A trick to rejuvenate a car battery

In this video I show how I get some extra life out of an old car battery. This trick only works about half the time. This video is not about a load test. This video is just to show the rejuvenate trick.
1- The waste from this project went to the local recycling center.
2- I am wearing glasses in this video but most of the time I also have an extra set of goggles on ( that,s why I asked where are my glasses in one part of the video )
3- It is better to purchase a new battery. This video is only to show what can be done, it is not saying you should do this.
4- I never intended to use this battery after making this video, but I left it in the truck for about a half year before purchasing a new one, but I had planned to buy a new one from the start.

[videopipeline]

Most other 'lead acid battery recovery' videos attempt to remove the sulfation that occurs mainly if the battery was discharged to low for an extended period of time. This video is one of only a few I've seen on youtube that addresses the *other* main way lead-acid batteries fail: *accumulated plate shed material in the bottom of the battery, which eventually builds up enough to cause "soft short(s)" on the bottoms of the plates in one or more cells* (usually starting with the cell on the positive terminal). That causes internal resistance to rise, which requires more amps to recharge to full voltage because more of the charger's electrical output being converted to heat (i.e.: the battery heats up a lot). In comparison, heavily sulfated batteries typically have poor charge acceptance (i.e.: the charger doesn't put out much current and the battery doesn't heat up).

[boots]

This is one of the best video's on YT I've seen. Most vid's want to jump to charging/discharging or pulsing, or reverse charging for sulfating, yadda, yadda.
Man here shows that its probably all the crap from the plates slowly shedding material or dendrites pushing through a cell which is a physical unfixable failure.
Clean that crap out, and you should be able to use hot tap water for the flushes, and can do a final rinse with that 1$/g DI or distilled water. Or just let it dry upside down. Filtering the old acid is smart, however without a hygrometer you don't know how strong it is. You can get new acid and hygrometer pretty cheap at the parts store. Thing I liked mostly was showing that sometimes getting your hands dirty is all it takes vs experimenting with pulsers, welders and crazy charge/discharge cycles, reverse charging, etc.
Actually was rather surprised at how much crap came out.
Next time I'm under the hood, I might just pull my newer 2 y.o. battery out and do the same thing as PMCS.

[rodneyjhackenflash]

Two years ago, I easily rebuilt my 4-year-old almost dead Walmart battery in a day for less than $10. The battery is now over 6 years old and cranking super - even in freezing weather. I learned how to refurbish car batteries on YouTube. So far, I've refurbished two - a Walmart and an Interstate. Easy to do. Sulfuric acid is the key.

[general]

Thanks for posting this demonstration of reworking a car battery! I had heard of doing it this way, but hadn't actually experienced it done! Thanks! Most folks don't know what to do with battery water. You mix soda with it to neutralize it...but you still have to treat it like HAZ-MAT, and take it to a battery shop for proper disposal. The guy at the battery shop haa an apron that's heavy vynal, that he wears, and heavy vynal gloves, but he won't let you watch him work...if the truth were known, he does exactly what you just demonstrated! Thanks!!!

[MeMe-ttrw]

You are onto something here.
I recall as a child upon the battery in our car being stuffed, dad would lift the caps and looking into the wells, yes we could see some of the plates bent and twisted,
I suspect this shorted out the battery.
Where as now days if you look inside the plates all look reasonably good. I believe the reason what looks to be a good battery is stuffed is simple.

The old style battery had a deep well below the bottom of the plates and so any small metal that broke away would drop down out of harms way.
Today the same area is very shallow and so only a little metal needs to gather there to then short out a plate.

I had thought about doing as this guy did but have no way of disposing of the dirty water so never did it. Glad to see it worked for him.

[Erklzanderz]

Shorts, t-shirt, and no gloves while draining and rinsing a sir are a soldier!

[dougalannh]

Been doing this for many years and it really does work. Just gear up safely and rinse and shake the battery many times until the flushing water clears up or your arms wear out. I usually add new acid but have gotten by with old acid too, just let it sit long enough for the crud to settle out before pouring it back into the battery. If you do not have enough acid to cover the plates do not add water which dilutes the acid but use some old acid from another donor battery.

[elyeballar]

THANK YOU, WILKES FOUNTAIN. I'M SO GLAD YOU MADE THIS VIDEO. NOW, I CAN DO IT MYSELF TOO. from the philippines.

[jameswan]

This great video has proved why we must buy a new battery. Great tutorial sir.

[ShakemanCamaro]

"Always err on the side of safety" but...no gloves and dressed like you're catching a plane to Hawaii right after 😂 Still, thanks for the video.

[johnburningham]

I worked at a service station one summer in high school back in 1967, the owner had me do basically what you did in the video except we used tap water and a paint can shaker to break up the deposits, then drained the battery and refiled with distilled water and rinsed the inside, then refilled with new acid. I also had to wear acid proof gloves and apron along with a full face shield. We also first cleaned the outside of the case with a water and baking soda solution before working on the inside. He sold them used at half-price of a new battery mainly to teenagers.
I have done the same procedure many times since then; it worked about 80% of the time and I typically got another year or two out of the battery.

[markdraper]

Used to this trick for used cars at a dealership. Worked well, never had customer complaint. Probally have to replace the battery in 6 to 12 months.

[TIMMEH]

I've restored lots of very dead lead acid car batteries. I throw away the acid and wash out with cold tap water until the cells come out clean, then mix up some sodium bicarbonate mix and fill each cell and leave over night. Wash out thoroughly the next day and then fill with new battery acid. Providing the lead sheets in the cells aren't too badly warped the battery will be like new again and last for many years. I have noticed that post 2010 batteries are made with much thinner lead sheets in the cells than they used to be and often these breaking down are the cause of the battery failure. These batteries are not usually repairable.

[barryphillips]

I have done this a few times with success, i used the garden hose to flush out the cells with the battery lying on it, s side and facing down hill a little.
On a vehicle you do not use everyday or rely for work this is well worth doing!!

[ricktaylor]

A good bush fix will be a good thing if SHTF one day. I've made carb gaskets out of the back cover from a spiral notebook and used a thick piece of cotton string that I soaked with candle wax for a rear end housing gasket when I was a teenager. Sometimes you had to do what you had to do get to town to buy a new one.

[alanscott]

Nice save. Don't know if I'd take a 4k road trip with it but safe for in town. Remember when you could get a good bat got about 30 bucks. Now over 100. Hope you have another good year left. Couldn't believe the gunk that came out! Good work. 👍😎🇺🇸🚜

[amartinez]

Got the same battery sitting in the garage.Already bought a new one.I'm stil gonna try this, is always good to have a spare.

[richardbisiaux]

Thank You for answering me about putting new electrolite in the battery.

[grandparolie]

Jon Jonson must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed the guy is only trying to help us out in fact I did that to my battery years ago and it’s still going so the guy saved me a lot of money which I thank. 💯👍🏼😊

[DaleDirt]

I have heard of this but never seen anybody do it, Good knowledge to have so when everything goes wacko, I have a few tricks to apply to the situation . Thank you Sir .