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8 steps to recondtion lead acid batteries
Most drivers want to replace a battery that has given up immediately. Installing a new battery is usually not a cheap affair. You will soon spend a few hundred euros on it and in most cases the replacement of a lead-acid battery is not necessary at all. A car battery that has given up is in most cases not completely broken and can be perfectly overhauled.
How do you proceed to recondtion a lead-acid battery?
Before you start practically with the overhaul, we would like to inform you that there are basically 2 types of lead acid batteries.
- SLA batteries (Sealed Lead Acid). With these batteries you cannot just reach the cells of the battery and you will have to drill holes in the battery casing.
- Open batteries. The cells of these batteries are sealed with covers that you can easily open.
Reconditioning a lead-acid battery is not that difficult, but you must follow the correct procedure step by step. In this section we are happy to list these steps for you:
Step 1 : Check the voltage of your battery with a multimeter. Connect the multimeter to the battery and read the voltage. If this voltage is lower than 12 V, but higher than 11.7 V, there is a good chance that your battery can still be overhauled.
Step 2 : Heat approximately half a liter of distilled water to almost boiling point.
Step 3 : Add about 250 grams of magnesium sulfate or Epsom salt to the warm water and keep stirring until the magnesium sulfate or Epsom salt is completely dissolved.
Step 4 : The type of battery is very important in this step. If you have an open battery, then open the covers that close the cells. With the battery closed, you will need to carefully drill holes to reach the cells.
Step 5: Carefully top up the electrolyte fluid with the mixture of distilled water, magnesium sulfate or Epsom salt. Use a funnel for this, so that you spill as little as possible.
Step 6: If you have topped up this liquid, close the battery properly again.
Step 7: Fully charge your battery and have it fully discharged immediately afterwards. Keep in mind that a full charge can take up to 20 hours. You keep an eye on this process as far as possible, so that you can intervene if something goes wrong.
Step 8: If your battery is fully charged, have it discharged to approximately 50%. Repeat the charging procedure again. Your battery should now work again!
Save money through reconditioning
Remember that you can save a lot of money by overhauling your battery. The purchase and installation of a new battery is not cheap at all and you do not have to incur any major costs to overhaul a battery yourself.
The most expensive aspect of the complete overhaul process is the purchase of a charger. If you are going to work with accuracy for the first time and you are not sure that this is something for you, then you can always borrow a charger from someone else for this one time. If you notice that everything is going well and you are satisfied with the result, you can purchase your own charger.
