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Topic: Weak 12volt battery.... solved

stjohn50

12/5/2013 at 9:26am
Location: Bude Cornwall
Outfit: Elddis jetstream

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My recently purchased used Elddis came with a 90ah battery which was well passed its best.
While it made over 12 volts the battery would discharge to very quickly, it would get very hot and use a lot of distilled water.
Rather than buy a new battery I "Googled" the problem , after a few hours it became clear that the battery needed desulphating.
The batteries plates build up a layer of sulphur over time slowly but surly breaking down the batteries ability to hold a charge.

A search through Ebay showed you can pay hundreds for a industrial one or as I paid about £12 from India.

I ran the Desulphator for about 8 hours 4 times in the last week, charging between times as the battery barely made 12.8 volts and you need at least 12.5 volts to run it.
I now have a battery that holds a charge, remains cool and uses very little if no distilled water.

Well worth a try for £12 or so saved me £80 to £100.

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I'd rather be fishing!!!!

Jax365

12/5/2013 at 10:57am
Location: south cheshire
Outfit: VW Caddy Maxi

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That's very interesting! You would have thought that a battery not holding a charge needed replacing... and they are expensive.

I don't understand how a desulphator works, but well done you for giving it a go and succeeding!

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Francophile1947

12/5/2013 at 1:36pm
Location: Norwich
Outfit: Citroen Relay Campervan

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Why not post the Ebay link for us to see? - many of us may be interested

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Cheers
John

tango55

12/5/2013 at 2:00pm
Location: Lichfield
Outfit: Coachman Amara 450

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I would have thought that the desulphating process would actually break down the coated lead plates into powder causing it to fall and remain as sediment in the bottom the battery then over a short period of time when the powder forms and meets it would eventually cause a short circuit by linking the plates through powder contact causing the battery to discharge once again. This is not fact but just what my own thoughts are but it would be interesting if anyone could provide more information on desulphating a battery as I have never heard of it before and may just be a gimmick into brainwashing folk into thinking that they are inserting fresh life into a battery which probably will but only for a short period of time. As far as I know, when a battery has malfunctioned and not no longer holding a charge that's the end of it's life....for good!

G7ACU

12/5/2013 at 3:24pm
Location: West Mids
Outfit: Swift Ace Statesman & X-Trail 2.0

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All lead-acid batteries will develop sulphate during their life. Batteries sulphate each time they are used (discharged – recharged). If they are overcharged, undercharged or left discharged for a while, they can rapidly develop sulfate.

A good quality Smart Charger with 'recondition mode' will run a de-sulphate stage during maintenance, which is achieved by the application of short high energy pulses to the battery at high frequency, causing resonance of the plates and conversion of the sulphate back into solution.

It should be noted though that 'budget' desulphation devices don't necessarily provide high enough frequency to resonate the plates properly and this can cause the sulphate to 'shake loose' instead of conversion back into the electrolyte.

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Paul

Every day's a school day!

stjohn50

12/5/2013 at 3:39pm
Location: Bude Cornwall
Outfit: Elddis jetstream

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Whether or not this is a gimmick as tango55 suggests it certainly gave fresh life to my battery, perhaps as he also suggests it may only last a short time, regardless I don't have to fork out £££s for the time being and that for me is good news.
The actual unit I have is a small microprocessor which sends pulses onto the battery plates and while operating uses some 60 milli Amperes of the batteries own power.

There is plenty of information on the internet regarding desulphoration.

As I said it works for me as I now have a battery that hold its charge and seems to me as good as a new battery.

Type in DESULPHATOR on Ebay (There are 25 for sale)
The one I have is the 4th one down from India I made a offer and got it for £12.

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I'd rather be fishing!!!!

the black fox

12/5/2013 at 4:46pm
Location: flint north wales
Outfit: swift challenger 480se 2002

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i can remember many years ago ,before the advent of all these electragummy thinggummybobs ,when i used to have problems with my camping batteries of that period in time 60's 70's ,i simply went down the car shop and bought some bottles of battery acid ,tipped the old stuff down the drain ,and just re-filled battery and charged it up .

probably get ten years hard labour for doing that these days but it worked back then ?? so why not now

DaveCoaches

12/5/2013 at 6:32pm
Location: None Entered
Outfit: Coachman Pastiche

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I understand a solar panel regulator has the same effect.

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