Lifeless Lead-acid Batteries: Desulfation-resurrection alternatives?

Again in November 2023, I informed you about how my 2006 Jeep Wrangler Limitless Rubicon:

had failed (extra precisely, not accomplished) its preliminary emissions testing the yr earlier than (October 2022) as a result of it hadn’t been pushed substantively within the prior two years and its onboard diagnostic system subsequently hadn’t accomplished a self-evaluation previous to the emissions take a look at try. Fortunately, after driving the automobile round for some time, aided by mechanics’ insights, on-line data and knowledge sourced from my OBD-II scanner, the final cussed self-test (“oxygen sensor heater”) ran and accomplished efficiently, as did my subsequent second emissions take a look at try.

The battery, which I’d simply changed two years earlier in September 2020, had been disconnected for the in-between two-year interval, not that retaining it related would have notably affected the complications-rife final result; even with the onboard diagnostic system powered up, the automobile nonetheless wanted to be pushed to ensure that self-evaluation exams to run. This time, I vowed, I’d be higher. I’d go all the way down to the outside storage lot, the place the Jeep was parked, each few weeks and begin and drive it some. And purely for comfort causes, I saved the battery related this time, so I wouldn’t must pop the hood each earlier than and after every driving iteration.

I guess you already know what occurred subsequent, don’t you? How’s that saying go…”the highway to hell is paved with good intentions”? Weeks was months, months was years, and two years later (October 2024) to be precise, I ended up with not solely a Jeep whose onboard diagnostics system exams had expired once more, however one whose battery seemed like this:

Right here it’s within the cart at Costco, after my elimination of it from the engine compartment and proper earlier than I changed it with one other brand-new successor:

I instantly changed it primarily for expediency causes; it’s considerably inconvenient to get to the storage lot (subsequently why my prior aspirations had been for naught) and provided that I already knew I had some driving to do earlier than it’d move emissions (to not point out that my deadline for passing emissions was drawing close to) I didn’t wish to waste time messing round with making an attempt to revive this one. However I used to be nagged afterwards by curiosity; might I’ve revived it? I made a decision to do a little analysis, and though in my case the reply was probably nonetheless no (given simply how drained it was, and for how lengthy it’d been on this degraded situation), I realized just a few issues that I assumed I’d move alongside.

First off: what causes a (sealed, in my explicit) lead-acid (SLA) battery to fail within the first place? Quite a few causes exist, however for the needs of this explicit submit matter, I’m going to give attention to only one, sulfication. With as-usual upfront because of Wikipedia for the concise however complete abstract that follows:

Lead–acid batteries lose the flexibility to just accept a cost when discharged for too lengthy attributable to sulfation, the crystallization of lead sulfate. They generate electrical energy by a double sulfate chemical response. Lead and lead dioxide, the energetic supplies on the battery’s plates, react with sulfuric acid within the electrolyte to type lead sulfate. The lead sulfate first kinds in a finely divided, amorphous state and simply reverts to steer, lead dioxide, and sulfuric acid when the battery recharges. As batteries cycle by quite a few discharges and expenses, some lead sulfate doesn’t recombine into electrolyte and slowly converts right into a steady crystalline type that now not dissolves on recharging. Thus, not all of the lead is returned to the battery plates, and the quantity of usable energetic materials obligatory for electrical energy technology declines over time.

And particular to my hardly ever used automobile state of affairs:

Sulfation happens in lead–acid batteries when they’re subjected to inadequate charging throughout regular operation, it additionally happens when lead–acid batteries left unused with incomplete cost for an prolonged time. It impedes recharging; sulfate deposits finally develop, cracking the plates and destroying the battery. Ultimately, a lot of the battery plate space is unable to produce present that the battery capability is tremendously lowered. As well as, the sulfate portion (of the lead sulfate) will not be returned to the electrolyte as sulfuric acid. It’s believed that giant crystals bodily block the electrolyte from getting into the pores of the plates. A white coating on the plates could also be seen in batteries with clear circumstances or after dismantling the battery. Batteries which are sulfated present a excessive inside resistance and might ship solely a small fraction of regular discharge present. Sulfation additionally impacts the charging cycle, leading to longer charging instances, less-efficient and incomplete charging, and better battery temperatures.

Okay, however what if I simply saved the battery disconnected, as I’d been doing beforehand? That needs to be sufficient to forestall sulfication-related degradation, since there’d then be no ensuing present move by the battery, proper? Nope:

Batteries even have a small quantity of inside resistance that can discharge the battery even when it’s disconnected. If a battery is left disconnected, any inside cost will drain away slowly and finally attain the vital level. From then on the movie will develop and thicken. That is the rationale batteries will likely be discovered to cost poorly or by no means if left in storage for a protracted time period.

I additionally discovered this bit, each on how battery chargers function and the way sulfication adversely impacts this course of, fascinating:

Typical battery chargers use a one-, two-, or three-stage course of to recharge the battery, with a switched-mode energy provide together with extra phases with a purpose to fill the battery extra quickly and fully. Widespread to virtually all chargers, together with non-switched fashions, is the center stage, usually generally known as “absorption”. On this mode the charger holds a gentle voltage barely above that of a full battery, with a purpose to push present into the cells. Because the battery fills, its inside voltage rises in direction of the fastened voltage being equipped to it, and the speed of present move slows. Ultimately the charger will flip off when the present drops under a pre-set threshold.

A sulfated battery has larger electrical resistance than an unsulfated battery of equivalent development. As associated by Ohm’s regulation, present is the ratio of voltage to resistance, so a sulfated battery may have decrease present move. Because the charging course of continues, such a battery will attain the charger’s preset cut-off extra quickly, lengthy earlier than it has had time to just accept an entire cost. On this case the battery charger signifies the cost cycle is full, however the battery truly holds little or no power. To the person, it seems that the battery is dying.

My longstanding-use battery charger is a DieHard mannequin 28.71222:

It’s pretty old-school in design, though “trendy” sufficient that it allows the proprietor to entrance panel switch-differentiate between typical SLA and newer absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery applied sciences from a charging-process standpoint (talking of which, within the strategy of researching this piece I additionally realized that old-school automobiles like mine are additionally usually, albeit not at all times, ready to make use of each legacy SLA and newer AGM batteries). And it conveniently helps not solely 10A charging but additionally 2A “trickle” (i.e., “preserve”) and 50A “engine begin” modes.

That mentioned, we’re storing the Volkswagen Eurovan Camper within the storage these days, with my Volvo perpetually parked within the driveway as a substitute (and the Jeep nonetheless “down the hill” on the storage lot). I lately did some purchasing for a extra trendy “trickle” charger for the van’s battery, and within the course of found that newer chargers should not solely way more compact than my historic “beast” but additionally provide built-in desulfation help (claimed, no less than). Earlier than you get too excited, there’s this Wikipedia qualifier to start out:

Sulfation could be prevented if the battery is absolutely recharged instantly after a discharge cycle. There aren’t any identified independently-verified methods to reverse sulfation. There are business merchandise claiming to realize desulfation by numerous strategies akin to pulse charging, however there aren’t any peer-reviewed publications verifying their claims. Sulfation prevention stays one of the best plan of action, by periodically absolutely charging the lead–acid batteries.

With that mentioned, there’s this excerpt from the linked-to ”Battery regenerator” Wikipedia entry:

The lead sulfate layer could be dissolved again into resolution by making use of a lot larger voltages. Usually, working excessive voltage right into a battery will trigger it to quickly warmth and doubtlessly trigger thermal runaway, which can trigger it to blow up. Some battery conditioners use brief pulses of excessive voltage, too brief to trigger important heating, however lengthy sufficient to reverse the crystallization course of. 

Any steel construction, akin to a battery, may have some parasitic inductance and a few parasitic capacitance. These will resonate with one another, and one thing the dimensions of a battery will normally resonate at just a few megahertz. This course of is usually referred to as “ringing”. Nonetheless, the electrochemical processes present in batteries have time constants on the order of seconds and won’t be affected by megahertz frequencies. There are some web sites which promote “battery desulfators” working at megahertz frequencies.

Relying on the dimensions of the battery, the desulfation course of can take from 48 hours to weeks to finish. Throughout this era the battery can be trickle charged to proceed decreasing the quantity of lead sulfur in resolution.

Courtesy of a latest Amazon Prime Large Deal Days promotion, I ended up selecting up three completely different charger fashions at discounted costs, with the intention of tearing down no less than one sooner or later in comparative distinction to my buzzing DieHard beast. For trickle-only charging functions, I received two ~$20 1A 6V/12V GENIUS 1s from NOCO, a well known model:

Amongst its function set bullet factors are these:

• Cost lifeless batteries – Costs batteries as little as 1-volt. Or use the all-new pressure mode that lets you take management and manually start charging lifeless batteries all the way down to zero volts.
• Restore your battery – A sophisticated battery restore mode makes use of sluggish pulse reconditioner know-how to detect battery sulfation and acid stratification to revive misplaced battery efficiency for stronger engine begins and prolonged battery life.

Then there have been two from NEXPEAK, a lesser identified however nonetheless extremely rated (on Amazon, no less than) model, the ~$21 6A 12V mannequin NC101:

• [HIGH-EFFICIENCY PULSE REPAIR] battery charger automotive detects battery sulfation and acid stratification, take latest pulse restore perform to revive misplaced battery efficiency for stronger engine begins and prolonged battery life. NOTE: can’t activate or charging completely lifeless batteries.

And the also-$21 10A 12V/24V NC201 PRO:

with equally worded desulfation-support prose:

• [HIGH-EFFICIENCY PULSE REPAIR]Robotically detects battery sulfation and acid stratification, take latest pulse restore perform to revive misplaced battery efficiency for stronger engine begins and prolonged battery life. Notice: can’t activate or charging completely lifeless batteries.

In actual fact, with this mannequin and because the entrance panel graphic exhibits, the default recharging sequence at all times begins with a desulfation step.

Do the desulfation claims bear out in actual life? Learn by the Amazon person feedback for the NC101 and NC201 PRO and also you’ll probably come away with a blended conclusion. Cynically talking, maybe, the hype is paying homage to the “peak” cranking amp claims of lithium battery-based battery soar starters. And I additionally surprise for what share of the constructive reviewers the battery resurrection ended up being solely partial and non permanent. That mentioned, I suppose it’s higher than nothing, particularly contemplating how cost-effective these chargers are these days.

And that mentioned, my final future aspiration is to not must attempt to resurrect my Jeep’s battery in any respect. To wit, provided that as beforehand famous, “I don’t have AC outlet entry for [editor note: conventional] trickle chargers” on the outside storage facility, I’ve additionally picked up a transportable photo voltaic panel with built-in trickle charger for ~$18 throughout that very same promotion (two, truly, in case I find yourself transferring the van again down there, too):

which, subsequent time I’m down there, I intend to mate to a SAE extension cable I additionally purchased:

bungee-strap the photo voltaic panel to the Jeep’s windshield (or perhaps the hood, relying on automobile and solar orientations), on high of the automobile cowl middleman, and route the charging cable from beneath the automobile to the battery within the engine compartment above. I’ll report again my leads to a future submit. Till then, I welcome your feedback on what I’ve written to this point!

—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line e-newsletter.

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• Energizer’s PowerSource Professional Battery Generator: Not dangerous, however you are able to do higher

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