Battery Desulfator?

[yopappamon]

What is the ES Brain Trust's opinion on lead acid battery desulfators?

Do they work?
Can SLA batteries have their capacity restored?

Is there any interest in an open source Arduino or PicAxe based desulfator?

 

[jondoh]

I have used this stuff on flooded lead acid batteries. It works great. It took batteries that were sitting around for over a year and made them work again.

http://www.batteryde-mister.com/battery-de-sulfater.html

I don't know about using them for sealed lead acids. it would requiring drilling a small hole in them. I'm not sure how that would work.

 

[yopappamon]

Interesting, I was refering to the electronic kind of desulfator. Didn't know there was a chemical kind.

 

[amberwolf]

No real direct personal experience (not counting a few DIY experiments that I can't quantify results of), but from my reading of many others' experiences, I'd say 50/50. Seems to depend highly on the particular battery and the conditions under which it became sulfated in teh first place, how long it's been that way and what exact type it is (SLA, FLA, AGM, deep-cycle, starter, etc).

Doesn't necessarily matter which kind of desulfator, either, although the electrical type that uses high voltage pulses seem to be a mite more successful wtih SLA, as they dont' usually cause venting that will quickly make the SLA useless (unless you figure out how to refill the venting electrolyte).

I do think (based on physical behavior seen in various chemistry experiments rather than experience with desulfation) that doing some thing that keeps FLAs stirred up will increase the chances of it working, especially methods that involve vibration as that may help break loose crystals from the plates to allow them to redissolve into electrolyte more easily.

 

[Gordo]

I have used this and also a 20V pulsed DC at 1KHz signal generator both successful. Length of time depends on the size of battery. 8D can take several days to wakeup.

http://leadacidbatterydesulfation.yuku.com/directory

 

[ambroseliao]

I've been using a Courtiestown Marine desulfator for about two years now on my eGO electric scooter and the SLAs are holding up quite well. No loss in range or power in that time. I would say that it has worked well for me. I bought it as an assembled and tested board and put it into my own case from Radio Shack. The batteries were in good condition when I started and they are still good.

http://www.courtiestown.co.uk/batteries/batterydesulfators/batterydesulfators.htm

Ambrose

 

[BLUESTREAK]

THAY WORK GOOD.