Reply To: additives or gadgets to fix or renew batteries

[Anonymous]

Beast, you are correct. As the battery discharges the plates expand and warp. The heaver the plates the less warpage and the shallower the DOD the less warpage. That is a major cause of “Dead Cells”. Some manufactures make a point of saying that their separators are designed to help prevent plate contact.

As far as drawing your batteries down to zero, I highly recommend that you DO NOT do this as it will in all likely hood damage the battery to the point it will never fully recover. Anything below 80% DOD is highly discouraged by ALL battery manufacturers. 50% DOD is the standard for their life cycle ratings. 15% – 25% is great, but believe it or not less than 10% can actually reduce battery life. That’s why I sized my battery bank to cycle around 20% DOD to get the longest life possible.

Oh Wretha, another thought about the equalization charge, the reason for that is because a battery that sits in one place tends to stratify. In other words the electrolyte has a different specific gravity at different heights in the cell. The equalization charge raises the charge voltage to cause the battery to off gas more than usual to stir up the acid and get the specific gravity more uniform. Since you have four batteries you could take two and put them in your car next time you head into town to “shake up” the electrolyte. A bit crude I realize, but it would serve the same purpose. After all, car batteries and golf cart batteries never need equalization charges.

Zathris….