How To Recondition Old Lead Acid Batteries – Do It Yourself

Do you know that lead-acid batteries are the oldest form of batteries used? In spite of that, they are still relevant and in use. Do you have old lead-acid batteries? Do you know that you can revive them so that they can still be used?

We’ll teach you how to recondition lead acid batteries so you can reuse the old ones. As we all know, batteries provide power to many types of equipment. These batteries have a low manufacturing cost and provide large power.

How Lead Acid Battery Work?

There is a use of negative and positive plates, submerged in the electrolyte. These electrolytes are factors which evokes all the reactions inside the battery.

The mix of water and sulfuric acid is the main reason why this reaction takes place. There is a continuous need for reconditioning of these batteries by checking the distilled water levels. There are also water-free batteries that do not require high preservation.

There are plates which are used as cover to maximize the area. There are separators in each battery that prevents any short-circuit. The new technology uses the sealed lead-acid battery for minimum preservation.

The capacity of these batteries varies depending on the speed with which they are discharged. There is a need for a continuous charge as the ability to charge is removed when discharged for a long time.

There have been a lot of changes in the making of lead-acid batteries. There is a high, long, flat plate that is immersed in the electrolyte. Mostly all these batteries require maintenance of water level for better work.

There are also low upkeep types which compensate for the water loss on their own. There are 6 volts batteries in the series, or there are 12-volt batteries as well. All the cells are connected in a series, and they are capable of producing 2.1 volts.

There is a capacity of production of 6.3 volts when a six-volt battery has a set of fully charged. The battery works when it receives a charge of at least of 2.1 voltages from the charger.

They are thus popularly called storage batteries as they are capable of storing charge. The complete charge that the battery can store depends on the battery plates or the electrolytes that are available in the battery.

The process of sulfation which begins with the chemical reaction at both the negative and positive plates leads to the generation of power.

Why Do Lead Acid Batteries Fail?

The Lead-acid batteries are made of power from the electrolyte. The mixture of water and the sulfuric acid is the main part of creating the reaction. The reaction is generated due to the positive and the negative plates which are submerged in electrolytes.

The whole power is caused due to the reaction between electrolytes and plates. The main part of the reaction generation is done by the plates. Many maintenance problems in these plates may lead to the failure of the battery.

Even though this is a reason but it is not the main reason. When your lead-acid battery fails to work, check out my free guide as this can help you in reviving the battery. The problem of the lead-acid battery happens due to grid erosion and sulfation.

The process of sulfation of the thin layer is created on the negative plate which stops the process of charging. The overcharging leads to grid corrosion which also leads to the failure of the battery.

How Do You Test a Lead-Acid Battery?

The testing of the lead acid battery should be done under safety precautions. The battery should not have been recently charged.

If the battery was charged recently then there should be a waiting time of one hour or more. This should be a lapse time before starting the test.

Starting load test

The Voltmeter should be adjusted to DC Volts. Place the leads of the voltmeter in the two terminals of the battery. The positive should be placed on the positive and the negative to the negative. Check the voltmeter when the equipment is started.

The drop below 9.5 volts shows that the battery has low capacity and needs some effort to bring it back to life. There is a battery chart available for the static test which can be used to understand the condition of the battery.

The testing should be done with the right equipment; there should also be support from the voltmeter. The testing cannot be done without the proper equipment. Make sure that there is a notepad to keep the readings written somewhere.

All the devices and the connectors should be cleaned before using as not cleaning may lead to the explosion as there is acid in these batteries.

What to Do Next?

Since you already know about lead-acid batteries, what they are, how they work, why they fail, and how to test the battery, the next thing would be repairing them.

To know more about how to recondition a lead-acid battery, send over your email so we can guide you how to do it correctly.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, don’t hesitate to share them in the comments.