{"id":3875,"date":"2019-01-09T06:38:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T06:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notsealed.com\/?p=3875"},"modified":"2023-07-24T04:13:51","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T04:13:51","slug":"how-to-desulfate-a-battery-with-charger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notsealed.com\/how-to-desulfate-a-battery-with-charger.html","title":{"rendered":"How to DeSulfate a car battery with a charger and bring it back to life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Car batteries typically only last 3-5 years. Sometimes shorter is they are in 4×4 vehicles getting jolted around on dirt tracks. Like all important pieces of equipment, batteries must be maintained to keep them in top working order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For myself, I like to place each of my car and boat batteries on charge every 3 months to give them a top-up charge to 100%. This is the first step to getting extra like out of your vehicle battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time if the electrical charge in the battery falls below 10.5V your battery will start to fail due to a process called sulfation. This is the process of sulfate crystals growing on the lead electrode plates. Over time decrease the amount of charge or voltage that these plates can hold. A low electrolyte water level will also cause sulfation to happen rapidly with the exposure to air on the lead plates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a prolonged charge deprivation, the amorphous lead sulfate will convert to a stable sulfate crystal and deposit on the negative lead plates. These crystals will grow over time and removal will be very difficult. That’s why as soon as your car battery is low of voltage charge top it up immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Desulfate a battery with charger.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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My Topdon TB600 charging the car battery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Desulfation is the process of dissolving the crystals growing on the battery lead plates. There are a few quality on the market at the moment that has a special mode that can pulse a higher voltage of around 15-16 volts into your 12v battery to try and dissolve the sulfuric acid crystals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means each cell in a battery will be between 2.5v – 2.66v per cell once a full charge has been applied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will have to use a battery charger that is specifically made to desulfate batteries. There will be a setting to activate the pulse circuit to start the recondition or repair process. I use an older CTEK battery charger in desulfation mode.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently I purchased a Topdon TB600 charger.<\/a> The cool thing is that I am able to connect it to my phone for more detailed results on the battery charging process. With 5 vehicles at my house no and a Jetski it was time to get another 12v charger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This process may take a few days if the vehicle battery has very heavy sulfation. It also may not completely remove the sulfate crystals. This process only works for low-sulfated batteries. But there have been stories of people bringing back to life batteries that have been kept at a low state of charge for many months and brought back to life with this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does a sulfated battery look like?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are 2 images of the same battery. The first image is new and you can see how shiny the lead and the spacers look. The second battery image is after 3 years of use.<\/p>\n\n\n

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As you can see above there is quite a distinction between the spacers and the lead. Every plate looks shiny and clean. This is a perfect working 12v deep cycle battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, this next image is of the battery that is beginning to show its age. The plates are beginning to be coated with sulfate crystals. Battery performance will drop and it will be due for replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n

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With the CTEK charger in desulfation mode, we were able to clean up the sulfate and bring it back to a nearly new condition. If this battery is left in a low voltage condition longer it would be very hard to clean up the plates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A battery kept at a low voltage will fail very quickly, it is the no1 reason why your car turns over but won’t start.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How long does it take to desulfate a battery?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The time to Desulfate a car battery will depend on the amount of sulfation and the size of the car battery. Smart chargers from CTEK and NoCo use a complex algorithm to determine the voltage and charging amp flow within the battery to destroy the sulfur crystals with pulses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some smart 12v chargers can desulfate an average battery in a few hours. If the sulfation is heavy it may take a day or two. It will also charge your battery at the same time. Just be sure to check the battery water level and top it up when it is low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a look at the video below you can see the voltages which drop down to around 6v and up to around 15 volts. These pulses are enough to shock the crystals to fall off or dissolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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