Don't think I've explained exactly how I've been doctoring the batteries yet so here does. Like so many thing you find on the internet that is supposed to work and doesn't this ain't one of them. I don't own stock in any companies that sells Epsom salt or Distilled water, but did find out how to do this through various sites on the internet. The only $ I made off of this deal was getting 15 batteries (5 of which I more or less traded for info because they turned out to be 8 volt instead of 6 volt like I thought they all would be.) for 5 bucks each. Anyway what I do is heat up 1 gallon of Distilled water to about 150 degrees. It will work at room temperature, but not as well. I don't want it boiling or anything like that. I then dump one carton (about 16 Ozs) of Epsom Salt in the gallon container that the water came out of and carefully pour the heated water back in the jug. Needless to say not all of it will go back in the jug. I wear gloves when I do this because the jug will be hot. I put the cap on the jug and lightly shake it until the Epsom sale has dissolved and the water looks clear. I don't shake it hard enough to make the lid come off of the jug! With the caps off of the batteries (Now I am VERY careful here not to get any of the battery acid on me are my clothes when dealing with batteries) I've already ruined a good set of jeans and a good t-shirt by getting battery acid on them. The batteries will usually be pretty low and if not some of the acid will need to be removed. The trick is to get 1 quart of the solution in each battery (divided between each of the cells of course)
The batteries themselves. Well I go to a golf course and talk to someone there that can tell you who to talk to about buying old batteries that they no longer have a use for. In a lot of cases they will be happy to sell them for the recycle fee (which legally isn't supposed to be over $6) If they will deal then I buy the batteries and doctor them. Even if only part of them work then at that price I'm coming out good.
The Combo light is my drop light that I hung on the outside of the window so it acts as a porch light and lights up the inside here to. Reason being I'm seasoning the last two batteries I doctored. They need to be charged and discharged several time before they become fully useful again. The drop light is how I discharge them and I get the benefit of the inside and outside light at the same time.They are running off of a separate inverter than the main system. After about a week of charging and discharging them once daily I'll add them to the bank.
The picture of the wind generator is a picture of Old Genny without her tail feathers.
Thanks for detailing the way to regenerate batteries that have been thought of as dead!
ReplyDeleteAlso the method of finding batteries is valuable, I dont think many knew how to buy them. Have a good weekend!
Got the last 4 in a bank of their own, but looks like it will take a while to get them to come around. They were not only real low on liquid, but had a ton of sulfide build up which will take a good bit of charging and discharging to get the sulfide knocked off of the plates. Otherwise they aren't shorted and will probably be good batteries once the sulfide is taken care of. For now I have a bank of 4 (which is my main electrical source) 400 AMP hours worth, a bank of 2 which are coming along fine 200 Amp hours worth and then these last 4 as a bank which I expect will come back. Another 400 AMP hours. Total 1000 AMP hours worth.
ReplyDeleteThis is very good information Dave. Thanks.
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