Has anyone ever tried Battery Equaliser?
John XW NY
Solar Expert Posts: 50 ✭✭✭✭
Does it work? Has anyone tried it and what were the results?
There must be some product that can help remove any sulfation without damaging the battery.
Have any of you guys had luck with it? or with equalizing for long hours?
I would appreciate some input from naws people thanks.
There must be some product that can help remove any sulfation without damaging the battery.
Have any of you guys had luck with it? or with equalizing for long hours?
I would appreciate some input from naws people thanks.
Comments
Generally, sulfation is terminal. (pun not intended)
There are de-sulphater gizmos that "pulse" a high freq (100KHz) signal into a battery, they claim will re-dissolve sulfation. But's its generally un-reliable. Try it if you want, but nobody will guarantee results..
Charging will prevent sulfation - but Equalizing does not remove it, except for the soft stuff from the last 12 hours.
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,
I've used it. There's a thread here somewhere about my experiment. The short version: results inconclusive.
In other words, no clear indication that it actually helps.
here's a link to a page about a home built desulphater:
http://home.comcast.net/~ddenhardt201263/desulfator/lowpower.htm
has theory and parts.
Usergroup list:
http://leadacidbatterydesulfation.yuku.com/
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,
Hard sulphation on a battery that has been sitting uncharged for three to six months is non-recoverable.
Mid to light sulphation, can be recovered with equalization. Issue is to avoid excessive stress on the battery such as heat or excessive water loss.
I never was a believer in desulphators but there is some merit to pulse charging to achieve the high current necessary to bust the softer sulphate loose without a high average power that cooks the battery.
You need to monitor the specific gravity of electrolyte. Equalize for 15 - 20 minutes (time dependent on size of battery) and see if there is an improvement is SG observable. If there is a slight improvement then keep at it, giving battery a rest of 5-15 minutes between equalizing hits. Don't let a 12v battery get above 16.5 vdc during equalization, or 2.75 vdc per cell. You need a charger with at least a C/10 current capability. Watch the electrolyte clarity. If you start to see slight graying then give it a rest and back off on charge rate/time. I don't believe in letting a battery get warmer then slightly noticable to the touch. I also don't believe in letting a battery equalize at 16.5 vdc for several hours but it depends on how rugged the battery is.
Rolls/Surrette recommends a current of 5 amps / 100 ah capacity for equalization, or C/20. That seems very low to equalize, but that's what they said so that's what I've done.
Have had a Solar Converters Battery Desulphator BDS2 running for 4 years now on a 3 string 2100 ah 24v bank, of ex traction batteries believed to be about 12 yrs old, batteries never cycled below 20% from full usually never below 10% from full, all still going strong, sulphator set to kick in when batteries are at 26v and charging , I thought the $80 was worth it still do, but I can't give a guarantee that it works because they still might all be good if I hadnt used one.
HTH Nigel
Hi Nigel, good to see you back...
I am confused by this: "but I can give a guarantee that it works because they still might all be good if I hadn't used one. "
is there a 'not' missing somewhere in that statement?
Eric
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West Chilcotin, BC, Canada
I am working on a pulse charger to try and prove or disprove any benefits to myself.
One thing I have discovered that it is very hard to get current pulses actually into the battery at anything but low frequency (1000 Hz range) due to cable inductance filtering out the pulses. I am working on a unit that mounts directly across the battery terminals.
Having a 48 vdc system it is hard to keep 24 cells in balance and I don't like equalizing the batteries too often. Any slight variation in cell leakage rate will create imbalance over several weeks.
my typo altered to can't
I have not found any site so far that fully recomends the product. Walmart stoped selling it. If that means anything.