120V DC Lead battery desulfator! Lightbulb and Bridge Rectifier!

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#84
old battery chargers

I've had 3-4 old battery chargers that quit, and most were due to bad rectifiers. Old bat chargers used little button diodes that were held in with friction against an aluminum plate. Time and corrosion takes care of any good connections. I've simply replaced the old rectifiers with new ones and they work fine (ferroresonant usually a center tap transformer with 2 diodes). Check the voltage coming off the main transformer and if it's good, replace the diodes and you're done 🙂
 
#85
grandpaclint said:
i have a quick question,,,,where in the hell can you buy a real battery charger
i have had 3 of of these new socalled chargers,wont even boil the battery
in the olden days they would,now they read 100% charge and the damn battery is still dead
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Yeah, if the battery has a high internal resistance the charge voltage will rise fast causing the (not so)smart charger to turn off and read a full charge.

That's what this lethal contraption is for........ help return the battery to a "normal" condition so it can take a charge again.
 
#89
120 VDC Lead Battery Desulfator lightbulb and bridge rectifier

Thanks Luka for the reminder about the Pulse Charger/Desulfator but I'm wondering if anybody is using the 120VDC desulfator, as simple and effective as it is to maintain the battery installed in their car at present. Do they use it ones aweek ? and how many hours ?, these I would like to know from the user experience. Thanks again, and I hope somebody who has experience could share it.
tonyvill409
 
#91
tonyvill409 said:
Any suggestion on how to use the 120 VDC Desulfator for maintenance of a good, working 12v car lead battery to minimize sulfation.
tonyvill409
Click to expand...

SURE. First, I'm hard on batteries, and drain them low all the time, so I find even new batteries need desulfation after a while to get most or all of their charge back.

I fully charge the car battery first, then I put it on the 120V battery desulfator for several days (I've done even 2 weeks) and the battery will be just around or over 15V when it's ready. It's such a low current, it won't hurt the battery, I try to get it to charge it as high as I can.
 
#93
120VDC Lead Battery Desulfator Lightbulb and Bridge Rectifier

Thanks EWorkshop1707 for your kind suggestion, I presume you are using 2-batteries alternately to effectively maintain it, I'll try this one for sure, and also the reminder to disconnect the battery or remove it from the car while using the 120vdc desulf. I'm still very open to any experience based suggestions.
Best Regards to the Group,
tonyvill409
 
#94
Davide82 said:
I wanted only to give a warning about safety.
When you recharge a battery, it develops hydrogen. So you have to use a well ventilated place. (especially when it's boiling)
If hydrogen accumulates in a room/place it can explode at the slightest spark;
many battery explodes because of this.
Reference: File:ExplodedBattery.jpeg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I wouldn't let it recharge overnight, too.
Click to expand...

No need for safety warnings.

If someone can't be safe they should not even attempt it. The current is so low that it does not boil the battery much if at all depending on charge state

If worried about safety, desulfate them outdoors.

Desulfate as long as you like, I prefer several days.
 
#97
Wow, I couldn't have found this thread at a better time! Here's my experience so far with using the "Light bulb" desulfator. I acquired a motorcycle battery that has been dead for at least 3 years, and was completely dry, no liquid/acid at all. So I filled it up with plain tap water, rigged up a good olé 120vdc "Light Bulb" desulfator and let'er rip. With a 60 watt light bulb I got around 10vdc@480ma of current draw right out of the gate and it has pretty much stayed there for the last 24 hours. I did finally get up to 12.5vdc so thats when I pulled it from the "Light bulb" charger, drained the water out, put in fresh electrolyte, and hooked the battery up to a regular "old school" battery charger, you know the ones without the auto charge circuitry. I charged it on the 10 amp setting for about 8 hours, but soon found out that it was too much because the battery got hot and was gassing pretty good. So at this point I knew I was getting some results, so pulled the battery from the charger and let it sit for a couple of hours and the battery voltage settled in at around 12.8 volts. Time to try it out and see what happens. Well, I got it to crank the tractor over, slowly, but the voltage dropped to 8.5 volts under a good load. The battery did however immediately recover to 12.4 volts. So, it's back to the "Light Bulb" desulfator for another round. I am going to leave it on over night and see what happens. I do wonder however if this little battery is too small to crank over a garden tractor. The battery I am using for testing came out of a ATV which doesn't need as much cranking power. We shall see.
 
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#98
Built 3$ light bulb charger

Built this this evening. Potted the bridge rectifier (radio shack, 3a 400v, 2.69$) with hot glue and a plastic cap off a can of wd40, installed a 40w bulb, hooked it to a DOA 3 yr old motorcycle battery, and plugged it in through a household lamp timer. Voltage is rectified, pulsing at 120hz, battery now 10.9v and climbing. Woo haa - used insulated battery clips and a 120v supply cord cut off of an old set of Christmas tree lights (built-in fuse, 4a). I think it's gonna work! 🙂
 
#99
UPDATE: Motorcycle battery from above post is now at 11.45v. Process is alot slower than I thought it would be- but it IS working. I think I'm gonna build another one, I may try utilizing a different current limiting device, or parallel 60 watt bulbs.
 
#100
Well, I must say.....Success! Here's the what i did so far. After the last disappointing test I put the battery back on the desulfator but before I did that I drained out the new electrolyte I had put in a filled the battery up with just water. You see, fresh electrolyte cannot hold any more lead sulfate, from the desulfation process! Straight water will be able to hold in suspense the desulfate, or lead sulfate once it has been converted. Did I say that right? Also, I noticed a lot of crud on the bottom of the battery so I filled and drained it many times, shaking out the crud. After 4 days on the desulfator and all cells gassing nicely, I drained out straight water, which is now very acidic from the desulfation, filled the battery up with fresh electrolyte and with out even going back to the regular 12v battery charger I can get it to turn the tractor over nicely. Even left it on for a good while to see if it would loose charge and it kept cranking strong! So, I have it now on a regular 12v charger and I think can say I have really revived a totally scrap battery. Cheers all
 
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