fixing

945 readers

1 users here now

Celebrating/talking about repairing stuff, the right to repair stuff, and the intersection of tech and solarpunk ideals.

What does it mean to use what we have, including technology, to try to build a better, more environmentally just world?

founded 3 years ago

MODERATORS

JacobCoffinWrites@slrpnk.net

Lead acid battery reconditioning question (slrpnk.net)

submitted 1 week ago by thinkercharmercoderfarmer@slrpnk.net to c/fixing@slrpnk.net

6 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I have recently accidentally come into possession of a bunch of old lead acid batteries, ranging from a few months to several years without charging or maintenance. I could just get rid of them, but I would like to recondition and reuse them as additional power storage for my solar array, if possible. I have been looking at desulfator chargers online and I am planning on getting one and hooking it up to the batteries and just seeing what happens.

Does anyone have any experience reconditioning old lead acid batteries? Are there pitfalls I should be aware of? Since they are of unknown condition, am I better off scrapping them and buying new?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] vatlark@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If the batteries have a cap on top that you can open with just your fingers, you should open it and make sure the lead is submerged in the liquid.

If not, add DI water to cover them.

[–] thinkercharmercoderfarmer@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 week ago

A few of them are sealed, some have pop tops. The few I have opened are completely dry. My plan for the ones with removable caps I'm planning to fill with distilled water and test, then try to recondition them with a desulfator and see if I can detect any difference. never reconditioned batteries before so it's going to be a learning process. Not sure what, if anything, I can do with the sealed ones, I'm focusing on the ones with caps first.