Can You Revive a Dead Battery Using a Welder

In this video I'll go over the procedure of reviving a dead battery using a welder, I'll also go over what is lead sulfate crystals, how does it form inside a battery, how does sulfuric acid and lead plates in the battery interact, why you should use distilled water, how to hook up a welder to a battery if you are going to try to revive it, how to use a load tester and much more.
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Disclaimer:
Due to factors beyond the control of Ratchets and Wrenches, it cannot guarantee against unauthorized modifications of this information, or improper use of this information. Ratchets and Wrenches assumes no liability for any property or personal damage that may arise from doing a repair on your vehicle after watching any of my repair video's. Due to factors beyond the control of Ratchets and Wrenches, no information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Again Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of tools, equipment, or the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not Ratchets and Wrenches.

[@DrSteve-fu8wx]

Great video, by the way. I rebuild batteries as a 2nd (semi-lucrative income), so I just have a couple of suggestions that you can do to improve your success rate. 1st (do a simple prebuild {pour out and filter original acid}, then using Baking Soda. You can use Tap {HOT} + Baking Soda mixed well and pour into each of the battery cells. This will remove almost all Sulfur buildup off Lead plates. After 15 minutes, pour out baking soda mix and rinse out the cells thoroughly. 2nd - Take filtered original acid, refill battery. Get Lead Acid Refill Bottle (at Advance Auto Parts) and top off battery level. To truly rebuild a battery to perfect, you need an Impulse Charger (fairly inexpensive). If not, then you can do the welder, but an older battery charger (the "Roll-a-round" style, which Harbor Freight still sells), will do the trick quite nicely! In 8 years of rebuilds, totaling almost 200 batteries, I've only had 5 fails. Hope this helps!

[@8barbies779]

DrSteve - you're pumping me up dude, does this really work? i'm going to try and follow your instructions to a tee! damn i love YT comments, i'm so glad they're still with us. this may be a dumb question, but anyway to bring back the sealed type? i assume the sealed types are the ones that have no caps. my gut feeling is you're pretty screwed with those huh? thanks heaps:) -barbie

[@8barbies779]

DrSteve - oh - and what's the best way to filter the acid? thx

[@DrSteve-fu8wx]

@@8barbies779 When dealing with sealed batteries, there are 2 main types: ¹) Entire top is heat welded to the base (box). They can be rebuilt, but you have to empty the battery, then remove the entire top using a Plastic Welding Kit (with the triangle tool) slowly cutting and prying up with small pry bar or using Wedges along the way. Once you have removed the top, just filter and replace acid. Next is the tricky part. Replacing the top of the battery, use should use one of the 9000 Series type Caulk. They are Waterproof, heat & chemical resistant & it's approved for use on Sea Vessels by USCG & USN. (I personally did one and found that it wasn't worth the amount of time. However, if it's the only battery you have available, then you don't have many options.) I'm lucky in the fact that a friend of mine is in the Auto Salvage Industry and he provides me with as many batteries as I need at $7.00 per battery.

[@DrSteve-fu8wx]

@@8barbies779 The second type of sealed battery (really isn't sealed). You remove the top sticker and you'll see either a long plastic strip (in the form of a cutout). You simply pry that strip up & you'll see the 6 cell refill ports). Or, after removing the sticker, you'll see 6 large plastic round Phillips Screw-in Plugs. I use a large Flat Head Screw Driver to remove the plugs. Afterwards, you can place the original sticker back on using Contact Spray Adhesive, Super glue or if you have a Vinyl Cutter (like the CriCut machine), print your own Vinyl Label.

[@mgrimess]

Hi DrSteve-fu8wx What ratio of hot water to baking soda do you suggest? Thank you

[@joeh2253]

The testing was great, will i ever do this probably not. But, what you have explained and showed as to how the batteries work are greatly appreciated. I have worked on mowers for people which had low charging systems and now i can actually explain why their charging systems need to be up to par.

[@4speed3pedals]

My dad talked about rejuvenating a dead battery and I never believed it until he did it several times at my gas station. He would take a dead battery and place it on charge and get it nice and warm. Then he would turn it over and allow the electrolyte to drain out. Next step, he would flush each cell several times which would help removed deposits on the bottom of the battery and help clean the plates. When it was flowing clean, per say, he would drain it and refill with new sulfuric acid and place the battery on charge. We never needed to purchase a battery for the purpose of giving a hot shot on a road call as we always had a reclaimed battery. The recharge was done with an old associated battery charger that was seen around may garages in the 60's and 70's. I wish I still owned it as it was kinda bullet proof and just kept on recharging batteries. I believe it was a light green case and it had a set of rubber wheels and a handle plus a hinged lid over the controls.

[@aisback1990]

My favourite mechanic uploads again. Total is a good day.

[@user-cm5xj5bu6p]

Detailed and scientific explanations. Useful and useful content. Thank you

[@joeljenkins7092]

I actually cringed, and leaned back in my chair as I watched this video. So very happy these didn't blow up.

[@nickf2000ss]

I did 225 amps for 10 min then 1 hour rest. Did this for 5 cycles, brought the battery right back to life. Been using the battery for the past 6 months no issues. I think you need more amps and a little more time. i think 100 amps for 10 -15 minutes for 5 cycles would work good. You then need to trickle charge the battery at like 2 amps for like 16 hrs.

[@Joellikeschinaheaters]

You are correct he did it all wrong.

[@Gary-Seven-and-Isis-in-1968]

Did your caseworker tell you to say this?

[@nickf2000ss]

what you talkin about Willis@@Gary-Seven-and-Isis-in-1968

[@Chevroletcelebrity]

225 amps? 😲

[@DIYDaveT]

Experiments were smartly done. Thanks for this info.

[@user-ih5ii4tp3w]

Works really well with my 1100ah off-grid battery.If you desulfate with an overcharge your electrolyte levels should come back to right around normal if it did bring the battery back. sulfate turns back into acid your level should come backup and you shouldn't need acid. The plates on car batteries aren't thick enough. The desulfating is typically used on traction batteries built much more robust.

[@howietorock]

about time someone did a welder test on batteries ,i always wanted to know

[@fred.nestler814]

VERY INFORMATIVE! THANKS!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

[@jpwhre]

This is the second time seeing this on KZbin. You went way deeper. Q1 - what if you drained electrolytes first, filled with distilled water only, did the cycles, replaced with acid? Q2 - what if you never introduced distilled water, but topped of with acid instead? Q3 - what if you drained avoid, and topped of with fresh clean acid? Before you hit it first time.

[@Banditt42]

I zapped two batteries last week and so far they are working good.

[@sarahheeter7168]

Great video. Very informative and easy to follow. Thank you😊

[@simonlinser8286]

You also can do things like gently tap the battery with a rubber mallet to try and break up some of those deposits. Also seen a guy gently rolling his battery down a grass slope, but gently. All these things are supposed to basically use physical movement to try and break up the sulfate... but obviously be careful because you don't want to break up the lead plates, they're made out of thin wires and are actually a grid not a continuous plate... and they're forms of lead that are very brittle and fall apart.

[@wyattoneable]

That was very interesting. Project farm channel did a similar test few months ago and had similar results. I would use my welder in a pinch after seeing these two videos. Thanks!

[@tundrajt]

I actually just did something like this not too long ago. I bought a used Escort and the battery was flat dead on it. Took it out and put the charger on it and it would only put out about 400 CCAs. Hit the jump start on it and cranked amps up to 30 for 10 minutes three times and charged it for a night after. The next morning, CCAs jumped to 725 and now, the Escort has no problem starting!

[@Freekniggers]

Wait a Ford escort? One of the little square looking ones from the 80s?

[@tundrajt]

@@FreekniggersNope! My Escort is a bubbly one from 1998. The battery that was in it was a deep cycle one who knows how old. I brought it home out of the car before the car came home because the car needed a module for it. It was so dead, the light didn’t even come on in the car. I had it one a charger overnight and when I tested it the next morning, it only recovered to right around 400 CCA on a battery rated for 800 CCA. I tried this method on a lawn and garden battery that was 7 years old and brought it back from the dead, so I thought I would try it on the Escort’s battery. Doing that method every hour for a 10 minute duration, then letting it rest the rest of the hour over the span of a day brought that battery back as well. To this day, it is still starting the car just fine after 7 months. The key is to make sure to get the vent caps off to ensure all your cells are bubbling under the higher amperage. If one isn’t, it’s a broken cell plate and the battery is junk. But if all of them do bubble, there’s good chance you can break the sulfate off the plates doing this and getting that capacity back.

[@patpowers9210]

I don't have a welder, but I learned a lot about how batteries work.

[@Network126]

Same

[@marcfruchtman9473]

Great video. It is disappointing to see that none of the batteries were able to be resurrected but they did have a partial improvement. Thanks for making this!

[@Daniel-lk3sy]

I usually do 20 amp punch for a 15-minute procession. Let it sit for half an hour after each session, and I have restored 3 batteries so far!

[@MeDicen_Rocha]

I learned from VGG that you gotta put your used batteries on boil for a few hours and that usually brings them around. Otherwise you gotta dispose of them safely by throwing them into the ocean for the electric eels.

[@Staryuuki_Fan]

Do not put your battery on boil because a lot of dangerous things can happen if it works great but it could explode with dangerous gases inside the battery

[@captainotto]

Wait, since when did we stop burning them in trash barrels? I was just getting used to the smell and good at making pencils from the remains.. Now this!

[@fascistpedant758]

Is 12v enough for electric eels? I thought they ran on much higher voltages.

[@zeelong1589]

Omg 🤣

[@AntiCoruptionCentral]

Reminder: If you swim in the creek and an eel bites your cheek that's a moray.

[@davidmiller6010]

One way I have found to (maybe) get a stubborn battery to take a charge that a smart charger refuses to help is to hook up a fully charged battery in parallel with the problem battery for 10 to 30 minutes. Sometimes that's enough to get over the hump where your smart charger will take over and finish the job. Works for lithium Ion batteries too, but your connection time is measured in SECONDS not minutes.

[@johnfitbyfaithnet]

Thank you for sharing this important information

[@Chevroletcelebrity]

how about not using a smart charger 🤨

[@ericbovenkerk7608]

I also was not very succesfull using this same method. Used method once on a dead (11,69V) and I concluded if the voltage is not too far away you will have succes. No nerve too use the high amps like 75. Wet my pants, great video well explained, thanks

[@brianszymanski2971]

Nice video learned a lot of useful information. Thanks have a great day!

[@batjiyasanthos5526]

Very informative. Thank you 👍

[@poormanrentacar268]

1- I would have used a manual "Dumb" charger that has a multiple Amp settings instead of the welder . 2- When you get over 11 volts reading, you can use the smart charger for an extended period of time as you very likely can damage a perfectly restorable battery if you keep "zapping" it with the welder. 3- If you are going to use the load tester, you need to make sure that the battery is fully charged and has 12.6v+ otherwise the amperage reading will not be accurate. Thank you for your intelligent car videos.

[@boots7859]

There are almost NO perfectly restorable batteries. Everyone I've ever known who's tried this has never had the battery last more than a couple, 3 months max. There is a Reason the batteries have self-discharged to such a low voltage, and pumping amps through them isn't going to 'repair' them.

[@chocolate_squiggle]

Yeah I think his load tester thought one of the batteries was a 6 volt battery, because it was only registering as 8 before the test.

[@James-dt7ky]

I remember in high school auto shop a battery exploded. Dude took the lead off the battery while the charger was still turned on. That battery flew up and hit the 2nd floor ceiling.

[@ua7pyro591]

😂😂

[@JonnyDIY]

😳

[@jfv65]

I had a motorcycle battery that i tried to revive. I knew it was dangerous so i put the battery in a plastic crate, hooked it up to 48V DC. Then i used an extention cord to get out of the way and pluged it in...1-2-3-4-5-KABOOOM😂 No harm done.

[@norisboren5402]

I have seen that happen while a person's face was looking at the TOP of car battery. For safety is best to keep a gallon of water mixed with one half cup of baking soda in garage or trunk to pour along the side of eyes as he is blinking to flush acid out. Should wear eye/face protection. I wear full size face shield that flips down over face. Rule #1 don't have face above any battery.

[@Yukanhayt-Mhenow]

Rule number one should be become educated about every aspect of the task at hand, know the dangers, know the risks and the safety procedures involved! I never do something without knowing all about it first. . . Especially involving chemistry.

[@IvicaRuzic]

Thank you for this amazing info! ❤

[@commonjensen]

Thanks for taking the time to ahare.

[@kwh7980]

With the voltage readings taken, how are any negative readings recorded? All the positive voltage readings have a negative sign 😮. Thanks for the technical information information. All the best.

[@LTT.Official]

My uncle does this yearly on his batteries as maintenance, given that I've seen some battery brands I've never heard of with some old stickers, I'd say it works in that way. Blast off all the old crystals for the year, I'd buy a cheap IGBT stick welder for that.

[@SerenoOunce]

Bear in mind he was using the DC setting on the welder. Most cheaper ones only do AC.

[@lawrencengu9505]

@@SerenoOunce Anyone, does the AC Welder work?

[@mikefuller4539]

@@lawrencengu9505 no. This is a DC battery.

[@lawrencengu9505]

@@mikefuller4539 Thanks for the reply. After I send the query. I tried on my ancient A/C stick welder, thinking that current is alternating, would acted pulsatively hence the frequency vibrating the plates, and break down the "calcium?" (similar to ultrasonic cleaner) build up, and improve the charges. Just my opinion what happened to this process. Below were the results. The 12V battery I tried on with the AC welder, @10A. After, I then charged it to hold 13.4V, and for three weeks later still on 12.4V. The battery was 10yrs old it would not get over 9V before the treatment with the AC welder. no more then 20 second each time, for about 30 treatments. Something to ponder about.

[@GoldSrc_]

@@lawrencengu9505 It is idiotic to try and charge a battery with an old AC welder. Just get a high power resistor like the ones from heaters, and a cheap bridge rectifier to convert the AC from the welder to DC, and charge the battery that way. AC Welder -> resistor -> bridge -> battery, it's going to be slow but it will work and it will be safer.

[@chevaliercognac8757]

Thanks for the big work for us.

[@richardtrammell7521]

Thanks for the info 😊

[@lonestar3433]

Thank you. Very informative video.

[@Ray-jx8io]

Great info dr steve

[@philliphall5198]

It’s worth a try anyway 😊 Thanks 🙏

[@crazycoyote1738]

Smart and well explained!! Thank you bro!! My question- what will happen if I don’t have that antique welder, and my welder have only AC output?

[@TopiasSalakka]

There are some chargers that actually have a desulfation mode, my old boss borrowed me his CTEK and it had a reconditioning mode that hits the battery at 15.8V and 1.5A to break those sulfate crystals.

[@lorditsprobingtime6668]

I've got a several chargers with desulphating modes, including a couple of CTEK ones and they aren't that effective. I haven't tried his method here but do intend to on a couple of old ones that don't seem to be able to work using any of the other chargers. With the welder it'll be more like somewhere between about 40 to 60 odd volts and much more amps, that it may internally limit. This is a last resort technique, don't even try it on one you can charge with a normal charger and a "restore" or "revive" type setting.

[@andrewallen9993]

You don't understand electricity, if you are charging a flat car battery at 15.8 volt it certainly won't be at 1.5amps unless the battery isn't flat at all :)

[@lorditsprobingtime6668]

@@andrewallen9993 YOU don't even know WTF you're talking about. NONE of that was even remotely correct.

[@andrewallen9993]

@@lorditsprobingtime6668 V=I X R. ( what that means is if you increase the voltage the current increases also) Ohms law. If you can prove that wrong there is a Nobel prize for physics waiting for you :) If you can explain how I'm wrong please let me be mentioned as an assistant in your discovery.

[@lorditsprobingtime6668]

@@andrewallen9993 You don't even know WHAT the resistance is so how the f*** can you even guess at what current? As for the " at 15.8 volt it certainly won't be at 1.5amps ", figures pulled out of you butt with no basis in reality, or even evidence of accuracy are meaningless, as is your assertion it wouldn't give "1.5amps". Everything you've said is baseless BS that's utterly meaningless, and increasing voltage 'CAN' increase current but, not necessarily, that depends on a number of factors. I.5 Volts is EASY to beat at near 16 Volts. Now go back to playing with your crayons, purple are the usual favorite choice.

[@picobyte]

How much internal resistance and capacity loss can your application take? We run our fence energisers on decades old car batteries. They only take a few (25~100)milliAmps.

[@user-un2ni8dl7y]

Good work 👍

[@diverbob8]

Blasting away when the battery is in a severe state of discharge just removes the sulfate mechanically and it is lost. Thus, you just prolong the nuisance of having to replace the battery until you are on the way to a wedding or some other important function. It is pretty common to cause an open circuit in some part of the internal rigging of the battery. Also of importance, that gas coming out of the battery contains hydrogen and it can combine with oxygen to "pop" which isn't actually a pop. It can blow the whole battery apart. When this happened to me, there was hot acid everywhere and my ears were still ringing for about 6 weeks... Bottom line, work an hour or two overtime on your job and then buy a new battery. Trust me, it only hurts until you do it and you are then on to the next adventure!

[@freedomtowander]

Your like a battery wizard bro!

[@user-uu1un6mu4p]

I think that video is pretty nifty I never had a clue as to what actually makes a battery degrade I think that was the bomb 💣 nice 👌 thanx

[@markbrown9610]

Any😢

[@docthebiker]

Once you've kicked a battery up to around 11v with the welder can a smart charger work on it? My trickle wouldn't connect to sub 10 volts but will see it if it's over 10.

[@LukeRT]

Project Farm had done this as well, interesting results

[@jamms992]

So did uncle Tony's garage

[@colincarter5266]

Question - what voltage is the welder outputting given the 30 amp setting? I've seen a number of these videos, but info only on amperage, not voltage...

[@alm7707]

might note that the electrolite is a mixture of water and acid. the cells are low because the water has evaporated leaving a stronger acid solution. when you let the acid mixture boil out while charging you are loosing acid so if you add more water you are getting a weaker acid concentration.

[@NotSure2030-kw9yh]

what voltage is the welder output? adding epson salts might help the welder.

[@mikebell2112]

I don't think you want more sulfuric acid in there if the low level is only due to evaporation. The acid in there already is thus extra concentrated so the plain water will return it to its correct strength. Also aren't the lead plates spongy to increase the contact area for higher amperage?

[@Rattlerjake1]

The first thing I questioned is him adding electrolyte without using a hydrometer to see if the acidity was good or low. If he added water and the cell was low on acidity then that cell will NOT charge correctly. Same goes for a cell that the acidity is too high. Secondly, Using this method only rejuvenates the plates, but the battery needs to then be put on a "smart charger" and allowed to charge at a low amperage.

[@jeffcantley9203]

You're correct! distilled water is what you need. You were talking about sponginess of the plates could you be talking about the new style glass mat batteries? they have spongy insulators between the plates

[@joelee2371]

Cirrect on both counts

[@botchvinik8668]

I find that after the desulfation process, putting the battery on a very low (anywhere b/w 1 or 2 amps) trickle charge for a long time (24 hours or even sometimes 48) works well at getting it up to full voltage; typically around 12.7 volts. Also, a series of discharge/charge cycles can help in building up the mA-hr. capacity of the battery. It can be a long process sometimes to rejuvenate a weak battery, depending on how old it is and how badly sulfated.

[@PhilipButler-fl4fb]

Useful information,

[@lightcapmath2777]

Excellent Excellent Excellent! clarity. many thanks for sharing your knowledge...DVD:)

[@markcollard9326]

Thank you.

[@sigma_six]

Well that was educational... I remember the time I blew the top off a battery... yep, separated the entire top plastic section from the rest of the battery, sounded like a rifle shot too when it went off... luckily nobody was standing over the battery at the time... or they would have been toast

[@dmironyuk]

Solid video 👍... I've done something similar & have a $50 Walmart Value battery still going strong @ approx. 6 years😄💪

[@Yukanhayt-Mhenow]

I've been trying to fix my batteries lately and remembered they are over 10 years old 😂

[@dmironyuk]

@@Yukanhayt-Mhenow never understood why "the people" go for the $160-200 batts. from these auto parts stores😄

[@richardgrant9367]

Great video

[@willtricks9432]

Nice. Thanks.

[@ptk4476]

I bought a cheap 2nd hand dc arc welder just to try this after the Uncle Tony video. I'd heard of it before but wasn't encouraged to try it before then, but I've since tried it 3 times and it simply has not worked for me and I subsequently deem it not worth the effort vs the even significant price of a new battery.

[@MattJonesYT]

Came for the "hey hey hey", stayed for the explosions

[@Electrical-face]

Fun to watch and learn 😅

[@beefstickswellington1203]

I feel that after blasting the crystals: draining them, flushing with disntilled water, and then rebalancing the batteries with new sodium sulfate electrolyte solution would greatly restore the capacity after desulfation, instead of using the old polluted water. I would consider that a true refresh, maybe not 100%, but maybe you can get 90% true capacity back. You should try sodium sulfate refresh and test it out, would give you a pt2 for this video.

[@holidayrap]

Youre worng on that flushing the batt diminishes its ability.

[@beefstickswellington1203]

@@holidayrap based on what? Ive been running a sodium sulfate battery for 4 years, and it was the cheapest 1 year warranty battery Walmart had. It worked quite well. It only charges to 12.4v now so it needs a jolt.

[@christopherleubner6633]

Yup that is what to do with old badly sulfated batteries. It is OK to reuse the old acid if you filter it. Definitely wear old clothes as the acid will absolutely wreak them if it gets on them. Goggles and gloves are a given.

[@christopherleubner6633]

​@beefstickswellington1203 the lower voltage is because the sodium is more conductive

[@holidayrap]

@@beefstickswellington1203 I said flushing as in draining the old water and putting new water in.

[@Lucky-ug6is]

Thank you very much

[@DannerPlace]

Interesting, with good information. That said, I'm gonna buy a new battery.

[@McXyu]

go buy new car. enjoy life

[@ehudgavron8061]

"Lose subscribers due to reality" --- You are really funny!!! Very enjoyable, good measurement of not just voltage but amps as well. Well done!

[@piotrzurawski8346]

Did you checked electrolite density?

[@jeffarto8340]

are you DE sulfating the cells with pulse width modulation when you charge them? My special AGM charger also de sulfates at the same time and restores most batteries on1-3 sessions.

[@PeterFeltersnatch852]

Do you have a link for the charge?

[@1pcfred]

No he's just using raw current to shock the monkey. Although that welder he has might put out pulsed DC too (I'd bet that's the case). But that's not what he's relying on to make the magic happen.

[@corneliuiorga6280]

​

[@pearlrival3124]

Heads up! Not all stick welders run the stick welder on positive. In fact my hf stick welder runs reverse polarity. I just did this project and reversed charged my battery. Crazy

[@nedshead5906]

Would a short blast of reverse polarity help shed those sulphate crystals first, or would it ruin the battery?

[@HDXFH]

Ruin battery

[@thisoldboat7393]

After watching a bunch of videos claiming batteries can be restored I am convinced that it's best to take dead batteries down and buy new ones. It's cheaper, faster, less hassle and it works.

[@tbrand6542]

do you use a-c or d-c welder output

[@timd1833]

Wonder why the Lexus' battery was so low to start with. Was it discharged intentionally or does the charging system need checking? Great video! I would've used ear plugs also, just in case one of the batteries blew up!!!

[@Z71Ranger]

You're going to need more than ear plugs if you are standing near a battery when it blows up...😂

[@Gary-Seven-and-Isis-in-1968]

You'll need skin grafts for the next 20 years, not bloody ear plugs. 👉🏼🥵👈🏼

[@TVTruther]

one of the methods of yesteryear was to do this with frozen water/sewer metal pipes.. yes, this was before plastic piping got a foothold..

[@user-wb7ei2ii5l]

Is the welder actually putting 240 volts across each of these battery terminals, or is the voltage input reduced to some lower value?!

[@JohnPooley-te9ei]

Nice1..Ratchet & thank u

[@HailAnts]

First off, I'd be wearing a full face shield when doing this, not just goggles. Over 40 years ago I learned how to work on cars from helping my older brother. Once when I was still young he needed to jump start a truck and didn't have good jumper cables handy, so he used thick welder cables like this. My job was to hold the cable's plug ends onto the good battery's terminals while he turned the key. I don't think it worked, but it made me think how a disastrous thing to do would probably be to connect welder cables to a battery and then turn the welder on. I figured the battery would just explode immediately! Neat to finally see what actually happens!

[@privateparty4900]

Resistance of the load will determine amps here. I guess a dead battery might be surprisingly low resistance, but it would be interesting to measure actual current (and voltage) while charging. I kind of wounder if hitting them with some A/C wouldn't help to remove the sulfate... then charge.

[@k5la144]

no

[@WouterB76]

Thanks for this experiment! Conclusion as far as i'm concerned, if a battery is this bad, just go and buy a new one.

[@Cheepchipsable]

Unless you have access to a welder and a few hours to spare then it's probably not worth your time. Sounds like it might be worth a try with marginal batteries.

[@alex6261971]

thank you , awesome video , i like that you are very funny.. by the way i like the music at the end of the video , what is the name of that song or music.

[@Iowa599]

What was the voltage (from the welder) during the tests?

[@tomermizrachi5159]

30V for 5 min

[@Iowa599]

@@tomermizrachi5159 for arc welding current is selected

[@Iowa599]

/\ bad wording… Arc welders control setting is current, MIG welder control setting is volts. Why, you might ask, well, I don't know. I know how to weld, and I'm not great, but I know that! And I know that was an arc welder. (unless the cables were changed) Finally. Current will tell you more about what is happening, because current causes heat, but voltage does not.

[@patrickmorrissey2271]

Once you got the battery #2 to 11.something, you could have put it back on the smart charger, and probably got it back by restarting over & over for a few days..... Seems like it would have taken a charge at that point..... It takes TIME for some of this to happen.... You need the Sulphur crystals to go back into the acid suspension, in the sulphuric acid..... Ideally, you'd be at a very gentle boil, where there would be bubbling, if you looked in the holes, but acid wouldn't be gushing out.... as the acid gushes out, you are losing some of your sulphuric acid.... thus, when you add more distilled water, you have a weaker acid solution there, which won't work as good inside the battery....

[@jacooosthuizen3593]

Watched a few of these and the voltage always comes back but the cracking amps needed doesn't.

[@OctavMandru]

A few comments from my experience and chemistry I learned in school: The acidity of the electrolyte changes during charging and discharging. The water evaporates but the acid remains so its concentration also varies due to evaporation. Because of the excessive concentration, Sulphur crystals precipitate on plates. So the electrolyte concentration between cells can vary widely, especially on unused batteries. So, a good restauration (presuming the plates are not bent beyond hope) would require: -Emptying the battery in a safe container. -cleaning the cells from precipitation as good as possible with distilled water and a basic solution (baking soda). -charging (more like boiling) a battery with distilled water for a couple of times, water will dissolve all the remaining crystals. Or better said, crystals will dissolve in water due to difference in concentration and heat. Check the acidity of the distilled water, it should increase. -Safely discard the resulting solution, it is basically a mild sulphuric acid now. -replace back the electrolyte with correct concentration to the recommended level. I would probably use new electrolyte if I wasn't a cheapskate. For maintenance: -top up to recommended level with distilled water in order to rebalance the concentration equilibrium. Toping up with electrolyte will cause the Sulphur crystals to precipitate. -Keep the battery connected to a smart charger, one that can provide trickle charging I have a 10yo battery that I restored back to 90% rated CCA.

[@robertdavid6474]

I really need help recently my 2015 Kia Optima was broken into and someone damaged the ignition switch I connected it back together now I’m Experiencing a power on when I trun the key but no start or crank But the power comes on when I trun the key

[@kevinpickard9212]

What about the recondition mode on a smart charger? What does it do to condition a battery? Essentially how does it work?

[@swordfishgear2899]

What voltage is the welder putting out?

[@JohnR9965]

I agree with you on the distilled water part, but I pretty much doubt dealers have it on hand. Right out of the hose I’m sure…

[@frankkoppen7281]

you can buy distilled water at most grocery stores

[@user-neo71665]

I worked in a shop that restored and repaired the batteries in electric forklifts and pallet jacks. I'll tell ya all our water was filtered but came right out of the tap.

[@nicoleteixeira4343]

Can you use this method for gel batteries

[@nathanphillips6423]

What voltage is the welder set on?

[@RC-Heli835]

Ive seen batteries blow up man so please be careful with this. One time in a small Jhon Deere 190 excavtor there was a hairline crack in the battery from people hammering the terminal on. Gas escaped and a bad connection caused a spark igniting the gas escaping from the battery while I hit the key and it blew the end out of the battery. Sounds like a shotgun going off. My brother was headed back around to check the connection when it blew up almost in his face. Another time I saw a mechanic mistakenly hook up 24V to a dead 12V battery so we could unload a track loader and free up a trailer. That battery instantly blew up one cold morning as he hooked it up to 24V. Luckily he had the habit of turning his face when hooking up battery cables. Many folks haven't seen them blow the side out yet so do be careful.

[@Jahsani]

What about AGM batteries, do they have a procedure, to bring them back from the dead?

[@MattJonesYT]

A De-Sulfator that works slowly without heating the battery up is probably also a bit better for the battery than the welder that can boil the water.

[@johnbelwell2461]

A de-sulfator works best in theory and circuits you can buy or make can work with small batteries to some extend, but with car batteries it doesn't have any juice to resonate the crystals off, to make it work it needs to have high current and higher voltage, and an inverter welder already has these two plus high frequency of switching which helps resonate the sulfation off the plates. Lead acid batteries de-sulfate by charging, when they stop charging or providing current due to sulfation it means their internal resistance has been increased so nominal charging voltage is useless and it becomes worse and worse. You can still charge them and they will still de-sulfate but it needs a higher voltage to surpass the internal resistance limitation they now face and have voltage actually make it to the chemical reaction. That's where a welder comes into play as a crude battery restorer. It can be more scientific if we measure the internal resistance of the battery and figure out the charging voltage it needs to charge as normal after the voltage drop the internal resistance causes but zapping the crap out of it is the easiest solution.

[@fascistpedant758]

Desulfators may help extend the life of the battery if used regularly but won't help once the crystals have actually started shorting out the cells.

[@Yukanhayt-Mhenow]

I have a charger with repair mode . . . It doesn't really do anything to car batteries It got the voltage up to 13v but it doesn't have enough energy to start the car still...

[@Cheepchipsable]

@@Yukanhayt-Mhenow One of the cells may have failed internally. It will carry a surface charge of 13v but once you put a load on it it can't deliver the amps. Like trying to start a car with a 12v button battery - the voltage is right, but not enough amps.

[@kevinroberts9394]

I ised to have a tractor that would fix old junk batteries it had a chevy 1 wire alternator and i think it was defective because it would zap you pretty bad if you touched the positive. And 12 v dc does not do that so diode bridge was bad ? I dont know but i always put junk batteries in it and it ended up fixing them

[@throughmylens5127]

Heard of running a battery completely down then hookup battery charger backwards and charge then dump acid and replace with new and charge correctly.

[@SilverTreasures]

Yes you can aggressively remove hard sulfate from the plates using a dc welder. Done it many times.

[@yunusessopsheik1394]

Can U show me how it's done

[@dnacannotchange]

I just bypass the heater core on my 1994 4 cylinder truck and now it only gets 8 miles per gallon the temperature gauge reads fine I don't smell gas any ideas what this could be???

[@mk-jl3zd]

Thanks.

[@nightdipper5178]

Remember if the battery blows up, don't forget to look away. If you do a real good job of it, the entire top of the battery blows off in your face. I was close to Sears at the time so it wasn't a long walk to get a new battery.

[@KerbsterCrushtic]

I used to do this with an older diehard charger that had a 75A start option. Id remove the battery from the car and go at it for a few minutes resetting the charger as it hit the safety. ive only had a few batteries not come back to life from that.

[@geoepi321975]

What voltage you put on

[@jimsix9929]

I have been doing it for years but I use an old Cornwell tools charger with a 200 amp engine start, the way I always did it was 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off to cool, then repeat 8 times, it does work if anyone knows a better way please let me know