We love what you're teaching us folks. I know how to keep a mower working for many years but, I don't know everything so, I'm always watching my friend! Knoxville Tn
Excellent video Steve. I always wondered about these, as well as chargers that claim to have a "recondition" setting. I am glad that you took so much effort to demonstrate that they can work, if the battery has the appropriate problem.
If you keep the charger on that first battery with the desulfator it should work but it might take a week or three. You can use the desulfator and the charger at the same time, just use it at 2-5 amps and make sure it does not boil dry. You can pop the top off the battery to get access to the water caps. I just bought one of these because my diesel truck 800 amp batteries (two of them) cost $160.00 each and they get sulfated every 4 years. I'm on my third set and I want to see if I can get an extra 3-4 years out of them. All these things do is sends a square wave AC current through the battery at a frequency that will break up and dissolve the sulfur crystals. Sulfur crystals (like all crystals) will break at certain frequencies particular to that element . . . It's just physics. You can buy a tester that does not put a draw on the batteries but checks for sulfation with AC current. My 800 amp batteries were testing at closer to 900 amps when new but after giving them an equalization charge last week they are now testing at 1099 amps. Equalization charging causes them to boil and lose water but these desulfators dont do that. And they are cheep.
I've heard and read (in Motortrend) among other places, that these DO work! Much of the time. Facts are, they''re not a garranteed fix for EVERY battery but they will fix batteries that CAN be fixed. So they are definitely worth the cost. At the moment, I'm attempting to construct a desulfator from parts and scratch, maybe I'll get it down maybe not. Right now I need at least 2 of them to try to save my battery bank in the RV. I don't have time to wait before winter gets here. I just have so much to say about batteries myself as being a mechanic for over 40 years, a person sees about all of it. I should have invested in some of these years ago. I'm not going to wait much longer though.
If your in the market for something like this, check out NOCO. I can't confirm how good they work yet because I have one on its way I ordered it a few days ago. I ordered their genius 2. It is a battery charger, battery maintainer and desulfator all in one.
@StringerNews1 That seems a bit harsh, even for those that do try and maintain their batteries oopsies happen. Grabbed some tools last spring to re-connect my lawn tractor battery and oops, forgot to disconnect it last fall....DEAD Had a friend disconnect my F350 battery (neg terminal) after I went away for the winter and oops the terminal ended up still touching the battery post, it was dead for months, 0 volts when I got back. In both cases a combination of old school charger and little NOCO (Chinese magic) charger brought them back to life and 2 years later I'm still using them. Somehow they didn't freeze and weren't destroyed, de-sulfation actually works and saves batteries for those of us that know how to look after them too. Thanks for the video Steve!
@StringerNews1 I agree battery maintenance is the number one prevention. But I guess you've never bought anything where people have not done battery maintenance before and sometimes you buy small equipment like a riding mower or a push mower or something with a bad battery and the battery itself is pretty darn expensive. At least I realize there's something like this now that exists instead of having to go out and drop 80 plus bucks on a battery.
@@ronaldstrayer580 Something that is interesting to hear if it actually does its job. Just like Steve states it all depends on the issues with a certain batt. Hey Ron, let me know if it does its job correctly. Thx much.
Hi Steve. This desulfator works great. I bought the one in the description. As a side note. I tried it on my 18v dewalt drill Ni-Cd battery that was not lasting as long as it used to and after 3 desulfator cycles the drill is working as good as new. There is a warning not to use this on lithium batteries. So I’ll stick with regular lead acid batteries. Thanks for all the great videos. I appreciate the tips and tricks to keeping my small engine equipment running properly.
Right on, North Route! You're one of my favorite characters in my YT world - certainly #1 in the outdoors power tool fix/care/adjust/safety knowledge base! I'm down here in 'Righthand' Missouri (up in the old Ozarks mountains) where I've been watching for more than a few years & learning SO much useful info from your channel in an entertaining, yet frank, well-paced format you've created! A cognoscenti working man hoot! And then there's the pleasant tease of the brew variety AND the repair time estimate per job related in units of brew! I keep trying to get my friends/neighbors to check you out, but they have such short attention spans, are jealous of me because I learned to read & cipher, and/or they already know as much or more than you(!) When I used to have a power tool issue I fell for the neighborly advice 'Oh, you should let my cousin Shane fix your chainsaw...he can fix about anything!' Then a week later I get it back worse off broke - terminally (thinking 'how or why the F did this shear off!?' And didn't Shane drop out of school in 8th grade and he's been actin' flitchy since he got out of his 120 day shock last month!) So then, I just offer it back to them to keep it. Thanks for trying, but now only I break my own S^%$(!) Scrapyard & cigarette time, boys! A clever scam in reality. Oh, and speaking of that, here come a couple dudes down the river in a canoe - I gotta go get my bow and banjo reel quick-like! Bob out!
I have used the BatteryMINDer brand maintainer / desulfator for the past 15+ years. Works great!! I replace my auto batteries when I hit the 5 year mark as a preventive maintenance -- even when it passes the load test. The key is to keep them hooked up / or attach frequently and let it run as long as possible. Desulfators takes longer than 3 days to work - the more sulfated the battery, the longer it takes. Hook up the ring terminals directly to battery so you can plug in when vehicle or machine is not in use.
I bought 2 charger/desulfators off Ebay. Very cheap price. I desulfated 2 AGM Motorcycle batteries and my car battery. All 3 are over 8 years old now and still strong. The car battery is a cheap Everstart battery from Walmart.
Can't help but chuckle at your "idk but i think it deserves a thumbs up". Ever the salesman, Sreve. Interesting topic. Winnipeg is suffering a deep freeze right now, with over night temps in the -45 wind chill range. Batteries are freezing left right and centre. My sister already having problems with her 2016 VW Golf. We need people thinking about battery blankets and battery health in times like these. Most people have a block heater and assume that covers everything. Ignorance is bliss at the dealerahip.
Steve's saloon is a riot Fun to watch and VERY informative. Have used some of his fixes and what a difference they make. Have shared a few things with friends and the are amazed
Yea, That Battery Desulfator does Work and it works very very well, It will restore about 85% of sulphated batteries, I bought a bunch of them :) the 2 amp and the 4 amp version, I gave some away to my sons, I use them on my solar lead acid batteries, I have a 500 amp carbon battery load tester, On one battery a group 27 loaded down to 9.6v it only produced 100 amps, I charged the battery with a 6 amp battery charger and the 4 amp desulphanator over night and I was able to get 400 amps at 9.6v load on the Battery tester, yes they work and work well, some batteries may have a bad cell, and it wont help those batteries, the batteries that are sulphated, they work great :) Take care, Chellie Retired, Female Fleet Equipment Mechanic.
My lawn tractor is on a trickle charger when not being used. The battery is 3 years old. The trickle charger showed the battery was 100% chareged, but it would not turn the tractor over. Used a NOCO Genius charger and desulfator. After one treatment, the battery worked as it should. I now rotate 2 trickle chargers that are also desulfators on all of my vehicles.
Super glad I found this channel - I am absolutely going to grab that desulfator and a load tester and try my hand at recovering some old batteries. I'm trying to find an inexpensive way to accumulate power storage for solar, and I semi-regularly come across old car batteries people have thrown out. I suspect people might just be doing the lazy thing and some of these batteries could be fixable... if I get even a couple of them working again, this will be a total win.
I like your videos, I like your attitude. You seem like a good guy. Yours are the only videos that I don't skip the ads on; I just mute them and let 'em run. I know it's probably only a couple of pennies, but every little bit helps I hope.
Bought a Noco 5amp battery charger which also has repair mode (lead acid repair only). Have been able to revive/repair 2 batteries so far, it works. Another benefit is that the Noco will recognize batteries to begin charging as low as 1.5 volts. It has a "force" mode that enables this feature. New smart battery chargers will not recognize and begin charging on batteries below 12 volts. Keep buying new batteries, or give it a shot. Topping of occasional use batteries with 2 amp trickle charge is key to longevity and performance of battery.
Dear Steve, I've watched quite a few of your videos and am completely impressed ! Your honesty and integrity are only surpassed by your sense of humor and great taste in beer ! Thank you buddy !
Great job making the video Steve, you brought up a good point that battery desulfators do not work on all batteries, however you can leave the desulfator attached while charging a battery. I have a Pulsetech PowerPulse battery desulfator that I leave on my BMW battery for the past three years, and the car starts without any problems even though I drive it about 5 miles per day, 25 miles a week. Pulsetech claims that their patented frequency can extend the life of a battery three times or more, I'd like to see you do a test on them. Also the Noco Genius 1 charger you have on your Amazon links has a mode to desulfate batteries, but I believe it's uses voltage spikes to remove the sulfation.
I admire what you do for your subscribers Sir, very informative and easy to understand, i fixed my grass trimmer & lawn mower because of your videos, i am a subscriber from the Philippines.
Hey Steve, how's it goin....I've had variable results recharging an ' unchargeable' battery by using a small solar panel.....the panel puts out very little current but at a higher voltage. These panels can measure 19 volts with no load attached and drop considerably when you attach the dead battery but if left for a couple of weeks outside, I've had em charge back up to useable voltage.....it's said if a battery discharges below 6.6 volts (1.1v per cell ) it is usually unrecoverable.....I've recovered batteries, albeit not really old batteries, from virtually stone dead...! It surprised me how well it worked but the lesson here really is , get an inexpensive 10w solar panel to maintain the battery in the first place....you don't need a controller at that output level, just hook it up n leave it pointing towards that big shiny thing in the sky.....
Thank you Steve! I just ordered all three. I live on a lake, so I have a pontoon with 4 battery. A boat with 2, two ride on tractor, and my old pickup truck and a motorcycle. Good lord if I can save one or two it will be worth it. Most batteries die because the lead breaks or is full of sulfur. Well broken lead is a no go .. but sulfur can now be fixed.. (sometimes..) Thanks again!
Sweet! look forward to trying that on some batteries. So I had a saw with low power, would die almost instantly if I wasn't holding the throttle. finally figured out the exhaust spark arrester is plugged. I couldn't find any videos that you have done on spark arresters so I thought I would post about it here. Super easy fix. Wish I had checked the spark arrester before bringing it to the shop, where they rebuilt and then replaced! the carburetor for a hefty sum that didn't fix the problem. Thanks for all your time and money saving tips!
For my many years working as auto technician, I noticed the main factor in reviving a battery depends on the age of the battery, if it has any dead or shorted cells and how long the battery had time to sulfate. If the battery is over 5-6 years old or the battery has been sitting for few years, the reconditioning cycle doesn’t work. Also if it’s a small motorcycle battery I never had any luck bringing them back.
I think the key is to desulphate before the battery is completely broken down in some way so that whatever slow build-up occurs can be broken up before it cause more serious permanent issues. I remember my grandfather building a similar “memory zapper” for nicad cells which were quite popular in those days, and it worked too, but not on totally dead ones.
Thanks Steve , went out to the shed with a dozen ,no trickle , the full charge and left very energized and ready to start something . Cheers from Bowen Island Canada .
Hello Steve, I've been using the baking soda+water clean out and distilled water+Epsom salt 2 refill. I've had 100% success so far on 3 of our old batteries. It's takes a little time but well worth the time and effort. Keep it up Steve! D.R. Small Engines out!
Steve, I use battery pulse chargers regularly. The chips in the ones made by VDC Electronics was invented by Texas Instruments and was designed for the space program. You can't just make a quick trip to outer space to service solar-powered satellite systems when they need it. Regular use prevents or minimizes sulfation in lead acid batteries. By pulse charging the batteries, the lead sulfate crystals are returned to suspension in the electrolyte making the batteries last longer. It's not uncommon to double the life of the battery. My experience with them is related to emergency backup power for amateur (ham) radio use, although one of our club's radio towers experienced some interference from the pulsing of the maintainer. We had to remove it from the permanent installation and go back to a standard float charger. I highly recommend them.
@@PapaWheelie1 Hmm maybe I know the solar panels they use on space vehicles are Far better than what's sold to us Sure storage would have been updated in an industry where weight is crucial
I bought the one you show last spring because my deep cycle marine boat battery had failed the year before (it wouldn't hold a charge, had to be boosted all summer). It recovered my battery and it worked the summer until fall when it started not holding a charge again. I will try it again but even if it doesn't recover this battery again it still saved me a boating season. It has saved other battery's as well so the $25.00 was recovered on the first save
You definitely get a thumbs up. But in my 40 years of experience sulfated batteries don't recover to their full potential. You can get some capacity back and it really depends on the length of time they have been sitting in their sulfated state. My opinion. Good video.
When you get excited during your videos you light up and it is contagious! I always feel better after watching one of your productions, even if I was already in a good mood! One of my favorite videos, and one I shared with folks at work, (Auto Care Center at my local Wally World) was when you showed us how to fix a flooded engine. When you pulled the gas can over to the spark plug hole, then look dead straight into the camera and said, "Oh, yes I am!" I actually laughed out loud and startled my poor cat! Stay safe, My Brother!
Hi Steve, I got a optimate 4 for my motorbikes to keep on charge, and used it on an old 150amp leisure battery ( have two of them connect together with an inverter for mains power down my allotment) take two to lift them like the one's you have in the big RV's (lov erm) , anyway at ten yrs old one dropped to 4volts, and wouldn't charge up with modern charges, so stuck optimate on it and took 3 weeks to get it back to like new, it lasted another 6yrs before it eventually died, the other one is still going at 18 yrs , have a 2.4w solar panel just keeps it topped up, think I got my monies worth out of both batteries and charger. Lov your vids well put together.
I bought a NOCO Genius charger w/ the repair/desulfate feature. Darn thing worked great and brought back the battery. I've only used it once but it's already 1/2 paid for itself. Right on Steve!!!
For battery #2 you can trick the de-sulfator by putting a second battery in parallel to get the start voltage higher than 10V. Once the de-sulfator turns on you remove the second second battery and let it do it's thing. I've recovered lead-acid UPS batteries this way many times.
Very interesting... I have a 5yr old UPS battery that refuses to run anything for more than a second but doesn’t detect as anything other than fully charged with full capacity, and I really need my UPSs because I’ve moved to a small island where the power goes out all the time; we have a generator for that, but it takes time to start (if it’s battery is good) and then stabilize RPM before the transfer switch switches to it’s power, so having my 3D printer and controlling PC on a UPS is essential because successfully resuming a print after a power failure is pure fantasy in my opinion.
@@SchwaAlien Sounds like the battery is both sulfated and dried out. You can try adding distilled water to each cell to just cover the plates and then use a desulfation. Even better if you have an intelligent charger with a recovery and maintenance mode. Worst case scenareo you could try replacing the battery with a marine deep cycle battery. It would take much longer to charge with the UPS internal charger but it would also last longer when the power goes out. I have an ACP smart UPS 620 that I have done this to. I saw no point in paying close to $100 for an 18AH battery so I got a second hand marine battery (600 CCA and 140 min reserve capacity and designed for this type of draw), cut a large enough whole in the side panel of the UPS and ran the battery cables out the side and connected to the battery terminals. I made sure to charge it fully before connecting it. It'll run my 24" TV for a full day before the UPS starts warning me that reserve is getting low.
The energizer battery is sold by Walmart. Chances are they never fully charged it the first time. The sulphate is just resetting the memory of the battery. Don’t ask me how it has a memory but they do. The first charge was only 11.5
Several years ago I purchased a electronic battery charger that has a desulfate cycle. It has saved about 1/3 of the batteries I have used it on. I want to learn more about why some conditions were corrected and why some were unsuccessful.
Great Video.. not sure if you tried this but any battery that doesn’t hold 10v to activate the desulfator, wire another battery or 12v jumper pack to it and run them all connected. I’ve got some to back to life that way. Usually a good 30mins and you should be able to take off the secondary battery from the connection as long as it’s reached enough volts. Gotta do what you gotta do in these times.
This one would be though for Todd to do. He is more about finding out which product works best. If he was going to test 10 different "desulfators", he would probably need 20+ identical, or nearly identical, sulfated batteries to test them out on.
.....or test brand new batteries that he each delivers exactly the same abuse to to render them equally defective. They wouldn't all become equally defective but testing for the matched ones is viable . Small transparent scooter batteries would make most sense .Helps to see the sulphation in the batteries when evaluating.
@@billlovett4256 I mostly took it that way, but then it became an interesting thought experiment on how one could effectively do testing of multiple brands of "desulfators".
Steve that video was right on the button, I use a lot of batteries either in powered pressure sprayers or in ride on machines, I am often annoyed when relatively new batteries -less than a year-give up the ghost and trying various charging methods to restore the batteries does not work. Batteries are often charged discharged many times for a couple of months of the year then left charged for the intervening period, then fail when next used. you have provided an excellent analysis and I will probably give one of these units a trial, instead of junking the batteries, many thanks and keep up the good work
There are many battery tenders that have the desulfator function built in and do it continuously. If you want your battery to last years longer, put one of these on all the time (for batteries that sit for long periods).
I got a NOCO 5 amp after trying the 1 amp. The 1 amp is designed for smaller batteries. For my pickup trucks, they need the 5amp. I used it without disconnecting the battery, in the truck. One truck, it got so weak the engine wouldn't spin. In 3 day, it ran the truck for a day. After another week on the charger it seems cured. The other truck seems to turn over slow. Always starts, but sits at 12.2 volts, like it's ready to die. It's been done 2 weeks in a row, disconnecting for 2 days to use the truck and then cycling again. It's getting better but not fixed yet. At least it hasn't died in the middle of the winter.
@@StevesSmallEngineSaloonI HAVE A REQUEST- "SWEET PROJECT CARS" channel on youtube says that they have for years been bringing back dead batteries with welder current. i believe 160amp for car battery and 200amp for deep cycle marine batteries, could have it backeards. if true this could be a game changer. NEW VIDEO??? 😉😉
I learned a life lesson in my mid 30's.... Get the right tool for the job at hand. Same applies here... That tool works when used on the right job. Excellent video Steve.
I use lots and lots of 12V batteries--mostly the smaller kind that go into larger power backup devices. I bought a device a while ago that not only provides the nominal voltage of a battery, but also gives a readout of the internal resistance of the battery, and the CCA output of the battery. I've tried to 'repair' MANY 12 V batteries, either those that appeared OK, with a voltage of 12+, but a high internal resistance (which indicates a battery that will have low CCA capacity--also confirmed on the device), and they have NEVER been fixable. I've also tried to 'fix' lower voltage (lower than 12V) batteries (which usually also have low CCA and high internal resistance), and again I've never succeeded. It would be most enlightening if you were able to check the CCA and internal resistance of the totally non-repairable batteries, and also for the 2 you succeeded fixing. My best guess is that you 'desulfated" a small chemical spec that was causing a small short between cells, or in a cell, but essentially the 'bad' battery wasn't that bad. If there's been lots of internal degradation so that the internal resistance is high, I don't think (from my experience) that there's any repair possible. I'd love to know if I'm right or wrong
You would need new plates inside the batts and new electrolyte then you would have to reseal the plastic case after 😉 You already know the score on fixing batteries ☺️
I have seen people on YT using a welder to provide enough current to break up badly sulphated battery cells, not sure exactly what conditions can be corrected vs. pulse methods but it seemed like it might be worth a try for some stubborn ones.
your honest input is in minority in this comments section. if reconditioning acid batteries was 'that easy' we'd have huge businesses doing just that. ppl Love to believe bs :).
Great video, thank you. On the batteries that did not work, did you check with hydrometer? If one or 2 cells remain low, plates may be shorted out. So battery could be bad. On the batteries yto try de-sulfate that at less then 10 volts - apply a trickle charger or a charger rated at less than 2 amps and attach the de-sultater with Charger applied this will all the de-sulfater to do it's job Good luck
Thank you so much for the in depth testing! The claims made sense in my head for a long time, I just never did some research before now. If you can save a couple batteries, it's a very cheap investment with big dividends!
Thanks Steve.... even only working on half the batteries you tested it on is a big plus.... as you pointed out.... saving the lawn tractor battery made it pay for itself!
I've always wondered about those things, I've emptied a battery and refilled it with new electrolyte and it held up good enough for my figure eight derby car.
Hi Marshall, I got mine from Northern Tool . I've been very happy with the way they have maintained my batteries . I use them for the lawn tractor and the generator . The batteries are 7 years old and still start on demand .
Oh, here's the other thing. People think you put these on for a day or maybe a week and that's all. This is not the case. It might take several weeks or maybe 2 to 3 months of desulfating to bring a battery back.
I did my own research into this topic starting about 10 years ago. Had to make my own version of the desulphator so it kept trickle charging at the same time so a battery could be left desulphating for a long time (years in the end) with regular checks on the electrolyte level. I used automotive batteries that were dead flat IE had been sitting on a concrete floor for who knows how long but they didn't have a millivolt in them. They had to be checked for shorted cells that can happen when the sulphate crystals grow so large the plates get distorted (that's a throw-away unsalvagable battery). End result was I could recover up to about 50% capacity in the best cases but it took so long it wasn't worth the trouble. Experimented with alkaline cells even earlier and found it depended on the brand as to whether flat(ish) AA & AAA cells could be improved with longterm (very) gentle constant current trickle charging and yes it does work, even lowered the internal resistance of suitable candidates which just happened to be the premium brands. Again, it took so long that it wasn't really a viable process.
I have a similar device that stays on the battery and desulfates as the battery is in use. I used to have to change out 5 batteries on my motor home every 2 or 3 years. Now I’m still on the same batteries for 7 years. It cost me $50 for the device and was well worth the money.
I agree! Mine works great. I have restored a few batteries. Only one really old one didn't, but I don't know why it failed- if the plates came loose- NOTHING will fix it except a complete teardown, tear apart and r building it. An EXTENSIVE process!
I use the BatteryMinder which both charges and desulfates. Keep my motorcycle connected pretty much whenever it's parked. The lawn tractor is on one all winter. Motorcycle is from 2014 and is the original battery. Lawn tractor is from 2012 and is the original battery. I've hooked it up to batteries that were weak and most came back enough to run well for months. I put the big tractor on it and it makes a huge difference in winter starting power.
Great stuff. Keep them coming. I had a battery maintainer/desulfator powered by 4 X 6 solar cell. Perfect for my sailboat parked in the anchorage for months on end. It worked a treat. John Out.
Good video! You could invest in a smart charger like a Ctek msx 25. That thing does the de-sulfating trick, loads at 25 amps, and if needed trickle charges. Also it is safe, it stops charging if there's a problem. We bought it after we had a battery explode in the workshop due to old charger over-charging old battery.
It generates a specific frequency. That the sulphuric crystals resonate to/at. And sulphuric crystals cover the lower portions of the lead plates, rendering those portions useless. As in the portion covered in the crystals are blocked from receiving the charge. Example: you can “charge” the battery conventionally, and the charger will say 100% charged, yet when you put the slightest load on it, it depletes practically immediately. If 50% of the plates are covered in crystals, then when your charger says 100%, its only 100% of FIFTY PERCENT of its designed capacity. The desulphator, generates the exact frequency that sulphuric crystals resonate at. And in doing so the crystals burst 💥 back into solution ( raising the acid levels) back to what they previously were or real close. Also if enough crystals form before desulphation is done, they will form “ bridges” between plates. If the bridge becomes large enough, then the plates “short” out killing the cell eventually. I swear by desulphators. They truly work. The sulphation is caused by repeated charging and discharging over the “life” of the battery. Only a desulphating charger can prevent it.
@@cgmarch2359 , depends on how bad they are. Modern desulphators simply tell you when the percentage of charge is reached by a digital number displayed. Pushing a button will tell you current voltage in the battery ( specifically when you first hook it up is time to look) as well as percent of charge in the battery. Im assuming when battery shows 100% charged ( with a desulphating charger NOT conventional) , that it has attained a 100% by completely clearing all crystals into solution again. When I did my trolling motor batteries, my (old charger) I wasn’t getting a lot of use out of the battery nor really strong power like when new. (Reason was because only 100% of what plates were not sulphated, were only being charged, vs the WHOLE PLATE (remember crystals that cover plate- that portion will NOT hold a charge) And yet the old charger, would show me 100% charged. Afterwards when using the desulphating charger, even after the first complete charge, the trolling motor was running like a banshee, and I could run TWO FULL days of fishing before I needed to recharge. It was a game changer. Also every time you charge with it, (if it hadn’t “completely “ gotten every crystal ) that it will teach a point of its as hood as it can get. Might not be exactly like a brand new battery, but you won’t care because the improvement is so noticeable. And constantly using one insures no more accumulated build up of crystals. And ALWAYS CHECK BATTERY FLUID BEFORE AND AFTER CHARGING, refill with ONLY DISTILLED WATER. After using a desulphating battery charger,
@@cgmarch2359 depends on size of battery motorbike size done over night big battery (150amp RV type) took couple weeks but mines not ment that size it's daisy chained to two motorcycles,
Thanks, Steve!! Your video confirmed for me what I suspected... that it won't work for "all", but just might be worthwhile in my case!! Stay safe!! We NEED more videos from you, my Friend!!
Guinness straight from a can never. Cooled and properly poured into a well shone glass unbelievable. Believe it or not that small ball you hear rattling about in the can is a very smart piece kit . So go and do it properly and it will be like sweet Milk. Greetings from Ireland and great information from your self as always.🥃
It’s a ‘ widget.’ It’s in Boddington’s too. Both of which just happen to be in my top three beer list. The other is Yuengling. All three deserve a nice tall glass or beer mug. Cheers! 🍺
@StringerNews1 A good pub will also make sure the lines, from the Keg to the tap are always clean and serviced. Back in the day if you came into a busy Dublin pub , the bar man could have 50 or greater pints Guinness at different stages, ready for the busy lunch time trade. When that pint was drank, always a new glass for the next pint.😄
@StringerNews1 Love to have you visit. AFTER everyone has been vaxx’ed for Kung Flu. Right now pretty much everything is locked down, and will likely be that way until fall. Unfortunately we have a useless tool for a Sub-Prime Minister and vaccines are scarce to non-existent! As a side note, I made a very good living in the small engine/ power equipment field until I retired at 55.
I did a couple using the rinse them out and refill with distilled water and epsom salts technique. One lawn mower battery worked, one did not. The one that worked was completely dead in the water too. It wouldn't take a charge at all. Sat dead at my neighbors for well over a year, then another year at my place. Just for the hell of it, I tried it after stumbling on a video. Still working fine and holding a charge after about 6 months, even in Michigan weather. Though one cell is a little weak.
Some of the plates can build up an insulating layer. You can sometimes break through it with a high voltage. I took a 120 volt 60 watt incandescent bulb 1N4007 diode in a half wave circuit and made a 12volt lead acid battery part of the circuit. The battery then faces 170 volt half wave pulses which push 12 times harder than 14 volts when the battery then conducts it is current limited to a half amp by the light bulb. .Not good as new but gives it a little life back..A lead acid 12 volt should not be discharged below 11.5 volts for best long life after that the plates have lost too much material to the acid to plate itself back on like it was before.
I have saved a few car batteries with a welder, turned the amps up to about 100 to 120 and connected the the ground to the negative terminal. Then for one second at a time touch the positive terminal with the positive lead, there will be sparks, an did that about 3 or 4 times. it burns off the short cuircut connections between the cell membranes and revives the dead battery. Does not alwys work and might be risky, but it does work.
good video. i have one that plugs into an AC socket that can pulse and charge the battery and i find that for expired batteries by itself will not work. You have to do the usual restore of "insert correct fluid" and do some procedure relating to pulsing and charging in a few cycles to get it to work. I plan to try it with a small 8 year old lead acid battery i got which i believe is gel. I cant really tell as theres not many words to explain it but even sealed batteries also have caps inside that you have to take the cover off to be able to open. Just make sure to charge the battery first so you dont get gases coming out.
Hey Steve, quick tech question: How come I can never get all the beer out of a can when I try to drink it, but every time I miss the recycling bin beer spills out everywhere. Any suggestions? Thanks for the great vid! Dave J
Get yourself a diamond beer can saw from Harbor Freight, I think they're $18, set the cans on their sides for about 2-3 hours, take the can saw and cut off the bottoms while they're still lying on their sides. Once the bottoms are nearly off, bend the big part up and set the can in a small bowl and let it drain for 15 minutes and continue doing this for the rest of the 12 pack. When you're done you should have at least 3 ounces of drinkable beer, or ale as the case may be. The cans are still recyclable. Hope this helps. ;-)
@@ralphwatten2426 That's a fantastic idea, unfortunately my experience with HF tools leads me to believe the saw will only last for maybe a sixer. Thanks Ralph! Dave J
Yes... on my diesel trucks... I squeeze 10+ yrs use out.... since I use "that type of gadget .... all year around... in my opinion that is the trick. Keep it plugged in when vehicle is not in use and close to an electrical outlet. So in my experience the key for long life battery usage... keep it connected even when the battery reads OK. Been using that technique for over 30 yrs. Also keep my tractor batteries plugged in...over the winter and they last a long time. Only once did I have an early failure. That is when SEARS when out of business and closet store was Walmart..... Battery failed in less than 1 1/2 yrs...WHAT A PIECE OF JUNK. Nothing like a Diehard....for long life.
I've been able to recover batteries that I never expected would (they sat dead, drained to zero, for weeks), by slow charging them at the lowest rate of my fully automatic charger for several days. The most important lesson I've learned about lead-acid batteries is to not overcharge them. The 2nd most important lesson is if a slow charge doesn't recover them in a couple/few days, they're done. 3rd lesson is, after resting 24 hours without the charger or any load attached, the voltage is less than 12.5V, it's done. 4th lesson is, only water the battery enough to completely cover the top of the plates, overfilling can cause internal shorts and spillage (ask my corroded battery tray!) Don't drop your dentures into an open cell and be safe out there! ;)
Great video and thanks for all the hard work! Love the load tester, it's indispensable. Never heard of a desulfator before. Incredible tool for reviving dead cells!
Thumbs up Steve. I've been doing some research and thinking about buying one of those for my shop but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I realize that it will not fix every battery but if I can save my customers some $$ than that's always a good thing, so I guess I'll invest in one. Nice work Steve. Good info...Thanks.
![Stromae, Pomme - “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1F3OGIFnW1k/mqdefault.jpg)
![[#2024MAMA] G-DRAGON - 무제(Untitled, 2014)+POWER+HOME SWEET HOME+뱅뱅뱅+FANTASTIC BABY | Mnet 241123 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ox29z5Nf1Uk/mqdefault.jpg)
✅CLICK HERE FOR A DESULFATOR ➜ amzn.to/36S7LS2
✅CLICK HERE FOR THE LOAD TESTER ➜ amzn.to/3rx7sUF
✅CLICK HERE FOR A CHARGER ➜ amzn.to/32PYon9
✅CLICK HERE FOR THE POST CLEANER ➜ amzn.to/3cIxsrJ
For more videos like this, check out:
👉Winterize and Maintain The Battery on a Riding Lawnmower ➜ ruclips.net/video/CJmlFxcyw44/видео.html
👉Riding Mower Video Series ➜ ruclips.net/p/PLhORnVQxJe0WEj0xabaL5Nlp2jm9XJ4vU
👉Fast Fix Video Series ➜ ruclips.net/p/PLhORnVQxJe0XtBJ__9_dvHH4Mi5shjfme
👉Chainsaw Video Series ➜ ruclips.net/p/PLhORnVQxJe0UHu7rAiYi2NDYIZnghoa25
You can connect with Steve here too:
✅Visit Steve’s WEBSITE ➜ www.stevessmallenginesaloon.com/
✅Visit Steve’s PARTS & TOOL STORE ➜ www.amazon.com/shop/stevessmallenginesaloon
✅Follow Steve on FACEBOOK ➜ facebook.com/stevessmallenginesaloon
✅Follow Steve on INSTAGRAM ➜ instagram.com/stevessmallenginesaloon/
✅Follow Steve on TWITTER ➜ twitter.com/SteveSaloon
Hey Steve I will have to add a desulfator to my collection of treasures .Thanks for the info
I have one just like it. It is really made for rejuvenating middle aged batteries that still work but had more power when new, so I have been misusing mine by using it on very weak batteries. My experience is that they very slowly, over the span of months, have increased the power on my very weak batteries, which I use in my camping trailer. I still have yet to attempt to start an engine with either of mine and though they have more power than before, I doubt either could start an engine yet. But I still have it working on one even as I type.
I got sick of cycling my desulfator and was getting marginal results even from many cycles, so I combined my desulfator with my trickle charger, enabling me to just leave it on for weeks and even months with no action on my part. but even after months, on a very old battery, results have been mediocre.
That's great. I think I will buy one. Thanks for all your help. I have repaired a lot of small engines thanks to your videos. Also I can now fix just about any small carburetor.
This guy claims to know a lot about these small engines...Well he actually does. Anytime I have a problem with.(snow blower, lawn mower, weed wacker, blower, etc.) I go to his channel and there is a video to fit my needs. Great RUclips channel.
I'm dealing with several batteries that havn't responded the way I expected them to. I was a professional mechanic for 20 years, Smog Test and Repair mechanic licensed by the State of California and I successfully rebuilt about 20 or 30 automatic transmissions. I watched several youtube videos about De-Sulfator and Pulse Repair Trickle chargers and so far this one has the best information. I appreciate your brain work here. Thanks
You're Welcome...
I have some experience with Pb batteries, and here's my take:
Batt #1: Sealed batteries still vent gasses, and thus they will eventually run out of water. I have found that a sealed battery that holds a high voltage but has high internal resistance is dried out. If there's a way you could pry or cut the vent caps off to add a little water, it may come back to life.
Batt #2: It has multiple short circuited cells. I have never had any luck reviving a battery in this condition.
Batts #3&4: Minor shorts or excessive sulfation, which yes the desulfator can fix.
My #1 tip for reviving old batteries and significantly prolonging the life of good ones: Periodically remove them from whatever equipment they're installed in, fully charge them with a normal charger, then connect them to a float charger and let them sit on the float charger for a few days. Don't forget to keep them clean too, as the crud that builds up by the vents of flooded cell batteries can be conductive and result in a surface discharge.
I watched exide they build battery and charge 2 amps for 2 days
I park my truck for 6 months every year. 2 batteries that when in storage I have hooked up to a trickle charger, never unplug. I just tested them with the same resistive unit seen here. As new amperage and exactly 6 years old. Letting a battery sit will look it in a few months.
it took 14 days to get the internal resistance from 12 to 7.7 milli-ohms using the Battery Minder. it pretty much stayed there for 3 yrs. now, nov 21 its up in the low 8's
i'm using a cen-tech battery analyzer from harbor freight, it measures cold cranking amps (the ability of a battery to hold a charge), voltage, internal resistance (in milli-ohms). you have to attach it directly to the lead posts on the battery, not the steel clamps, to get an accurate reading.
thanks for the tip on internal resistance rising indicating battery needs distilled water. kj6epl de wa8lcz.
Make sure that sealed battery is in fact a absorbed glass mat and not a gel cell.
For that chemical reaction to take place creating it to gel requires certain ratios of sulfuric acid electrolyte and silica gas.
Most of my vehicles use a glass mat Style since they have a longer shelf life to start with. Makes it nice when you have a classic a recreational vehicle that's only used once or twice a month.
How can they vent gass when they are sealed ??
Steve i watch you religiously ..i have been a car mechanic for 30 years and love small engines too ...i have learned many tips and tricks from you ! THANK YOU MY BROTHER from all the way from Cyprus. all the VERY BEST to you and your family .
So glad to see some videos from Steve that are not paid promotions. This is the content that the people want.
Thank You...
Thank you for investing the time to do this Steve!! Cheers!!
My pleasure!
I met an old man at a dump in Kalbar, I worked there, he used to get the failed car batteries, if the sides of the battery weren't bulging from plate expansion, he'd pour all of the acid into a bucket, he'd then fill each cell with water, then he'd drop a Denture cleaning tablet into each cell, he'd leave it over night, then tip the water out, give each cell a gentle rinse out with a hose, then put the old acid back in, and charge it up, he ran a backyard business doing that... That's another way to remove sulfation from a battery.
Just dumping out toxic lead salts? Not very smart of him.
Epsom Salts is said to do the same (Magnesium Sulphate). Tip Acid into an emptied clean non-mains water container so that the Chlorine will not cause Lead Chroide (PbCl) to form when you return the solution to the battery. The table spoon of MgSo4 Epsom Salts added to distilled water 5 Litres (not tap) is then added to the battery and the battery trickle charged. There is a guy on youtube who shows this method. Sound Science has the PB (lead sulphate crystals) are dissolved into the MgSO4 and then after a while the battery holds its charge again. The solution is emptied and the battery refilled. If you can get battery acid H2SO4 then use that. Yet to try it as I cannot get hold of small quantities of Battery Acid locally.
@@Seal00754 Sulfuric Acid is sold as drain opener liquid at hardware stores and home centers. However most is sold as diluted sulfuric acid. One brand of undiluted sulfuric acid is made by the Rooto Corporation and is sold in quart and gallon jugs. I found it at my local Runnings farm/home center for $8 per quart.
@@chemistryofquestionablequa6252 He said he poured the acid in a bucket, then cleaned the cells, then add back the acid that was in the bucket. You should of read the whole comment before you added a bone-headed comment.
@@Seal00754 Auto parts stores around my area sell battery acid, namely O'Reilly and AutoZone.
I bought an automatic battery charger for my automotive job some time ago. It actually includes a desulfating cycle after reaching a certain charge level. There were a couple of times that another tech tried a regular old school battery charger and the battery still failed either by dying quickly or just not holding a charge. I took the vehicles and I left them on the charger for several hours without disturbing them and they came back and worked flawlessly! No parasitic drain from the vehicle, just a weak battery that needed help. I used that same charger on other batteries I eventually replaced, since some are beyond repair. I am impressed by your results showing similarities with a much cheaper tool! Cheers!
Right on
When I worked at the salvage yard, I used to take batteries from the pile and test them. If they had a decent voltage 8+, I’d put them on a ‘boost to start’ changer we had there that had a 200 amp boost setting. Boils or froths the acid at 200 amp, do that for 2-3 minutes, then trickle at 2 amps overnight and next day, good battery. Get another year or two out of them.
I did Fleet Maintenance for a few years we had a couple hundred pickup trucks and they also towed trailers with large generators with a Wisconsin engine that used a large battery. We did the same first for a few seconds it got zapped with 24 V and then as you described.
The original battery in my 96 John Deere backhoe lasted for 14 years before it finally needed to be replaced.🤔
I have always thought that most battery people smash car with would be ok.
I am in desperate need of help my battery is at 12 volt 888 for my moped let's go and I don't know how to get a little bit turn over it was a battery issue and now it seems to be a fuel issue
@@fatlaed6251 what's the issue?
Been using BatteryMINDer maintainers/ desulfators for more than two decades. Many lead acid and AGM batteries. Most of my batteries that idle (boat, side by side 4 x 4, trailer caddy) etc. last up to a decade, sometimes more, in the Fl heat. You're right. They can't save every battery, but desulfators do work more than enough to pay for themselves. Far superior to standard trickle chargers that cost the same or more. Batteries with normally expected 5 yr max life, stored on working desulfating chargers, remain reliable for at least double that.
I've been using the Battery Tender Junior 800 mA ($39.95 @ Amazon) for numerous years with very good results.
Have only come across one battery that it would not save.
Some of my batteries are over 10 years old and still in good working order.
Have had some batteries that took 4+ days on the Tender before they normalized.
Currently have one on the Tender for over 40 hours and it has come up to 12.42 volts. It continues to come up slowly so I am sure that it will come back to a like new condition.
I keep one spare battery in the garage.
Normally put the Tender on each vehicle battery every 3-4 months and leave it until the Tender green light is on steady - sometimes overnight, sometimes a couple of days. If I need to drive that vehicle I just unhook the Tender and then hook it back up when parked again.
I had AGM batteries in my motorhome and the Tender worked on them also.
EDIT: If the battery I am dealing with has enough voltage for the Tender to get started, I DO NOT put a regular charger on it. I let the Tender do its thing.
If the voltage is so low that the Tender will not recognize the battery, I do a charge to get above 10 volts and then let the Tender do the rest.
Steve, we tried desulfators at the airport on airplane batteries, and with similar results. The thought of resurrecting a very expensive airplane battery was a VERY attractive option that we wanted to explore. We also called the manufacturer (Gill) for more insight, and the discussion was well worth the time. Here’s what we learned.
Batteries sulfate from a combination of two things. If the battery charge decreases to a certain point, sulfur will form on the lead plates in the battery, interfering with the reaction between the sulfuric acid and the plates. The longer the low-charge status, the more sulfate is formed. Making matters worse, the sulfate will harden over time, making dedsulfating difficult if not impossible.
If you can catch a battery before the sulfate hardens, you have an excellent chance of reversing the chemical reaction and put the sulfur back into solution. If you don’t, the hard sulfur can flake off of the plates and fall to the bottom of the battery, then short the plates. Also, if you “super-charge” the battery, you run the risk of warping the lead plates.
One of the best things that you can do is remove the battery when its not going to be used for awhile and bring it in the house. Put the desulfator on the thing every once in awhile to keep the battery charged. “Exercise” the battery by putting it through a charge/discharge cycle. BTW, the desulfator puts out a slow charge, and at a frequency that causes the sulfur to dissolve.
That’s it! My airplane battery is in my workroom now attached to the desulfator, and will swap places with my lawnmower battery shortly. Oddly, they’re the same exact size, but the airplane battery costs $400 more. Both are 12v, but the airplane battery can be inverted (-It has little lead weights inside the caps that will seal the breather vent hole). The temptation to use a lawnmower battery in the airplane is tempting, but the penalty that the FAA would impose keeps us honest.
Great knowledge shared
What about AGM batteries? (Absorbed Glass Mat). The one in my snowmobile is mounted on it’s side, as there is no actual liquid in it.
Thanks for sharing. Why do airplane batteries have to keep vent holes sealed?
@@antonybrady9547 there’s an old saying with cars: “Keep the blue side up and the green side down”. -Great advice for a car, but with an airplane, banking is an essential part of flying, and occasionally flying inverted is not unusual. Unfortunately, if you fly at an extreme bank or go inverted, battery acid can leak out and corrode the battery compartment. The solution is simple. Put lead sealing weights in the vent caps that will temporarily close off the breathing holes, or spend even more money for gel cells.
@@nealbowser8574 thanks for answer Neil
FIND a better battery vid on this SPECIFIC subject.........lucky you. FULL of honest & well presented gold nuggets. Well done.
One of the best and most thorough desulfator videos I've seen. Good Job. Based on your results, it seems the first two had individual cells damaged beyond the point of repair. The latter 2 had degraded cells, but still recoverable. VERY good information, thank you again.
You're Welcome...
I've tried reconditioning, dumping acid, and refilling with new acid, trickle charge, fast charge the only success I've had was to buy new batteries. I have not tried this method maybe I'll give it a try. Thanks for the info.
You're Welcome...
We love what you're teaching us folks. I know how to keep a mower working for many years but, I don't know everything so, I'm always watching my friend! Knoxville Tn
Thanks 👍
Excellent video Steve. I always wondered about these, as well as chargers that claim to have a "recondition" setting. I am glad that you took so much effort to demonstrate that they can work, if the battery has the appropriate problem.
Thank You...
If you keep the charger on that first battery with the desulfator it should work but it might take a week or three. You can use the desulfator and the charger at the same time, just use it at 2-5 amps and make sure it does not boil dry. You can pop the top off the battery to get access to the water caps. I just bought one of these because my diesel truck 800 amp batteries (two of them) cost $160.00 each and they get sulfated every 4 years. I'm on my third set and I want to see if I can get an extra 3-4 years out of them. All these things do is sends a square wave AC current through the battery at a frequency that will break up and dissolve the sulfur crystals. Sulfur crystals (like all crystals) will break at certain frequencies particular to that element . . . It's just physics. You can buy a tester that does not put a draw on the batteries but checks for sulfation with AC current. My 800 amp batteries were testing at closer to 900 amps when new but after giving them an equalization charge last week they are now testing at 1099 amps. Equalization charging causes them to boil and lose water but these desulfators dont do that. And they are cheep.
Que marca Son?
I've heard and read (in Motortrend) among other places, that these DO work! Much of the time. Facts are, they''re not a garranteed fix for EVERY battery but they will fix batteries that CAN be fixed. So they are definitely worth the cost. At the moment, I'm attempting to construct a desulfator from parts and scratch, maybe I'll get it down maybe not. Right now I need at least 2 of them to try to save my battery bank in the RV. I don't have time to wait before winter gets here. I just have so much to say about batteries myself as being a mechanic for over 40 years, a person sees about all of it. I should have invested in some of these years ago. I'm not going to wait much longer though.
Never knew something like this even existed. This is a game changer, bc some of these batteries ain't cheap. Steve you are the man sir!
If your in the market for something like this, check out NOCO. I can't confirm how good they work yet because I have one on its way I ordered it a few days ago. I ordered their genius 2. It is a battery charger, battery maintainer and desulfator all in one.
@StringerNews1 That seems a bit harsh, even for those that do try and maintain their batteries oopsies happen. Grabbed some tools last spring to re-connect my lawn tractor battery and oops, forgot to disconnect it last fall....DEAD
Had a friend disconnect my F350 battery (neg terminal) after I went away for the winter and oops the terminal ended up still touching the battery post, it was dead for months, 0 volts when I got back. In both cases a combination of old school charger and little NOCO (Chinese magic) charger brought them back to life and 2 years later I'm still using them. Somehow they didn't freeze and weren't destroyed, de-sulfation actually works and saves batteries for those of us that know how to look after them too. Thanks for the video Steve!
@StringerNews1 I agree battery maintenance is the number one prevention. But I guess you've never bought anything where people have not done battery maintenance before and sometimes you buy small equipment like a riding mower or a push mower or something with a bad battery and the battery itself is pretty darn expensive. At least I realize there's something like this now that exists instead of having to go out and drop 80 plus bucks on a battery.
@StringerNews1 You suck! Your assumption that everyone tasked with fixing a problem is to blame for it is pure bullshit. FU
@@ronaldstrayer580 Something that is interesting to hear if it actually does its job. Just like Steve states it all depends on the issues with a certain batt. Hey Ron, let me know if it does its job correctly. Thx much.
Hi Steve. This desulfator works great. I bought the one in the description. As a side note. I tried it on my 18v dewalt drill Ni-Cd battery that was not lasting as long as it used to and after 3 desulfator cycles the drill is working as good as new. There is a warning not to use this on lithium batteries. So I’ll stick with regular lead acid batteries. Thanks for all the great videos. I appreciate the tips and tricks to keeping my small engine equipment running properly.
Right on Gord!
Nicads don’t sulfate.
Right on, North Route! You're one of my favorite characters in my YT world - certainly #1 in the outdoors power tool fix/care/adjust/safety knowledge base! I'm down here in 'Righthand' Missouri (up in the old Ozarks mountains) where I've been watching for more than a few years & learning SO much useful info from your channel in an entertaining, yet frank, well-paced format you've created! A cognoscenti working man hoot! And then there's the pleasant tease of the brew variety AND the repair time estimate per job related in units of brew! I keep trying to get my friends/neighbors to check you out, but they have such short attention spans, are jealous of me because I learned to read & cipher, and/or they already know as much or more than you(!) When I used to have a power tool issue I fell for the neighborly advice 'Oh, you should let my cousin Shane fix your chainsaw...he can fix about anything!' Then a week later I get it back worse off broke - terminally (thinking 'how or why the F did this shear off!?' And didn't Shane drop out of school in 8th grade and he's been actin' flitchy since he got out of his 120 day shock last month!) So then, I just offer it back to them to keep it. Thanks for trying, but now only I break my own S^%$(!) Scrapyard & cigarette time, boys! A clever scam in reality. Oh, and speaking of that, here come a couple dudes down the river in a canoe - I gotta go get my bow and banjo reel quick-like! Bob out!
I have used the BatteryMINDer brand maintainer / desulfator for the past 15+ years. Works great!! I replace my auto batteries when I hit the 5 year mark as a preventive maintenance -- even when it passes the load test. The key is to keep them hooked up / or attach frequently and let it run as long as possible. Desulfators takes longer than 3 days to work - the more sulfated the battery, the longer it takes. Hook up the ring terminals directly to battery so you can plug in when vehicle or machine is not in use.
I bought 2 charger/desulfators off Ebay. Very cheap price. I desulfated 2 AGM Motorcycle batteries and my car battery. All 3 are over 8 years old now and still strong. The car battery is a cheap Everstart battery from Walmart.
Can't help but chuckle at your "idk but i think it deserves a thumbs up". Ever the salesman, Sreve. Interesting topic. Winnipeg is suffering a deep freeze right now, with over night temps in the -45 wind chill range. Batteries are freezing left right and centre. My sister already having problems with her 2016 VW Golf. We need people thinking about battery blankets and battery health in times like these. Most people have a block heater and assume that covers everything. Ignorance is bliss at the dealerahip.
Steve's saloon is a riot
Fun to watch and VERY informative.
Have used some of his fixes and what a difference they make.
Have shared a few things with friends and the are amazed
Right on Charles! Thank You...
Yea, That Battery Desulfator does Work and it works very very well, It will restore about 85% of sulphated batteries, I bought a bunch of them :) the 2 amp and the 4 amp version, I gave some away to my sons, I use them on my solar lead acid batteries, I have a 500 amp carbon battery load tester, On one battery a group 27 loaded down to 9.6v it only produced 100 amps, I charged the battery with a 6 amp battery charger and the 4 amp desulphanator over night and I was able to get 400 amps at 9.6v load on the Battery tester, yes they work and work well, some batteries may have a bad cell, and it wont help those batteries, the batteries that are sulphated, they work great :) Take care, Chellie
Retired, Female Fleet Equipment Mechanic.
My lawn tractor is on a trickle charger when not being used. The battery is 3 years old. The trickle charger showed the battery was 100% chareged, but it would not turn the tractor over. Used a NOCO Genius charger and desulfator. After one treatment, the battery worked as it should. I now rotate 2 trickle chargers that are also desulfators on all of my vehicles.
Super glad I found this channel - I am absolutely going to grab that desulfator and a load tester and try my hand at recovering some old batteries. I'm trying to find an inexpensive way to accumulate power storage for solar, and I semi-regularly come across old car batteries people have thrown out. I suspect people might just be doing the lazy thing and some of these batteries could be fixable... if I get even a couple of them working again, this will be a total win.
Right on
I like your videos, I like your attitude. You seem like a good guy.
Yours are the only videos that I don't skip the ads on; I just mute them and let 'em run.
I know it's probably only a couple of pennies, but every little bit helps I hope.
Right on Dave! Thank You...
Bought a Noco 5amp battery charger which also has repair mode (lead acid repair only). Have been able to revive/repair 2 batteries so far, it works. Another benefit is that the Noco will recognize batteries to begin charging as low as 1.5 volts. It has a "force" mode that enables this feature. New smart battery chargers will not recognize and begin charging on batteries below 12 volts. Keep buying new batteries, or give it a shot. Topping of occasional use batteries with 2 amp trickle charge is key to longevity and performance of battery.
Dear Steve,
I've watched quite a few of your videos and am completely impressed !
Your honesty and integrity are only surpassed by your sense of humor and great taste in beer !
Thank you buddy !
Wow, thank you! and You're Welcome...
Great job making the video Steve, you brought up a good point that battery desulfators do not work on all batteries, however you can leave the desulfator attached while charging a battery. I have a Pulsetech PowerPulse battery desulfator that I leave on my BMW battery for the past three years, and the car starts without any problems even though I drive it about 5 miles per day, 25 miles a week. Pulsetech claims that their patented frequency can extend the life of a battery three times or more, I'd like to see you do a test on them.
Also the Noco Genius 1 charger you have on your Amazon links has a mode to desulfate batteries, but I believe it's uses voltage spikes to remove the sulfation.
Thank you Steve for doing this test. It was fair and good to know that it doesn't always work. Cheers!
I admire what you do for your subscribers Sir, very informative and easy to understand, i fixed my grass trimmer & lawn mower because of your videos, i am a subscriber from the Philippines.
Thanks 👍
Hey Steve, how's it goin....I've had variable results recharging an ' unchargeable' battery by using a small solar panel.....the panel puts out very little current but at a higher voltage. These panels can measure 19 volts with no load attached and drop considerably when you attach the dead battery but if left for a couple of weeks outside, I've had em charge back up to useable voltage.....it's said if a battery discharges below 6.6 volts (1.1v per cell ) it is usually unrecoverable.....I've recovered batteries, albeit not really old batteries, from virtually stone dead...! It surprised me how well it worked but the lesson here really is , get an inexpensive 10w solar panel to maintain the battery in the first place....you don't need a controller at that output level, just hook it up n leave it pointing towards that big shiny thing in the sky.....
Thank you Steve!
I just ordered all three.
I live on a lake, so I have a pontoon with 4 battery. A boat with 2, two ride on tractor, and my old pickup truck and a motorcycle.
Good lord if I can save one or two it will be worth it.
Most batteries die because the lead breaks or is full of sulfur. Well broken lead is a no go .. but sulfur can now be fixed.. (sometimes..)
Thanks again!
You're Welcome...
I own 3 of these “ all different brands”. They have revived batteries and I feel extended the life of several of my batteries. Great video !!
Thanks for sharing
Sweet! look forward to trying that on some batteries. So I had a saw with low power, would die almost instantly if I wasn't holding the throttle. finally figured out the exhaust spark arrester is plugged. I couldn't find any videos that you have done on spark arresters so I thought I would post about it here. Super easy fix. Wish I had checked the spark arrester before bringing it to the shop, where they rebuilt and then replaced! the carburetor for a hefty sum that didn't fix the problem. Thanks for all your time and money saving tips!
For my many years working as auto technician, I noticed the main factor in reviving a battery depends on the age of the battery, if it has any dead or shorted cells and how long the battery had time to sulfate. If the battery is over 5-6 years old or the battery has been sitting for few years, the reconditioning cycle doesn’t work. Also if it’s a small motorcycle battery I never had any luck bringing them back.
I think the key is to desulphate before the battery is completely broken down in some way so that whatever slow build-up occurs can be broken up before it cause more serious permanent issues. I remember my grandfather building a similar “memory zapper” for nicad cells which were quite popular in those days, and it worked too, but not on totally dead ones.
Thanks Steve , went out to the shed with a dozen ,no trickle , the full charge and left very energized and ready to start something . Cheers from Bowen Island Canada .
Great job!
Hello Steve,
I've been using the baking soda+water clean out and distilled water+Epsom salt 2 refill. I've had 100% success so far on 3 of our old batteries. It's takes a little time but well worth the time and effort. Keep it up Steve! D.R. Small Engines out!
Thanks for taking time to help others brother. Ive been tinkering myself
Glad to help
Steve, I use battery pulse chargers regularly. The chips in the ones made by VDC Electronics was invented by Texas Instruments and was designed for the space program. You can't just make a quick trip to outer space to service solar-powered satellite systems when they need it. Regular use prevents or minimizes sulfation in lead acid batteries. By pulse charging the batteries, the lead sulfate crystals are returned to suspension in the electrolyte making the batteries last longer. It's not uncommon to double the life of the battery. My experience with them is related to emergency backup power for amateur (ham) radio use, although one of our club's radio towers experienced some interference from the pulsing of the maintainer. We had to remove it from the permanent installation and go back to a standard float charger. I highly recommend them.
Right on Ron! Thank You...
Find it hard to believe they use heavy old flooded lead acid batteries in satellites
@@chriskennedy7534 - You didn’t have much of a choice in the 80’s then you have that because that’s the way we always did it argument into the 2000’s
@@PapaWheelie1 Hmm maybe
I know the solar panels they use on space vehicles are Far better than what's sold to us
Sure storage would have been updated in an industry where weight is crucial
They don't use lead-Acid batteries in space!!!!
LOL!
I bought the one you show last spring because my deep cycle marine boat battery had failed the year before (it wouldn't hold a charge, had to be boosted all summer). It recovered my battery and it worked the summer until fall when it started not holding a charge again. I will try it again but even if it doesn't recover this battery again it still saved me a boating season. It has saved other battery's as well so the $25.00 was recovered on the first save
Right on Mike! Thank You...
You definitely get a thumbs up. But in my 40 years of experience sulfated batteries don't recover to their full potential. You can get some capacity back and it really depends on the length of time they have been sitting in their sulfated state. My opinion. Good video.
Good segment. Loads of good user-inputs too. Thanks to all
Our pleasure!
When you get excited during your videos you light up and it is contagious! I always feel better after watching one of your productions, even if I was already in a good mood!
One of my favorite videos, and one I shared with folks at work, (Auto Care Center at my local Wally World) was when you showed us how to fix a flooded engine. When you pulled the gas can over to the spark plug hole, then look dead straight into the camera and said, "Oh, yes I am!" I actually laughed out loud and startled my poor cat!
Stay safe, My Brother!
Right on Dwayne! Thank You...
Hi Steve, I got a optimate 4 for my motorbikes to keep on charge, and used it on an old 150amp leisure battery ( have two of them connect together with an inverter for mains power down my allotment) take two to lift them like the one's you have in the big RV's (lov erm) , anyway at ten yrs old one dropped to 4volts, and wouldn't charge up with modern charges, so stuck optimate on it and took 3 weeks to get it back to like new, it lasted another 6yrs before it eventually died, the other one is still going at 18 yrs , have a 2.4w solar panel just keeps it topped up, think I got my monies worth out of both batteries and charger. Lov your vids well put together.
I bought a NOCO Genius charger w/ the repair/desulfate feature. Darn thing worked great and brought back the battery. I've only used it once but it's already 1/2 paid for itself. Right on Steve!!!
That's awesome to hear! It's always satisfying when a purchase ends up being worth the investment.
For battery #2 you can trick the de-sulfator by putting a second battery in parallel to get the start voltage higher than 10V. Once the de-sulfator turns on you remove the second second battery and let it do it's thing. I've recovered lead-acid UPS batteries this way many times.
Great idea!
I wondered about that.
Very interesting... I have a 5yr old UPS battery that refuses to run anything for more than a second but doesn’t detect as anything other than fully charged with full capacity, and I really need my UPSs because I’ve moved to a small island where the power goes out all the time; we have a generator for that, but it takes time to start (if it’s battery is good) and then stabilize RPM before the transfer switch switches to it’s power, so having my 3D printer and controlling PC on a UPS is essential because successfully resuming a print after a power failure is pure fantasy in my opinion.
@@SchwaAlien Sounds like the battery is both sulfated and dried out. You can try adding distilled water to each cell to just cover the plates and then use a desulfation. Even better if you have an intelligent charger with a recovery and maintenance mode. Worst case scenareo you could try replacing the battery with a marine deep cycle battery. It would take much longer to charge with the UPS internal charger but it would also last longer when the power goes out. I have an ACP smart UPS 620 that I have done this to. I saw no point in paying close to $100 for an 18AH battery so I got a second hand marine battery (600 CCA and 140 min reserve capacity and designed for this type of draw), cut a large enough whole in the side panel of the UPS and ran the battery cables out the side and connected to the battery terminals. I made sure to charge it fully before connecting it. It'll run my 24" TV for a full day before the UPS starts warning me that reserve is getting low.
i literally just commented enquiring about that.
The energizer battery is sold by Walmart. Chances are they never fully charged it the first time. The sulphate is just resetting the memory of the battery. Don’t ask me how it has a memory but they do. The first charge was only 11.5
"Worked on 2/4 batteries." Is the most real sounding result i could imagine.
Hype train don´t stop at this station....
Very good video, steve!
Thanks for taking the time to conducting the tests and for making the video!
Our pleasure!
Several years ago I purchased a electronic battery charger that has a desulfate cycle. It has saved about 1/3 of the batteries I have used it on. I want to learn more about why some conditions were corrected and why some were unsuccessful.
Great Video.. not sure if you tried this but any battery that doesn’t hold 10v to activate the desulfator, wire another battery or 12v jumper pack to it and run them all connected. I’ve got some to back to life that way. Usually a good 30mins and you should be able to take off the secondary battery from the connection as long as it’s reached enough volts. Gotta do what you gotta do in these times.
He’s like the cool uncle I take my broken machines to. Then he gives me a beer.
Yes, agreed.
Lol if you bring him the broken machines, then shouldn’t you bring the beer too?🤣
He's like the neighbor I wish I had. :)
@@wassamattau860 my neighbors are dumber than I am.
@@M70ACARRY No way my friend! We both found Steve afterall!! Best of wishes to you. :)
Thanks Steve for making clear there is some help for presumed dead batteries. 👍
You're Welcome...
Ha! You got to it before Project Farm!!!
This one would be though for Todd to do. He is more about finding out which product works best. If he was going to test 10 different "desulfators", he would probably need 20+ identical, or nearly identical, sulfated batteries to test them out on.
.....or test brand new batteries that he each delivers exactly the same abuse to to render them equally defective. They wouldn't all become equally defective but testing for the matched ones is viable . Small transparent scooter batteries would make most sense .Helps to see the sulphation in the batteries when evaluating.
Project Farm is on a different level. No offence.
@@RobertLowery don't over think it , it was a joke.
@@billlovett4256 I mostly took it that way, but then it became an interesting thought experiment on how one could effectively do testing of multiple brands of "desulfators".
Steve that video was right on the button, I use a lot of batteries either in powered pressure sprayers or in ride on machines, I am often annoyed when relatively new batteries -less than a year-give up the ghost and trying various charging methods to restore the batteries does not work. Batteries are often charged discharged many times for a couple of months of the year then left charged for the intervening period, then fail when next used. you have provided an excellent analysis and I will probably give one of these units a trial, instead of junking the batteries, many thanks and keep up the good work
Right on Brian!
There are many battery tenders that have the desulfator function built in and do it continuously. If you want your battery to last years longer, put one of these on all the time (for batteries that sit for long periods).
Batteries are the bane of my existence. Thank you!
You're Welcome...
Excellent video Steve, thanks again so much for all your hard work that you give to us for free here 👍👏👌
My pleasure!
I got a NOCO 5 amp after trying the 1 amp. The 1 amp is designed for smaller batteries. For my pickup trucks, they need the 5amp. I used it without disconnecting the battery, in the truck. One truck, it got so weak the engine wouldn't spin. In 3 day, it ran the truck for a day. After another week on the charger it seems cured. The other truck seems to turn over slow. Always starts, but sits at 12.2 volts, like it's ready to die. It's been done 2 weeks in a row, disconnecting for 2 days to use the truck and then cycling again. It's getting better but not fixed yet. At least it hasn't died in the middle of the winter.
wow Steve, never tried that in my small engine shop!
Super cheap investment to try out! Go for it Don...
Unbelievable. I have an expensive battery in my 2005 XC90 that is acting up. Going to try this out I think:)
@@jpshowpro8408 did you try it?
Would these work on an AGM battery since they are dry batteries?
@@StevesSmallEngineSaloonI HAVE A REQUEST- "SWEET PROJECT CARS" channel on youtube says that they have for years been bringing back dead batteries with welder current. i believe 160amp for car battery and 200amp for deep cycle marine batteries, could have it backeards. if true this could be a game changer. NEW VIDEO??? 😉😉
I learned a life lesson in my mid 30's.... Get the right tool for the job at hand. Same applies here... That tool works when used on the right job. Excellent video Steve.
Thank You...
I use lots and lots of 12V batteries--mostly the smaller kind that go into larger power backup devices. I bought a device a while ago that not only provides the nominal voltage of a battery, but also gives a readout of the internal resistance of the battery, and the CCA output of the battery. I've tried to 'repair' MANY 12 V batteries, either those that appeared OK, with a voltage of 12+, but a high internal resistance (which indicates a battery that will have low CCA capacity--also confirmed on the device), and they have NEVER been fixable. I've also tried to 'fix' lower voltage (lower than 12V) batteries (which usually also have low CCA and high internal resistance), and again I've never succeeded. It would be most enlightening if you were able to check the CCA and internal resistance of the totally non-repairable batteries, and also for the 2 you succeeded fixing. My best guess is that you 'desulfated" a small chemical spec that was causing a small short between cells, or in a cell, but essentially the 'bad' battery wasn't that bad. If there's been lots of internal degradation so that the internal resistance is high, I don't think (from my experience) that there's any repair possible. I'd love to know if I'm right or wrong
You would need new plates inside the batts and new electrolyte then you would have to reseal the plastic case after 😉
You already know the score on fixing batteries ☺️
I have seen people on YT using a welder to provide enough current to break up badly sulphated battery cells, not sure exactly what conditions can be corrected vs. pulse methods but it seemed like it might be worth a try for some stubborn ones.
your honest input is in minority in this comments section.
if reconditioning acid batteries was 'that easy' we'd have huge businesses doing just that.
ppl Love to believe bs :).
Great video, thank you.
On the batteries that did not work, did you check with hydrometer? If one or 2 cells remain low, plates may be shorted out. So battery could be bad.
On the batteries yto try de-sulfate that at less then 10 volts - apply a trickle charger or a charger rated at less than 2 amps and attach the de-sultater with Charger applied this will all the de-sulfater to do it's job
Good luck
Thank you so much for the in depth testing! The claims made sense in my head for a long time, I just never did some research before now. If you can save a couple batteries, it's a very cheap investment with big dividends!
Thanks Steve.... even only working on half the batteries you tested it on is a big plus.... as you pointed out.... saving the lawn tractor battery made it pay for itself!
Yes, exactly
I've always wondered about those things, I've emptied a battery and refilled it with new electrolyte and it held up good enough for my figure eight derby car.
Right on
Hey Steve, Thanks for the video. I bought one of those desulfators and tried it on three batteries. It greatly improved their performance.
Great to hear!
I purchased a Battery Minder that has that built into it that is amazing.
yes, 7-stage chargers/conditioners should do desulfation just fine.
Hi Marshall, I got mine from Northern Tool . I've been very happy with the way they have maintained my batteries . I use them for the lawn tractor and the generator . The batteries are 7 years old and still start on demand .
@@Robalo-2660 that is where I purchased mine also
Yep, Battery Minder does work. I've got 6 or 7 of the small units (1501 ?) from Northern Tool and keep them on all my batteries when not in use.
Oh, here's the other thing. People think you put these on for a day or maybe a week and that's all. This is not the case. It might take several weeks or maybe 2 to 3 months of desulfating to bring a battery back.
Finally you popped open a high gravity brew my friend. I always wondered if those de-sulphaters actually worked. Thanks Steve.
You're Welcome...
I did my own research into this topic starting about 10 years ago. Had to make my own version of the desulphator so it kept trickle charging at the same time so a battery could be left desulphating for a long time (years in the end) with regular checks on the electrolyte level. I used automotive batteries that were dead flat IE had been sitting on a concrete floor for who knows how long but they didn't have a millivolt in them.
They had to be checked for shorted cells that can happen when the sulphate crystals grow so large the plates get distorted (that's a throw-away unsalvagable battery).
End result was I could recover up to about 50% capacity in the best cases but it took so long it wasn't worth the trouble.
Experimented with alkaline cells even earlier and found it depended on the brand as to whether flat(ish) AA & AAA cells could be improved with longterm (very) gentle constant current trickle charging and yes it does work, even lowered the internal resistance of suitable candidates which just happened to be the premium brands. Again, it took so long that it wasn't really a viable process.
Thanks for the well thought out test. Various failure modes, testers like many people have already.
I have a similar device that stays on the battery and desulfates as the battery is in use. I used to have to change out 5 batteries on my motor home every 2 or 3 years. Now I’m still on the same batteries for 7 years. It cost me $50 for the device and was well worth the money.
Right on Buddy!
Thank you! I’m going to try this. You have the best videos on repairing stuff!
Awesome! Thank you!
Always wondered about these and their mixed reviews. This explains a lot.
Right on
I agree! Mine works great. I have restored a few batteries. Only one really old one didn't, but I don't know why it failed- if the plates came loose- NOTHING will fix it except a complete teardown, tear apart and r building it. An EXTENSIVE process!
It's worth a shot. Cheaper than a battery. Especially when you're dealing with a few batteries. Thanx Steve.✌👍🇺🇸😂
You're Welcome...
I use the BatteryMinder which both charges and desulfates. Keep my motorcycle connected pretty much whenever it's parked. The lawn tractor is on one all winter.
Motorcycle is from 2014 and is the original battery. Lawn tractor is from 2012 and is the original battery. I've hooked it up to batteries that were weak and most came back enough to run well for months. I put the big tractor on it and it makes a huge difference in winter starting power.
Thanks for sharing
Great stuff. Keep them coming.
I had a battery maintainer/desulfator powered by 4 X 6 solar cell. Perfect for my sailboat parked in the anchorage for months on end. It worked a treat.
John
Out.
Right on
I think it's worth the purchase. Thank you for the video Steve!
It really is!
Great that you got 2 of the batteries to live again. Curious to see how long they last in use. Please update us as time permits.
Will do!
Good video! You could invest in a smart charger like a Ctek msx 25. That thing does the de-sulfating trick, loads at 25 amps, and if needed trickle charges. Also it is safe, it stops charging if there's a problem. We bought it after we had a battery explode in the workshop due to old charger over-charging old battery.
It generates a specific frequency. That the sulphuric crystals resonate to/at. And sulphuric crystals cover the lower portions of the lead plates, rendering those portions useless. As in the portion covered in the crystals are blocked from receiving the charge.
Example: you can “charge” the battery conventionally, and the charger will say 100% charged, yet when you put the slightest load on it, it depletes practically immediately.
If 50% of the plates are covered in crystals, then when your charger says 100%, its only 100% of FIFTY PERCENT of its designed capacity.
The desulphator, generates the exact frequency that sulphuric crystals resonate at. And in doing so the crystals burst 💥 back into solution ( raising the acid levels) back to what they previously were or real close.
Also if enough crystals form before desulphation is done, they will form “ bridges” between plates. If the bridge becomes large enough, then the plates “short” out killing the cell eventually.
I swear by desulphators. They truly work.
The sulphation is caused by repeated charging and discharging over the “life” of the battery.
Only a desulphating charger can prevent it.
That is interesting and it makes sense -
how long does this de-sulftatation needs to run?
@@cgmarch2359 , depends on how bad they are. Modern desulphators simply tell you when the percentage of charge is reached by a digital number displayed. Pushing a button will tell you current voltage in the battery ( specifically when you first hook it up is time to look) as well as percent of charge in the battery.
Im assuming when battery shows 100% charged ( with a desulphating charger NOT conventional) , that it has attained a 100% by completely clearing all crystals into solution again.
When I did my trolling motor batteries, my (old charger) I wasn’t getting a lot of use out of the battery nor really strong power like when new. (Reason was because only 100% of what plates were not sulphated, were only being charged, vs the WHOLE PLATE (remember crystals that cover plate- that portion will NOT hold a charge) And yet the old charger, would show me 100% charged.
Afterwards when using the desulphating charger, even after the first complete charge, the trolling motor was running like a banshee, and I could run TWO FULL days of fishing before I needed to recharge.
It was a game changer.
Also every time you charge with it, (if it hadn’t “completely “ gotten every crystal ) that it will teach a point of its as hood as it can get. Might not be exactly like a brand new battery, but you won’t care because the improvement is so noticeable.
And constantly using one insures no more accumulated build up of crystals.
And ALWAYS CHECK BATTERY FLUID BEFORE AND AFTER CHARGING, refill with ONLY DISTILLED WATER.
After using a desulphating battery charger,
@@cgmarch2359 depends on size of battery motorbike size done over night big battery (150amp RV type) took couple weeks but mines not ment that size it's daisy chained to two motorcycles,
thank you for info!!
Thanks, Steve!! Your video confirmed for me what I suspected... that it won't work for "all", but just might be worthwhile in my case!! Stay safe!! We NEED more videos from you, my Friend!!
You're Welcome...and Thank You...
Guinness straight from a can never. Cooled and properly poured into a well shone glass unbelievable. Believe it or not that small ball you hear rattling about in the can is a very smart piece kit . So go and do it properly and it will be like sweet
Milk. Greetings from Ireland and great information from your self as always.🥃
It’s a ‘ widget.’ It’s in Boddington’s too. Both of which just happen to be in my top three beer list. The other is Yuengling. All three deserve a nice tall glass or beer mug. Cheers! 🍺
Guinness is a very under appreciated gift from the Gods.
@StringerNews1
A good pub will also make sure the lines, from the Keg to the tap are always clean and serviced. Back in the day if you came into a busy Dublin pub , the bar man could have 50 or greater pints Guinness at different stages, ready for the busy lunch time trade. When that pint was drank, always a new glass for the next pint.😄
@StringerNews1 You mean finding ANY good beer in the US is rare! Come visit us in Canada for REAL beer and ale!
@StringerNews1 Love to have you visit. AFTER everyone has been vaxx’ed for Kung Flu. Right now pretty much everything is locked down, and will likely be that way until fall. Unfortunately we have a useless tool for a Sub-Prime Minister and vaccines are scarce to non-existent!
As a side note, I made a very good living in the small engine/ power equipment field until I retired at 55.
I did a couple using the rinse them out and refill with distilled water and epsom salts technique. One lawn mower battery worked, one did not. The one that worked was completely dead in the water too. It wouldn't take a charge at all. Sat dead at my neighbors for well over a year, then another year at my place. Just for the hell of it, I tried it after stumbling on a video. Still working fine and holding a charge after about 6 months, even in Michigan weather. Though one cell is a little weak.
Really enjoy your channel. You've helped me fix about 3 things this week already.
Some of the plates can build up an insulating layer. You can sometimes break through it with a high voltage.
I took a 120 volt 60 watt incandescent bulb 1N4007 diode in a half wave circuit and made a 12volt lead acid battery part of the circuit. The battery then faces 170 volt half wave pulses which push 12 times harder than 14 volts when the battery then conducts it is current limited to a half amp by the light bulb. .Not good as new but gives it a little life back..A lead acid 12 volt should not be discharged below 11.5 volts for best long life after that the plates have lost too much material to the acid to plate itself back on like it was before.
I have saved a few car batteries with a welder, turned the amps up to about 100 to 120 and connected the the ground to the negative terminal. Then for one second at a time touch the positive terminal with the positive lead, there will be sparks, an did that about 3 or 4 times. it burns off the short cuircut connections between the cell membranes and revives the dead battery. Does not alwys work and might be risky, but it does work.
Not holding a full charge is a sure sign of battery sulfation of the cells.
good video. i have one that plugs into an AC socket that can pulse and charge the battery and i find that for expired batteries by itself will not work. You have to do the usual restore of "insert correct fluid" and do some procedure relating to pulsing and charging in a few cycles to get it to work. I plan to try it with a small 8 year old lead acid battery i got which i believe is gel. I cant really tell as theres not many words to explain it but even sealed batteries also have caps inside that you have to take the cover off to be able to open. Just make sure to charge the battery first so you dont get gases coming out.
Hey Steve, quick tech question: How come I can never get all the beer out of a can when I try to drink it, but every time I miss the recycling bin beer spills out everywhere. Any suggestions? Thanks for the great vid! Dave J
Lol. Good one.
d j 😁 Thanks for the chuckle, d j!!
Get yourself a diamond beer can saw from Harbor Freight, I think they're $18, set the cans on their sides for about 2-3 hours, take the can saw and cut off the bottoms while they're still lying on their sides. Once the bottoms are nearly off, bend the big part up and set the can in a small bowl and let it drain for 15 minutes and continue doing this for the rest of the 12 pack. When you're done you should have at least 3 ounces of drinkable beer, or ale as the case may be. The cans are still recyclable. Hope this helps. ;-)
@@ralphwatten2426 That's a fantastic idea, unfortunately my experience with HF tools leads me to believe the saw will only last for maybe a sixer. Thanks Ralph! Dave J
@@dj-kq4fz I think there's a money back or free replacement on that saw.
Just now bought this. I have two batteries on a horse trailer that leak down over a couple of days. This may fix the issue. Thanks for the suggestion.
Good luck!
Yes... on my diesel trucks... I squeeze 10+ yrs use out.... since I use "that type of gadget .... all year around... in my opinion that is the trick. Keep it plugged in when vehicle is not in use and close to an electrical outlet. So in my experience the key for long life battery usage... keep it connected even when the battery reads OK. Been using that technique for over 30 yrs. Also keep my tractor batteries plugged in...over the winter and they last a long time. Only once did I have an early failure. That is when SEARS when out of business and closet store was Walmart..... Battery failed in less than 1 1/2 yrs...WHAT A PIECE OF JUNK. Nothing like a Diehard....for long life.
I've been able to recover batteries that I never expected would (they sat dead, drained to zero, for weeks), by slow charging them at the lowest rate of my fully automatic charger for several days.
The most important lesson I've learned about lead-acid batteries is to not overcharge them.
The 2nd most important lesson is if a slow charge doesn't recover them in a couple/few days, they're done.
3rd lesson is, after resting 24 hours without the charger or any load attached, the voltage is less than 12.5V, it's done.
4th lesson is, only water the battery enough to completely cover the top of the plates, overfilling can cause internal shorts and spillage (ask my corroded battery tray!)
Don't drop your dentures into an open cell and be safe out there! ;)
Great video and thanks for all the hard work! Love the load tester, it's indispensable. Never heard of a desulfator before. Incredible tool for reviving dead cells!
Right on Matt! Thank You...
Thumbs up Steve. I've been doing some research and thinking about buying one of those for my shop but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I realize that it will not fix every battery but if I can save my customers some $$ than that's always a good thing, so I guess I'll invest in one. Nice work Steve. Good info...Thanks.
Thank You...and You're Welcome...