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View Full Version : Anybody Ever Use, or Build a Battery Desulphater?



Bruce Wrenn
03-09-2019, 8:30 PM
Anybody here have any ACTUAL EXPERIENCE building, or using a battery desulphater. Plenty of interesting you tube videos, just trying to separate the hype from the facts.

Brice Rogers
03-09-2019, 9:53 PM
I built three of them. Fairly simple circuit. I kept one and gave two away. The two I gave away were used and the people said that they thought that they "worked". I really didn't put mine to much of a test.

So I am unable to either say that they are great or don't work. But I have built some.

Wade Lippman
03-09-2019, 11:15 PM
I have a charger that has one in it.
This was 8 months ago, so I don't remember the specific details; but I took a battery that hadn't been used in 2 years and charged it. I wouldn't charge anywhere near a normal voltage. I ran the cycle to repair it for a day and it took a good charge. Ran it for another day and it was like new. I then hooked it up to a trolling motor and just let it run; ran as long as a new battery should.
So, put me down as satisfied.

John K Jordan
03-10-2019, 7:03 AM
Anybody here have any ACTUAL EXPERIENCE building, or using a battery desulphater. Plenty of interesting you tube videos, just trying to separate the hype from the facts.

This is timely for me - I have two AGM batteries from farm solar electric fence chargers that got tired of living. I think I'll try a desulphater after reading this:

http://www.superstreetonline.com/how-to/interior-electrical/1811-fa-honda-civic-pioneer-upgrade/

JKJ

Grant Wilkinson
03-10-2019, 10:49 AM
I have not built one, but I have an electronic battery charger that has one built in. I failed to keep a battery charged up that I infrequently use for a trolling motor. It's not a deep cycle. When I did charge it, it would not take a full charge. I ran the desulphater cycle of the my charger on it. It took the better part of a day, but the battery was fully charged at the end of the cycle and is still good now - a couple of summers' use later.

Jim Koepke
03-10-2019, 12:01 PM
This is timely for me - I have two AGM batteries from farm solar electric fence chargers that got tired of living. I think I'll try a desulphater after reading this:

http://www.superstreetonline.com/how-to/interior-electrical/1811-fa-honda-civic-pioneer-upgrade/

JKJ

John, you may have pasted in the wrong link. This one leads to upgrading a Honda Civic sound system.

jtk

John K Jordan
03-10-2019, 2:21 PM
John, you may have pasted in the wrong link. This one leads to upgrading a Honda Civic sound system.

jtk

Yikes! I thought I tested the link, it's a previous story on the same site. This seems like the right link:
http://www.superstreetonline.com/how-to/interior-electrical/impp-1105-battery-desulfators-fact-fiction/

JKJ

Jim Koepke
03-10-2019, 2:42 PM
That one works.

It looks like some of the desulfators cost as much as a new battery.

jtk

Jim Koepke
03-10-2019, 3:00 PM
Here is a link a friend sent when he was asked about this:

https://batteryuniversity.com/search/search&keywords=sulfation/

jtk

Bruce Wrenn
03-10-2019, 8:35 PM
This is timely for me - I have two AGM batteries from farm solar electric fence chargers that got tired of living. I think I'll try a desulphater after reading this:

http://www.superstreetonline.com/how-to/interior-electrical/1811-fa-honda-civic-pioneer-upgrade/

JKJI own a "BatteryMinder". I've had it for years. It includes a "battery conditioner" function, which only works when a battery is fully charged. A couple times, I have left door on truck open to find that battery is DEAD. Charge it up using a 2.0 amp charger for 24 hours, and then run 'BatteryMinder" for 24 hours. I have ordered from Ebay one of the $12.50 specials that you have to use with a 12V wall wart. FIL's van sat for about three and a half months once, and battery was totally dead. Battery refused to take a charge. Bought a new battery. Placed old one on a 2.0 amp charger for four weeks, and it's now in the truck This battery is a 2013 model, so it owes us nothing if it fails tomorrow. I have no idea of how it's done, but LKQ sells batteries that have been "reconditioned" by Interstate.

Scott T Smith
03-11-2019, 4:44 AM
Bruce, I’ve been using them for years. They fall into two categories - maintenance of rarely used batteries (think generators) and restoration.

The maintenance chargers that I’ve used (Onan generator battery chargers built into their automatic transfer switches) use a pulse to turn the charge current on and off - about every 3-4 seconds. I’ve had no issues with batteries staying hot for 7-10 years with the factory Onan charger. It seems to work best though with a new battery, and the slow pulse is not as ideal for a quick desulphanate.

I use Battery Minders and other high freq desulphantors as well. What I’ve discovered is that they work great for quick desulphanation, but I’ve had several batteries go bad that were in storage with a Battery Minder hooked up to them. So I no longer use them constantly over the long winter months to keep my mower battery charged, etc.

Scott

Brice Rogers
03-12-2019, 1:39 AM
I used to own a classic Corvette. I rarely drove it. I kept it on a constant trickle charge. Perhaps a quarter to half amp. I found that the new battery would fail after a couple of years. Perhaps 4 or 5 starts. I did some research and came to the conclusion that battery movement helps to keep the acid mixed. Otherwise you can get a stratification of the acid. I wish that I had tried using my desulphator on the failed battery.

At one point I worked for a company making industrial battery chargers (for the railroad). It was considered "healthy" to go through a few charge/discharge cycles to re-invigorate an older battery.

Dan Hall
03-12-2019, 1:58 AM
I have. I took a used RV battery charger and took out the regulator circuit making it a straight "brute force" DC supply. I then plugged the charger into a variac so that I could control the voltage. Put the batteries someplace where acid bubbles won't ruin anything and slowly start force feeding the voltage to them. Now! You must not, cannot, do not equalize AGM or Gel type batteries. Really. Flooded type only. I equalized a pair of 6 volt Trojan T107? I think anyway. Keep the water levels up, do NOT add any more acid. Leave the chemistry alone. I forgot how hard I pushed mine but it was up there. They boil. At times in the neighborhood of 20 volts for the pair in series. It worked they hold charge now over the winter without additional charging. There is an article out there, maybe at that battery university on equalizing. The off grid solar people do it all the time. If you have AGMs (Sorry John) take the cores in for recycling and get some flooded Trojans.