Automotive battery reconditioning

[LexusLover]

So I have a battery that is dead and I have been told it won’t hold a charge by Napa. I checked it with a multimeter and it reads above 11v which is confusing because that would mean I don’t have a dead cell. I had triple a come check it and it read just under 10 and I was told the alternator was working properly. But then after aaa jumped me I read the battery again with my craftsman obd and it was jumping between 6.8-7.1

So today I’ve done a lot of reading about diy reconditioning with magnesium sulfate and baking soda. I have some scented Epsom salt and I’m wondering if that will be adequate? But the only other thing I will need is a charger. Can anyone recommend a charger that is under $30 thag will work for this month purpose? I’ve found a smart pulse charger on marketplace for $25 but have been told if a cell is dead that sometimes a smart charging device won’t charge the battery. I was told a trickle charger from Walmart will do the trick but if there is a better option that will charge faster than having to leave the battery overnight that would be preferable.

I am going to be looking for a short circuit in my wire harness after completing an engine swap and a small fuel fire caused by a haphazardly executed search for leaking fuel injectors and troubleshooting procedure. I have received a lot of advice and help from this and another community that has been stelar so far. But it looks like it’s going to take at least 24 maybe even 48 hours to recondition the battery if it is able to be reconditioned.

 

[Shiftless]

How old is that battery?
Has it sat for a long time in a discharged state?

 

[dogdog]

You can toy with it for a bit, not every battery plate is recoverable. Especially thinner automotive lead acid batteries. Additives like Epsion salt or EDTA are gimmicky at best. Desulfator will try to get rid of surface oxidation but most likely destroy the battery plates.

 

[Packard V8]

So I have a battery that is dead and I have been told it won’t hold a charge by Napa. I checked it with a multimeter and it reads above 11v which is confusing because that would mean I don’t have a dead cell. I had triple a come check it and it read just under 10 and I was told the alternator was working properly. But then after aaa jumped me I read the battery again with my craftsman obd and it was jumping between 6.8-7.1

So today I’ve done a lot of reading about diy reconditioning with magnesium sulfate and baking soda. I have some scented Epsom salt and I’m wondering if that will be adequate? But the only other thing I will need is a charger. Can anyone recommend a charger that is under $30 thag will work for this month purpose? I’ve found a smart pulse charger on marketplace for $25 but have been told if a cell is dead that sometimes a smart charging device won’t charge the battery. I was told a trickle charger from Walmart will do the trick but if there is a better option that will charge faster than having to leave the battery overnight that would be preferable.

I am going to be looking for a short circuit in my wire harness after completing an engine swap and a small fuel fire caused by a haphazardly executed search for leaking fuel injectors and troubleshooting procedure. I have received a lot of advice and help from this and another community that has been stelar so far. But it looks like it’s going to take at least 24 maybe even 48 hours to recondition the battery if it is able to be reconditioned.

Short answer, no. I mean come on scented epsom salts?

jack vines

 

[flyingblind]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08G3M697M/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I have one on my Tractor works great

 

[nadogail]

Any improvement you get from adding epson salts will be temporary, at best. If there was an effective "Miracle Drug", I am sure the inventor would be as well known as Jonas Salk.

You might get some satisfaction from recharging your battery; I think your money will be better spent on a good grade (not a premium) new battery.

I think you have greater problems than just a battery, as evidenced by your referce to the charred wiring.

 

[LexusLover]

How old is that battery?
Has it sat for a long time in a discharged state?

I am unsure how old the battery is. It came with the vehicle which we purchased at the beginning of may. An ‘04 Lexus rx330 with 183k miles on it. It sat in my basement for 2 months while I worked on the engine swap and the battery charged for a little over an hour the first day it was running. Then we were able to turn the vehicle over 4 times before going back in. The next morning the vehicle turned over once but then the battery light was on and the radio would not turn on. Also the horn and sunroof did not work when the car was started for the first time.

If I had to guess I would say the battery is at lest 3 and at most 4 years old because the number of CCa’s and other listed information is completely faded. But I’ve read that well kept batteries can last a decade. The most likely scenario is that the fuel fire- caused by the puddles of gasoline under the fuel rails being ignited by combustion backfiring into the intake ports while the plenum was off- melted some of the covering to the wires leading to the coil packs and or fuel injectors and has resulted in a short within a circuit or more than one circuit. I also have a pending p0037 which is a heated oxygen sensor circuit failure.

 

[rancherbill]

How much is your time worth.

Reconditioning is an iffy deal at best. If it works you'll have a worn out battery that is going to fail SOONER than later.

Batteries wear out. Look at the date code on the battery.

 

[LexusLover]

Any improvement you get from adding epson salts will be temporary, at best. If there was an effective "Miracle Drug", I am sure the inventor would be as well known as Jonas Salk.

You might get some satisfaction from recharging your battery; I think your money will be better spent on a good grade (not a premium) new battery.

I think you have greater problems than just a battery, as evidenced by your referce to the charred wiring.

The wiring isn’t charred. The damage was minimal but likely worse than I can tell. What is evident is some melted but still workable plastic snap connectors and some damaged plastic coating on some exposed wires from a previous splice job that was poorly covered and in some places not at all with electrical tape. The fuel was burning for 30-40 seconds. I instructed my fiancé to help and she ran to turn the garden hose on I had to run inside for the fire extinguisher when I realized she was going in the wro mg direction. Before that I had removed my coat and attempted to smother the flame which likely kept damage at a minimum. The worst damage was to a solenoid on the vacuum rail where the female connector was melted beyond use. I already have a replacement and I have a spare harness that came with the salvaged engine to cut and splice in replacement section(s) if I do indeed find a short.

I have seen multiple people do the Epsom salt reconditioning and the battery took 2 charge cycles over 48 hours but was reading 12.5 after those charge cycles. If I can get 3 months out of it that would be a success. Even if I could get it charged enough to adequately perform the testing I need to perform that would be a win.

Many salvage yards sell reconditioned batteries. How do they perform their reconditioning process? I’ve heard of edta, magnesium sulphate and sodium hydroxide as reconditioning agents.

 

[LexusLover]

How much is your time worth.

Reconditioning is an iffy deal at best. If it works you'll have a worn out battery that is going to fail SOONER than later.

My time is worth a lot to me but at the moment I have a lack of finances. Ultimately this doesn’t seem like a labor intensive process it just seems like I’ll have to wait for the battery to charge.

As I’ve written above I’m really wondering process salvage yards practice to recondition batteries before selling them.

 

[LexusLover]

Short answer, no. I mean come on scented epsom salts?

jack vines

I mean how much lavender scent could possibly be in there? I’ll check later but I am guessing less than 1% of the total weight. So chemically it should be just as effective as non scented Epsom salts.

 

[nadogail]

I reently bought two battery cores from a shop that sells and installs new batteries for as $80.00. One recharged and tests good, the other seemed to recharge but now tests bad and will not take a charge, When you buy a $10 battery, you pay your money and take your chances.

That battery core can be exchanged at O'Reilly Auto Parts for a store credit of $10.00

 

[Zeke]

When batteries had removable caps I would put them on a rack and shoot high pressure water into them until it ran clear. Then refill with acid from the FLAPS. Got me where I needed to go when young and poor.

I'm tempted to use a multitool to cut the top off a battery to see what accumulates at the bottom. Used to be something red which bridged the bottom of the plates.

 

[mikedodge]

Trying to bring a bad battery back is temporary at best. The longer you try to run the bad battery the more risk you have of wrecking the alternator too.

 

[AldeanFan]

When my brother worked in a salvage yard they sold “reconditioned” batteries.
Any battery less than 5 years old got put on a charger overnight, if it tested on in the morning it was sold as reconditioned. If it failed it was recycled.

 

[rancherbill]

Many salvage yards sell reconditioned batteries. How do they perform their reconditioning process? I’ve heard of edta, magnesium sulphate and sodium hydroxide as reconditioning agents.

I think the re-conditioning is described one post above.

If you were going to do it. Get your measurement and the battery style and LOOK AT THE DATE MARKS on the battery. I am sure the are lots of 1-3 year old battery's available.

 

[four.cycle]

My old man used to sell a product that was supposed to "revive" old batteries. (Sorry I cannot recall the brand name at the moment.) It came in a small cardboard tube about 3/4" in diameter and about 1-1/2" tall, with a paper cap at each end. Each package contained three tubes of the product, wrapped in brightly covered cellophane.
The display cards came 24 packages to a card (like the "Little Tree' stinkie things from CarFreshner Corporation.)

I recall asking one my old man's senior countermen about it when I was a kid. They just laughed and told me it was probably baking soda.

We sold the hell out of that stuff.

Customers would usually show up a few weeks later with enough money for a new (or used) battery.

"Reconditioned"?

You mean open the battery up, clean it all up, inspect the dividers and plates and replace as necessary and refill with fresh acid?

They used to do that in this country when batteries were made out of hard rubber and sealed with hot tar.

I think you can find a YouTube video of a guy in India doing it out on a patio with rudimentary tools.

When a battery came in as a trade-in, we would put it in the back room on the floor with the rest of the junk batteries. (There was always a pile of them accumulating in the back of each store until the battery man picked up the cores twice a week.)

When we had time, we'd go back and eyeball them. If they looked good, appeared to be not too old, we'd throw them on a little trickle charger and let them cook for a day or two. (Not a process you want to rush - zapping an old battery with a lot of juice isn't always going to help.)

A day or two later we'd go back and hook up the load tester and really lean on them - holding that button down until the machine got so hot you had to let go of it. If it held up, we'd toss it into the slop sink, spray it with some foamy bathroom cleaner, and give it a good scrubbing.

Then it would go out on the rack: $19.99 exchange, 30-day warranty. Warranty applies ONLY toward the purchase of a new battery. No refunds, no returns, no exchange. All sales final.

We sold hundreds of them. Pure gravy, baby.

People replace batteries all the time when they don't need to. Might have been the alternator, the regulator, or a loose belt. We didn't care - money is money.

I DID take a few - just for the hell of it - out in back at one of our stores, pulled the caps and rolled them over upside-down and let all the acid leak out into the neighbor's cow pasture, refill them with new acid, and put them on the charger, but doing that really didn't seem to make a hell of a lot of difference, and dumping sulfuric acid on the ground is a real jackass kind of move, even if your neighbor is an *******.

If the choice is $30.00 for a charger vs. the purchase price of a new battery: buy the damn battery and don't waste your time.

Just my lousy two cents.

 

[LexusLover]

My old man used to sell a product that was supposed to "revive" old batteries. (Sorry I cannot recall the brand name at the moment.) It came in a small cardboard tube about 3/4" in diameter and about 1-1/2" tall, with a paper cap at each end. Each package contained three tubes of the product, wrapped in brightly covered cellophane.
The display cards came 24 packages to a card (like the "Little Tree' stinkie things from CarFreshner Corporation.)

I recall asking one my old man's senior countermen about it when I was a kid. They just laughed and told me it was probably baking soda.

We sold the hell out of that stuff.

Customers would usually show up a few weeks later with enough money for a new (or used) battery.

"Reconditioned"?

You mean open the battery up, clean it all up, inspect the dividers and plates and replace as necessary and refill with fresh acid?

They used to do that in this country when batteries were made out of hard rubber and sealed with hot tar.

I think you can find a YouTube video of a guy in India doing it out on a patio with rudimentary tools.

When a battery came in as a trade-in, we would put it in the back room on the floor with the rest of the junk batteries. (There was always a pile of them accumulating in the back of each store until the battery man picked up the cores twice a week.)

When we had time, we'd go back and eyeball them. If they looked good, appeared to be not too old, we'd throw them on a little trickle charger and let them cook for a day or two. (Not a process you want to rush - zapping an old battery with a lot of juice isn't always going to help.)

A day or two later we'd go back and hook up the load tester and really lean on them - holding that button down until the machine got so hot you had to let go of it. If it held up, we'd toss it into the slop sink, spray it with some foamy bathroom cleaner, and give it a good scrubbing.

Then it would go out on the rack: $19.99 exchange, 30-day warranty. Warranty applies ONLY toward the purchase of a new battery. No refunds, no returns, no exchange. All sales final.

We sold hundreds of them. Pure gravy, baby.

People replace batteries all the time when they don't need to. Might have been the alternator, the regulator, or a loose belt. We didn't care - money is money.

I DID take a few - just for the hell of it - out in back at one of our stores, pulled the caps and rolled them over upside-down and let all the acid leak out into the neighbor's cow pasture, refill them with new acid, and put them on the charger, but doing that really didn't seem to make a hell of a lot of difference, and dumping sulfuric acid on the ground is a real jackass kind of move, even if your neighbor is an *******.

If the choice is $30.00 for a charger vs. the purchase price of a new battery: buy the damn battery and don't waste your time.

Just my lousy two cents

It was probably lye/ sodium hydroxide or EDTA In those packages. Backing soda will desulfate the battery. I just cleaned mine out and my neighbor offered to let me use his charger but I really want the noco genius one since it has desulfating and Barbary repair modes

The battery I have has service ports, many of them still do they are just under the sticker and you have to peel it off. And others have ports that you can’t pry out with a pawl you have to drill them and then re seal them.

If I can get a month out of doing this it’ll buy me enough time to be able to purchase a new battery.

I think the re-conditioning is described one post above.

If you were going to do it. Get your measurement and the battery style and LOOK AT THE DATE MARKS on the battery. I am sure the are lots of 1-3 year old battery's available.

Date marks are long gone on this battery unfortunately

 

[no704]

Lol, I’ll dig being tight on cash. But u are wasting your time on this. Work some OT, shovel some driveways. Get a new battery.

 

[LexusLover]

Lol, I’ll dig being tight on cash. But u are wasting your time on this. Work some OT, shovel some driveways. Get a new battery.

I’ve watched many videos and have seen this work. Time is a resource I have a good amount of and even if I only get a month of battery life from this project that will give me enough time to get a new battery.

 

[four.cycle]

dude....

seriously....

 

[Firebrick43]

I’ve watched many videos and have seen this work. Time is a resource I have a good amount of and even if I only get a month of battery life from this project that will give me enough time to get a new battery.

You mean in the video they claimed it worked. There is no way to prove it works without being there and seeing it long term.

Desulfating battery plates works, on some batteries. Older solid plate starting batteries and deep cycle batteries(again with solid plates) it works and extends the life somewhat.

Modern SLA starting batteries have pierced and expanded plates for higher cranking amps(more surface area). By the time they are sulfated, being much thinner than solid cell plates, are already eaten thru. Its just a manner of time before they fall apart and leave you stranded somewhere with a tow bill that exceeds the cost of a battery.

 

[TRWham]

I’ve watched many videos and have seen this work. Time is a resource I have a good amount of and even if I only get a month of battery life from this project that will give me enough time to get a new battery.

You have apparently made your decision and are looking for affirmation. Just do what you are going to do anyway and let us know how it turned out. And always keep a fire extinguisher nearby when working on anything.

 

[dougf]

If you need a battery and are near Lebanon MO, i'll give you a free good one off my Farmall C that im replacing this summer anyway.

 

[LexusLover]

If you need a battery and are near Lebanon MO, i'll give you a free good one off my Farmall C that im replacing this summer anyway.

Thanks for the generosity! Unfortunately I’m all the way near Boston!

 

[Metal-Marc]

dude....

seriously....

This is a troll thread at best.

 

[LexusLover]

This is a troll thread at best.

If you have nothing to contribute to the conversation why bother posting?

I mostly wanted to know if anyone has ever tried this. There are a bunch of anecdotal accounts and it seems like half of people have had positive results and the other half have had no results.

Anyine who responds with anything like “seriously” or “it seems like you’re going to do what you want so why bother asking” or “this is a troll post” are just wasting their time to be unequivocally unhelpful.

 

[nadogail]

I am about three weeks away from an attempt at reconditioning a battery with my arc welder.

I fully intend to post my results if I survive the attempt.

 

[Metal-Marc]

I am about three weeks away from an attempt at reconditioning a battery with my arc welder.

I fully intend to post my results if I survive the attempt.

Try this instead.

 

[nadogail]

You must be kidding me, the dielectric between the two clamps looks suspect.

 

[mogandave]

If you have nothing to contribute to the conversation why bother posting?

I mostly wanted to know if anyone has ever tried this. There are a bunch of anecdotal accounts and it seems like half of people have had positive results and the other half have had no results.

Anyine who responds with anything like “seriously” or “it seems like you’re going to do what you want so why bother asking” or “this is a troll post” are just wasting their time to be unequivocally unhelpful.

If there was a product that truly rejuvenated wet-cell batteries, do you not think someone would be marketing it successfully? These products have been around forever and have never really worked.

As someone else said, "reconditioned" batteries (like a lot of reconditioned stuff) are just used batteries cleaned up and resold.

A good slow charge might bring your battery back to a useful state, and there is no real down-side to buying a nice charger. Buy one and try it.

If there were a way to get significant additional life from batteries, this would be how manufacturers would satisfy their warranties, rather than giving you a new battery. Also, given the environmental impact, the state would likely mandate the battery "extender" products be used.

 

[LexusLover]

If there was a product that truly rejuvenated wet-cell batteries, do you not think someone would be marketing it successfully? These products have been around forever and have never really worked.

As someone else said, "reconditioned" batteries (like a lot of reconditioned stuff) are just used batteries cleaned up and resold.

A good slow charge might bring your battery back to a useful state, and there is no real down-side to buying a nice charger. Buy one and try it.

If there were a way to get significant additional life from batteries, this would be how manufacturers would satisfy their warranties, rather than giving you a new battery. Also, given the environmental impact, the state would likely mandate the battery "extender" products be used.

A while back i posted about catalytic converter cleaning using lye and rinsing in vinegar. Many people had the same response just the pointing and laughing.

This response is thoughtful and productive because it makes me think. They do sell these products and people don’t always have success with them but there must be a point where a battery could benefit from having a cleaning and the fluid changed out. But I did the cat cleaning while they were out and it didn’t do anything to harm the cats.

I did have a p0430 code before I started my engine swap, it came on the moment my engine began knocking and I’m certain it was caused by the excess friction in the crank shaft throwing the timing out of whack and ultimately creating an imbalance in the molecular composition of the intake and subsequently the exhaust I also had retarded timing in both camshaft banks and a few other evaporative system related codes. They all disappeared with the new engine.

But when I soaked the cats and rinsed them the water coming out was dirty. I couldn’t see before the rinse but on the edges of the honeycomb there were markings I believe product number and the denso logo I forgot exactly what the Markings said. But after I rinsed them I could see them.

So I’m thinking this is a similar type thing. If the battery is still in decent shape it’s worth doing but if it’s too far gone it’s futile. Ultimately I’ll see if my battery had any life in it. Maybe there is a way to tell before one does this most likely it would require taking an inspection camera to see how sulfates the plates are inside the battery? Or maybe that’s not something one can see and you need to have the acid tested for chemical composition? Probably more cost effective to try and see what happens

And I also feel that a salvage yard should be charging and checking any battery it sells no matter what. reconditioning implies something has been done to the battery.

Some chargers have desulfating and repair modes I wonder how different those are to the power application that a stick welder applies when connected to a battery.

Either way I have a noco genius 1 on the way and right now the batter is being internally soaked in baking soda water. I’ll heat up some lavender scented Epsom salts and put that in the day I get the charged and see what happens.

 

[Metal-Marc]

Many people had the same response just the pointing and laughing.

There's your clue.

 

[AntonLargiader]

One of the ways old batteries (especially older designs) fail is sedimentation. Active material that detaches from the plates piles up on the bottom and eventually bridges the bottom of the positive and negative plates, causing a slow short. That is a case where the battery could be saved by removing that sediment and filling with fresh electrolyte. The rest of it is still old, corroded, and operating with less active material than before but it will work.

Enveloped negatives probably eliminated most of this issue 25 years or more ago for typical automotive batteries.

 

[alfredeneuman]

I replaced the battery on my truck last week. It has a 2yr warranty and was $179 from Autozone.
Why someone would spend much time researching a way to attempt reviving a weak one is beyond me.

 

[AldeanFan]

Modern batteries are not designed to be rebuildable. Some have caps so you can top up the water but they are not meant to be disassembled, repaired and rebuilt.

If your rebuilt battery fails and leaves you stranded you have to pay for a tow and a new battery anyway, why not just buy the battery and avoid the tow bill?

There are a lot of places to save money, this isn’t one of them.

 

[AldeanFan]

I replaced the battery on my truck last week. It has a 2yr warranty and was $179 from Autozone.
Why someone would spend much time researching a way to attempt reviving a weak one is beyond me.

For perspective, I can’t fill my truck up with gas for $179

 

[Zeke]

One of the ways old batteries (especially older designs) fail is sedimentation. Active material that detaches from the plates piles up on the bottom and eventually bridges the bottom of the positive and negative plates, causing a slow short. That is a case where the battery could be saved by removing that sediment and filling with fresh electrolyte. The rest of it is still old, corroded, and operating with less active material than before but it will work.

Enveloped negatives probably eliminated most of this issue 25 years or more ago for typical automotive batteries.

That's why it worked for me when I was young in the 60's. Good to know about modern battery construction.

 

[mogandave]

I replaced the battery on my truck last week. It has a 2yr warranty and was $179 from Autozone.
Why someone would spend much time researching a way to attempt reviving a weak one is beyond me.

Really? Some people have more time than money and $179 might seems like a lot to them.

They may also be thinking: "Why buy a new one when I can fix this?"

There is something to be said for the satisfaction of fixing something on the cheap...

 

[alfredeneuman]

There is something to be said for the satisfaction of fixing something on the cheap...

True, in the case of something that's just an inconvenience (such as rebuilding your own compressor, etc) but there isn't much satisfaction to be had in being stranded miles from your destination