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Can a battery be saved!


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About five years ag I bought a 12 volt car battery (standard not sealed)- it was for a VW campervan with a very small area in which locate it.

It turned out to be too big, so it went into a shed and has been there, 'forgotten', ever since.

I came across it over the weekend and tried to charge - but it seems not to respond to charging.

Any ideas on saving the bat. or is it just for the recyling centre.?

Best Wishes

Ernest

Edited by Ernest
typo
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Hi Ernest,

 if you go on YT you will find numerous attempts to recover dead batteries

You may get some life back but it will always be low on capacity.

See how far you can throw it down the garden then bin it.

 

Roger

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23 minutes ago, RogerH said:

See how far you can throw it down the garden then bin it.

+1  If the battery has been left discharged for years it will be heavily sulphated and effectively useless.  You can play around with charging but I don't think you will get any appreciable capacity back. 

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I left a battery in the CRV over winter without driving or charging. It has short-circuited internally. Takes a huge current off a charger. A first for me, normally they refuse to take much current.

Peter

 

 

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If you can work out how to remove and store safely the sulphuric acid on the battery is a good basis for the pickling process of brass.   

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I have a very late TR, a TRansit race truck, with a  large battery for its diesel engine.     Recently, I left the  rear view camera system on.    Some weeks later, the battery had only seven volts left on it.   Mea culpa. 

But I have a CTEK 'smart' charger, and connected that to the battery over night.    After the first session, CTEK told me that the battery wasn't recoverable, but there were nearly 13 Volts between the terminals, so I gave it another session, and CTEK accepted it as fully charged and operational.     It went back in the van and has worked well ever since.

Your battery has a different history, but a CTEK recharge in "Recondition" mode might make it useable.   CTEKs aren't cheap (MX5 - £60-70) but are excellent for keeping your classic's battery charged up if you're not using it often.

John

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I understand that if your battery charger won’t charge your battery as it senses too low a voltage, the trick is to put another healthy battery in parallel with it and try again.

Regards

Bill

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39 minutes ago, john.r.davies said:

Your battery has a different history, but a CTEK recharge in "Recondition" mode might make it useable.

As you say, 'some weeks' is a bit different to 'five years' John. Although your battery still works well I expect it will have lost a bit of capacity. Probably it was generously-sized for the application so there is still plenty available for the job.  

The battery terminal voltage doesn't mean much. It will tell you the battery is charged but not how many ampere-hours nor CCA it has available.  That is down to the usable area of the plates and its that area which gets progressively lost through sulphation when the battery is left discharged. 

Sulphation is really irreversible and no 'magic bullet' can recover full capacity but there are things you can do to get some sort of capacity back as explained in this very good video.  

 

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Hi Ernest,      TMR in Walton on Thames will take all scrap metal and pay for it (£85 on my last visit with a collection of ferrous and nonferrous and a couple of old batteries), the only drawback is that you have to set up an account and they pay directly into your designated bank account   (guess it helps with fraud and makes things a bit more traceable), ... anyway, phone is 01932 988348 and they are on the web,   ... but you are right, also there used to be a simply brilliant scrapyard iust near Merton, sadly scuppered by 'Elf an' Safety.

Cheers Rob

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Solar chargers look interesting for keeping a battery topped up where mains power is not possible. Anyone got experience?

https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en/catalog/full/48-20W-12V-solar-charging-kit-with-5A-solar-controller-and-battery-cable-with-crocodile-clips.html

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Hello Peter

                  The best charge controllers are these type.

MPPT Charge Controllers: what is MPPT and its advantages (sinovoltaics.com)

If it is for just keeping the battery topped up I think a 10watt panel may be enough (thats about 1 amp in full sun)

10W 12V Solar Panel Trickle Charger Battery Maintainer Kit Monocrystalline with 10A Solar Charge Controller for RV Marine Boat Off Grid System : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

Roger

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44 minutes ago, Peter Cobbold said:

Solar chargers look interesting for keeping a battery topped up where mains power is not possible. Anyone got experience?

https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en/catalog/full/48-20W-12V-solar-charging-kit-with-5A-solar-controller-and-battery-cable-with-crocodile-clips.html

Not if you keep the car inside a garage.

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54 minutes ago, rogerguzzi said:

Hello Peter

                  The best charge controllers are these type.

MPPT Charge Controllers: what is MPPT and its advantages (sinovoltaics.com)

If it is for just keeping the battery topped up I think a 10watt panel may be enough (thats about 1 amp in full sun)

10W 12V Solar Panel Trickle Charger Battery Maintainer Kit Monocrystalline with 10A Solar Charge Controller for RV Marine Boat Off Grid System : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

Roger

Direct link Solar charger

Stuart.

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