Epsom Salt?

1lastchance57

Has anybody had any luck using Epsom salt in their batteries to try and revive any remaining life?

BGW

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yamarancher

haven't tryed it in batteries, but the deer sure like it !

JohnnieB

Welcome to BGW.

Nobody has yet came up with a magic elixir that cures a "sulfated" battery.

The National Bureau of Standards ran tests on various Lead-Acid Battery additives from 1919 to 1957 and for Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salts) they concluded it is without merit, but does no harm.

Some people have had some success regaining some battery capacity by charging, slightly discharging and recharging repeatedly.

If your charger has the ability to do so, continuing charging until the Specific Gravity of the electrolyte ceases rising, slightly discharging and repeating several times, will get you all you can get from the battery.

When you get your new batteries, be sure to charge them fully before first use and then break them in properly to obtain maximum storage capacity.

SpoiledRotten

I've tried it on batteries before I changed them out, and can tell you that Epsom salt is good for two things; purging the plumbing in your tired body or soaking your tired body in a bath of the stuff. "mrgreen:

jasonneal74

I would never try to rock the boat, so to say, on this forum. The moderators and frequent posters on here are extremely knowledgable and very helpful. I, however, did try the epsom salt trick on four year old batteries that were not taking a charge and did not perform as good batteries should. After the treatment and three or four chargings I have noticed a considerable difference in performance. I have also noticed that while my charger was charging down to ten amps and staying there and boiling the batteries, it is now charging down to five amps. To me for a set of batteries I was going to replace anyway, it is worth a shot.

JohnnieB

I agree with that logic.

Last summer, I was going to replace the Nov-09 batteries that came with my cart because they would only charge to 85% SoC, but wasn't too keen on the idea of new batteries setting idle, but maintained, over the winter, so I read everything I could lay my hands on about rejuvenating lead-acid batteries. Since I was going to replace them anyway, if it didn't work or destroyed them, I would simply be replacing them sooner rather than later.

Instead of going the additive route, which basically sloughs off the surface of the plates, which in turn is the mechanism for shorted cells, I decided to try something akin to the "Equalizing" process done in industrial applications that use bathtub sized cells. In a nutshell, I kept charging, slightly discharging and recharging the batteries and the SoC eventually climbed up to 95%.

I went into the experiment with my eyes wide open, knowing that I might be killing sick batteries, but I lucked out and got to delay buying new batteries until this coming spring. Mission accomplished.

Personally, I don't believe in adding foreign substances to the elegant simplicity of a lead-Acid cell, but to each their own. Just remember it may or may not work.