resurrecting a dead car battery? anyone try this?

[vash]

we have some expensive 12v batteries at work. they run time lapse cameras, and are recharged with solar panels. they died a horrible death.

we called the company for advice, and they said to take a good battery, and hook it up in parallel with the dead battery (down to 6v's on some), then hook the trickle charger to the dead battery. it worked! brought the bad battery up to full charge. he said this trick works for car batteries too.

anyone ever tried this? my 911 battery not taking a charge anymore. i dont want to destroy my good truck battery. (i could use one of my office's 12v's..i guess)

[MotoSook]

Would like to know too. The battery on the Ducati won't retain a charge...I have a few other batteries inthe shop that need to be revived!

[HarryD]

You do not tell what kind of battery you saved. Are these Conventional Wet cell or AGM Type?

[look 171]

I call Optima and they suggested the same thing. It worked. the charger senses the dead battery and it wouldn't charge it.

[notmytarga]

As look171 points out this may simply be that the battery chargers need to sense some voltage or they will not start charging. The reason for this is that it stops you from charging "air" or shorting the clamps together. The procedure is to connect to the battery first and then plug the charger in. I'm not sure of the charge/voltage threshold for this but my charger wouldn't charge and the interior lights were still glowing dimly.

I repeat this to my wife and she hasn't made it work once yet!

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by vash

we have some expensive 12v batteries at work. they run time lapse cameras, and are recharged with solar panels. they died a horrible death.

we called the company for advice, and they said to take a good battery, and hook it up in parallel with the dead battery (down to 6v's on some), then hook the trickle charger to the dead battery. it worked! brought the bad battery up to full charge. he said this trick works for car batteries too.

anyone ever tried this? my 911 battery not taking a charge anymore. i dont want to destroy my good truck battery. (i could use one of my office's 12v's..i guess)

Are these Sealed batteries?

[cstreit]

I don't think this will work for batteries who's innards are sulfated and junk. It probably tricks the chargers, but there are some very sophisticated chargers out there for helping improve this. It isn't going to fix a truly junk battery.

[ODDJOB UNO]

we live in battery hell here. insane summer temps, below freezing winter temps. traditional fill the cell w/distilled water types just evaporate, optimas die a horrible death, name the battery be it aircraft /moto-sickle/vehicle. the only way to make one last is to drive it as a daily driver, and even then 2 yrs is about tops here for them to live.



so yes i would be interested in feedback on optima sealed type batterys. blue yellow reds dont matter wez gots them all.


$179 bucks for an optima red top was the last cost on one we bought. that gets real old real fast.

[azasadny]

I did that trick on my old Optima Red battery and it worked for a little while longer...

[ODDJOB UNO]

Originally Posted by azasadny

I did that trick on my old Optima Red battery and it worked for a little while longer...

how much longer? an hour? a day? 2 weeks? a month?

[vash]

here are the batteries. havent had time to check out their specs.

[sc_rufctr]

A different approach... I haven't actually used this myself but I've talked to people that have and it works.
I'm not sure how well it works. Does it make an old battery as good as new
I plan to buy one and see how it goes.

This is a battery zapper available in kit form from my local Jaycar electronics.
Link for interest but I would guess your Radio Shack would have something similar.

https://secure.vividcluster.crox.net.au/jaycar2005/productView.asp?ID=KC5479&keywords=zapper&form=KEYWORD

From their web site...



Battery Zapper Mk III

Ref: Silicon Chip Magazine July 2009
The popular battery zapper kit has gone through a couple of upgrades and this is the latest easier-to-build version.
Like the original project from 2005, it attacks a common cause of failure in lead acid* batteries: sulphation, which can send a battery to an early grave.
The circuit produces short bursts of high levels of energy to reverse the sulphation effect.
The battery condition checker is no longer included and the circuit has been updated and revamped to provide more reliable, long-term operation.
It still includes test points for a DMM and binding posts for a battery charger.

* Not recommended for use with gel batteries
• PCB with solder mask and overlay
• Components
• Screen printed machined case
• 6, 12 & 24VDC. Battery Zapper Mk III

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by vash

here are the batteries. havent had time to check out their specs.

Says it right on it, "AGM".

The procedure you outlined is right out of the Optima play book to resurrect a dead Optima.

As already noted, this will not work on a dead conventional Lead Acid (aka wet cell) battery.

[vash]

Originally Posted by HarryD

Says it right on it, "AGM".

The procedure you outlined is right out of the Optima play book to resurrect a dead Optima.

As already noted, this will not work on a dead conventional Lead Acid (aka wet cell) battery.

damn..it does say "AGM". good eyes!

[look 171]

If the cells are dead, nothing you do is going to bring life back. I did that to my red Optima and its been kicking for 4 years in my 93 Land cruiser. I drive it everyday but there are times I only drive once every three weeks. I could have done away with a regular battery from Sears and I am sure they will crank over my cars fine. I just did not want to deal with the leaks.

[gtc]

AGM = Absorbed Glass Mat, which is what Optima uses.
Gel = Gelled Electrolye, usually used for marine / deep cycle service.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by gtc

AGM = Absorbed Glass Mat, which is what Optima uses.
Gel = Gelled Electrolye, usually used for marine / deep cycle service.

Odyssey batteries also use absorbed glass mat (AGM) technology.
I use them in both of my cars. They work very well but like all batteries they do eventually fail.

[URY914]

I was told by an old gas station owner that you should drop the battery from about 12" off the ground before charging. It knocks the crap off the lead cells. I don't know if the old guy was right or if it's BS but I've been doing it for years.

[red-beard]

Hopefully won't crack the battery...

[Z-man]

I have a battery charger than has a 'recondition' mode -- this process, which takes 12+ hours will chemically 'cleans' the contacts of the sulfur & other buildup.

-Z-man.