Lead Acid Battery Reconditioning
Lead Acid Battery Reconditioning: Reconditioning batteries also benefits the environment as less acid seeps into soil and groundwater sources, potentially leading to severe health consequences for humans.
Before embarking on battery reconditioning, be sure to wear protective gloves and goggles in order to shield yourself against acid damage. Furthermore, it’s also a good idea to work in an airy area with adequate ventilation.
Lead Acid Battery Reconditioning Steps
1. Clean the Battery
Cleaning batteries regularly is one of the best ways to avoid battery failure and save both money and the environment from harmful acid chemicals that leech out, polluting soil, waterways, groundwater supplies and wildlife ingestion. Regular battery maintenance also reduces costs on replacements while helping protect wildlife by keeping toxic acids away from being leached into soil or airways and eventually reaching wildlife inhalation sites.
Before initiating battery reconditioning, ensure your workspace is well ventilated. Wear rubber, nitrile or latex gloves; safety goggles; and if possible a face mask (especially if you suffer from respiratory conditions). Also have ready a bucket to collect old electrolyte solution and weak baking soda solution for neutralizing spills when emptying batteries.
Beginning by inspecting your battery for signs of corrosion on its terminals and cable clamps. Corrosion inhibits electrical energy transfer and shortens battery lifespan, so use a wire brush to scrub away rust on both positive and negative terminals of your battery. Next, detach battery cables and apply cleaning solution directly onto any corroded areas on its terminals using either steel wool, toothbrush, or even toothbrush bristles – then rinse off these sections of metal thoroughly using water before drying thoroughly afterwards.
Once your battery has been thoroughly cleansed, reconditioning it is the next step. First step should be testing its voltage using a digital multimeter; 12V indicates full charge while 12.7V means half charged; this helps ensure you get maximum life from lead acid batteries by charging at full capacity immediately instead of leaving them partially charged for too long – leaving sulfation to form on its plates and shorten its lifespan significantly.
2. Uncap the Battery
Reconditioning batteries is an economical way to save money while extending their lifespan, while being environmentally-friendly by decreasing acid production that could harm the environment. When conducting this procedure it is vitally important that safety precautions are observed; such as wearing gloves and safety goggles when working in well ventilated environments, not overcharging, not leaving your battery for too long unattended etc. Additionally, leaving it for too long without use could accelerate degradation resulting in less efficiency from its power sources.
Before beginning the reconditioning process, it is crucial that the battery be taken out of its vehicle and placed on a level surface. Most batteries come equipped with a clamp which secures it in place – once this has been released it should be possible to lift straight up and pour out any electrolyte solution into a bucket using baking soda solution diluted as weak as necessary as a neutralizing agent.
Once your battery is empty, you can move on to unbolting and removing its caps – typically metal structures secured with bolts – followed by cleaning and reinstalling them after ensuring not overtightening them – this may damage them and lead to short circuiting issues. It is also essential that terminal covers be installed back onto each battery terminal to protect against physical contact with it.
Reinstall the red cap on the vent elbow as this will help prevent internal gas pressure that could potentially cause an explosion. Restore all caps before placing back into your vehicle.
3. Remove the Caps
Lead acid batteries contain caps which must be opened in order to add water. A battery syringe, available at most hardware and auto parts stores, is the optimal way of doing this; otherwise a turkey baster may suffice. By adding just the correct amount of water per cell, this ensures your battery doesn’t spit when charging or worse, explode!
Add only distilled water when filling a battery; other forms may cause its lead plates to lose active materials and decrease capacity. Add enough distilled water until each cell reaches approximately 3/4 full, then stop filling.
After adding water, connect the battery to a slow charger; an ideal charging voltage would be 2.4 volts per cell and at least one hour should be spent charging. After completion of charging process, check specific gravity of each cell using hydrometer; if specific gravity falls too low you must vent battery to allow gases out.
Be sure to do this in a well ventilated area, as reconditioning lead acid batteries contains toxic and flammable hydrogen gas that if left alone can build up in empty sections and explode with toxic acid particles flying everywhere. Not only is reconditioning lead acid batteries environmentally-friendly and cost effective but extending their lives for years is also worth the effort!
4. Fill the Battery with Electrolyte
Lead Acid Battery Reconditioning: Before refilling any battery, be sure that it has been completely disconnected from any source of power and wear protective goggles and rubber gloves to guard against acid leakage from battery cells. After the batteries have been cleaned and opened up, fill them up with electrolyte fluid.
Step One of battery reconditioning should utilize distilled water. Distilled water has low mineral content and no impurities that could potentially cause your battery to overflow or spill, providing enough cover for its plates while not overfilling as this will cause electrolyte expansion with charging or use, shortening its lifespan significantly.
Use a hydrometer to test the specific gravity of your battery’s electrolyte solution. A higher specific gravity indicates a satisfactory solution; otherwise, add more electrolyte as required – the ideal range for lead acid batteries is usually 1.260.
Conventional lead-acid batteries contain sulfuric acid that converts to water during charging or discharging, with excess acid eventually turning to lead sulfate crystals that clog insulators and diminish power capacity. To avoid this happening again, you can recondition the battery by swapping out its acid for one with stronger sulfuric acid solution, discharging, and then recharging.
Reconditioning conventional batteries should be done at 50% to 80% of their full charge capacity for optimal life and performance. This will extend their lifespan.
5. Charge the Battery
Charge the battery at approximately one-tenth its amp-hour capacity; for instance, charging a 12-volt battery to 14.4 volts per cell would result in total charging at 14.4 volts; once charged it should sit dormant for 24 hours and can then be tested using electrical loads such as light bulbs or resistors – before discharging to 10.5 volts prior to commencing testing.
Lead acid battery degradation can be traced back to the formation of lead sulfate (PbSO4) crystallization within its porous insulators (or separators), located between its anode plates and cathode plates within a battery. As these pores clog, an increasing area of anode plate becomes deactivated, thus decreasing battery capacity and size.
Reconditioning a lead acid battery involves running current through it to initiate a chemical reaction that reverses degradation caused by its previous state. Pulses of charge and recharge may reduce sulfation by dissolving lead sulfate crystals on anode plates and increasing anode plate activity; however, these results have yet to be proven by manufacturers and service technicians; there remains division over whether pulse charging actually helps or hinders.
Reconditioning lead acid batteries is best accomplished using a constant voltage, current limited charging method. This charging process raises terminal voltage until reaching its upper charge limit for that battery type, at which point current stops flowing due to saturation – typically 12-16 hours for small batteries and 36-48 for large stationary ones. Avoid full charging as this will lead to gassing and water loss.
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