Reconditioning a battery with a DC arc welder...

[Lyle Longboat]

100 years ago when i was a teen
we would take the old rubber cased bad batteries,
dump the acid out
fill them with plain water, dump it, fill with water again & dump it again
Then we would grab some short 2 X 4s
then we dropped the empty batteries onto the wood, we dropped them from a short height a few times
Then used a garden hose to flush out the cells
we did that a few times & then looked down into the cells to see if we could see anything that might short out the plates

Then we turned the batteries upside down & let them sit out in the sun for a couple days, we wanted all the water out of the battery
The reason for that is you never want to pour sulfuric acid onto water

After all the water is gone, turn the batteries over
Now take the box with the plastic container of sulfuric acid in it, it will have a flexible hose & a clip on it
( you may have seen a similar setup with Milk or Wine in a box )

Now unlatch the clip & gently tip the box until the sulfuric acid begins to run out slowly
Fill each cell up to the top of the lead cells, after a short break, then top the cells up with distilled water
Now you can begin SLOW charging the batteries for maybe an hour, then you can turn your charger up for few hours.

If you did it right, no acid touched your eyes, your skin, your clothes & more often than not, you will have a battery that may work again for awhile

I never tried it with the plastic cased batteries

Oldest member here, should get some type of reward or honourable mention at least, at least 113 years old lol

 

[Lyle Longboat]

Oldest member here, should get some type of reward or honourable mention at least, at least 113 years old lol

Sorry you and Rick may have a go for that title. Sorry Rick no disrespect in forgetting about you lol

 

[Wild one]

Sorry you and Rick may have a go for that title. Sorry Rick no disrespect in forgetting about you lol

Jay also has a few years on me,i'm still wet behind the ears compared to Jay and GT,"i think",lol

 

[Jeepwalker]

A lot of the issues come down to a spark being near a hydrogen off-gas. Weather static or from the charging cables. But maybe not all are spark related. I worked with a guy who had a battery explode on him (he worked at a parts store). Fortunately for him he had moved 1 step away facing the other direction when it went ka-boom! I don't get too carried away with old or dead batteries.

 

[Dusty]

100 years ago when i was a teen
we would take the old rubber cased bad batteries,
dump the acid out
fill them with plain water, dump it, fill with water again & dump it again
Then we would grab some short 2 X 4s
then we dropped the empty batteries onto the wood, we dropped them from a short height a few times
Then used a garden hose to flush out the cells
we did that a few times & then looked down into the cells to see if we could see anything that might short out the plates

Then we turned the batteries upside down & let them sit out in the sun for a couple days, we wanted all the water out of the battery
The reason for that is you never want to pour sulfuric acid onto water

After all the water is gone, turn the batteries over
Now take the box with the plastic container of sulfuric acid in it, it will have a flexible hose & a clip on it
( you may have seen a similar setup with Milk or Wine in a box )

Now unlatch the clip & gently tip the box until the sulfuric acid begins to run out slowly
Fill each cell up to the top of the lead cells, after a short break, then top the cells up with distilled water
Now you can begin SLOW charging the batteries for maybe an hour, then you can turn your charger up for few hours.

If you did it right, no acid touched your eyes, your skin, your clothes & more often than not, you will have a battery that may work again for awhile

I never tried it with the plastic cased batteries

Due to rationing, during the war (that would be WWII for you youngsters) this was a popular way to restore some health to a automotive wet cell battery. I think it was even documented in Popular Mechanics at one time.

Didn't remember all the steps. Thanks for the memories!

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 065388 miles.

 

[chri5k]

Due to rationing, during the war (that would be WWII for you youngsters) this was a popular way to restore some health to a automotive wet cell battery. I think it was even documented in Popular Mechanics at one time.

Didn't remember all the steps. Thanks for the memories!

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 065388 miles.

That was long before there was a personal injury lawyer on every street corner. I doubt PM or any other magazine would print something like that now.

 

[Dusty]

That was long before there was a personal injury lawyer on every street corner. I doubt PM or any other magazine would print something like that now.

You're probably right!

I was with my Dad once when a tire blew on our '38 Olds. I held the flashlight while he put on the spare. As he lifted the bad tire into the trunk I noticed something falling out of the hole in the tire. I asked what it was and he said, "sawdust." Apparently with a wartime rubber shortage, recapped tires, which was about the only thing you could get, used sawdust to reduce the amount of rubber needed in the recapping process.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 065388 miles.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

This is kind of an update on this experiment.

So, I tried the rejuvenation technique on 2 batteries and the results were the same. They would gain a static charge, but never able to supply any real current under load. Both batteries were old but I really didn't consider how old.
Last year (in the fall) they would take a charge and start the vehicles. So I didn't think they could be that bad. But checking the dates; one battery was 8 years old, the other was 9. Wow. I remember buying the Group 65 that I had in the Ramcharger, but it only seemed like a few years ago. No, 8 years ago. Time sure flies. So it seems If the battery is really old trying to rejuvenate it will likely be a wasted effort.

Last week the battery in Dad's '18 Bighorn died. I put the charger on it which pumped 10-12 amps into it for a few hours. All it would do was click. Terminals were clean and tight. In January when we had weeks of temps that dipped below freezing the battery would die, but a charge would bring it back. Well, it was kaput this time so a new battery was in order.
I thought "Ahh Ha! another fresh body for my Frankenstein experiments!" But this time the battery is much newer. So the core battery I took to the parts store was that 8 year old group 65. I put the big horn battery on the bench and put the charger to it, again pumping about 10 amps into it for a few hours.
I took the charger off and measured the battery. It was 7.5 volts. So nothing to lose here I put the welder on it at set it at 40 amps and left it for about 45 minutes.
What surprised me was I didn't see much bubbling in the cells. There was only a tiny amount in 1 cell. My batting average with this was 0.0 so far and did think there was any hope. I took the welder off and checked the battery voltage. It was 12.5v. So I then put the load tester on it. To my surprise it held up under a current load. "It's alive! IT'S ALIVE!!!" I said with with diabolical laughter.
I took the welder off and put the regular charger on it which dumped 12 amps into and left it till the next morning. The next morning with my cup of coffee in my fist I check the current on the charger, it was less than a amp. Disconnecting the charger and putting the voltmeter on it it was a 13.4v. I put the 100 amp load tester on it and damn if it didn't crank out 100 amps without a sweat, staying in the GREEN on the scale. I then decided to let it set for a while to see if it holds up. So this morning I did the same test. Yes, it cranked out 100 amps no sweat and showing no sign of weakness. This one so far is a rousing success.
This battery even though it wouldn't take a charge at first is definitely good. But it took zapping it with that high current DC source to 'kickstart' it so it would charge again. This didn't seem to be the sulfated plates issue you typical hear about. If I were to guess maybe we had a shorted cell and the high current blew the short out. Don't know but hey, we have a winner here.

 

[olscout]

I invested in one of these several years ago. Between it and an off season battery maintainer, I got almost 8 years out of the OEM battery on my Husqvarna lawn tractor. I've used it to revive bad batteries enough for what you want, moving stuff around in the yard, although I wouldn't necessarily trust it on a 1000 mile road trip. But it definitely has saved me more than it's cost over the years.

-RC-2A12 12VDC 100-240VAC Battery Charger/Rejuvenator

www.r-charge.net

 

[Dr. Righteous]

I invested in one of these several years ago. Between it and an off season battery maintainer, I got almost 8 years out of the OEM battery on my Husqvarna lawn tractor. I've used it to revive bad batteries enough for what you want, moving stuff around in the yard, although I wouldn't necessarily trust it on a 1000 mile road trip. But it definitely has saved me more than it's cost over the years.

-RC-2A12 12VDC 100-240VAC Battery Charger/Rejuvenator

www.r-charge.net

Yeah, I actually have one very similar to that.
Keeping lead-acid batteries charged while does extend their life. It is when they go months without a charge they sulfate up and die often prematurely.