From: Fred H. Schlesinger (fred@schlesingers.net)
Date: Sun Jun 05 2005 - 15:36:49 PDT
Hello Dave:
When I bought my deuce, it had 2 bad 6tl's. I was able to rejuvenate one of
them with the EDTA and it gave me more than 2 years. It finally crapped out
this spring. I got hold of a few other old but functioning 6tl's in the
meantime. (last year)
Took the acid out of them by dumping them out in a plastic cement mixing
tray, then decanted the acid into plastic bottles. I then washed the
batteries out with EDTA and water. A lot of sulfation came out of the
battery and onto my driveway.
I then flushed them out with water until the water came out clear. Finally
I stored them "dry" with the vent caps off over the winter.
When the first 6tl went this spring, I took one of the batteries off of the
shelf, put the acid back into it, and charged it for a few hours.
That battery puts out almost exactly the same voltage under load (I check
the dc volts after the battery is dead shorted through about two feet of
heavy duty wire for about 10 seconds) as the 2 year old battery next to it
in the deuce.
I assume that I can store the other "dry" batteries until I need them., and
then put acid into them. If it works out, should save a few hundred bucks
in batteries, not to mention the trouble of acquiring them, for $10 of the
EDTA.
Oh, and when I add water to my batteries, I mix the distilled water with the
EDTA. Seems to make them last longer, but who knows for sure?
And, we are talking about using the stuff on military batteries and deep
discharge type "marine" batteries. Hey say that the stuff does nothing to
auto batteries and yes, to sealed type gel cells. Different chemistry.
And double oh, from what I understand, the high voltage charge works
because it somehow shocks the sulfating off of the plates, similar to the
EDTA, which also cleans the plates. Not a magic bullet. If the plates have
dissolved or cells are shorted, no Joy, the battery is junk.
Anyway, does anyone have any experiences with the EDTA chemical besides Dave
and myself.
-----Original Message-----
From: MV [mailto:MV@dc9.tzo.com]
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 2:11 AM
To: Military Vehicles Mailing List
Subject: Re: [MV] MVs 24 volts and batteries
The stuff is called EDTA. It is a white powder that you add to the
battery cells.
I bought a pound from Trailhead Supply in Utah. I tried to recover a
couple of batteries with it with no luck. Regarding extending battery
life I can't tell if it helps or not.
I have a number of vehicles and I have found that once in a while when a
battery dies, and will no longer take a charge, and will have very
limited capacity, I can apply about 40 volts of DC to the battery and it
will recover - sometimes many months of additional use. I use my DC
stick welder to do this. I just apply the higher voltage DC like I'm
charging the battery with the welder for just a couple of minutes. Then
I hook up my conventional charger and let it recharge the battery. The
batteries often load test just fine afterwards. Like they never had a
problem.
My 4+ year old tractor battery died - just when I needed it of course.
I zapped it with the welder - then put the charger on it - 20 minutes
later it was back in the tractor working just fine.
I have no idea as to why this works, but it does. I suspect the high
voltage/current is burning or melting away some portion of the shorted
battery plates.
If you try this make sure you take all safety precautions - wear safety
glasses in case of a battery explosion etc. I always do this outside
away from anything really important in case something pops. Battery
expolosion are not fun - they throw acid and stuff all over the place -
I speak from experience.
Dave
JTravis wrote:
> Hey Dave (and list),
> A while back, I remember a discussion about a chemical that one could
> add to their batteries that was supposed to extend their lives and renew
> those with build-up problems. What was the name of that chemical, and
> where does one get it at? My neighbor just bought an electric golf cart
> to use for going to swap meets, car shows, etc. and I was trying to
> remember so that I might help him out. He's on disablity, and anything
> that makes the batteries last longer is that much he can save. Thanks,
> one and all.
> Jay Travis
>
> l51940@aol.com wrote:
>
>> Reading the recent "jumping 24 volt" posts reminded me that my 6tls in
>> my m35a2 are 4 years old. They have gotten to this age with
>> absolutely zero maintenance. In fact, the first time that I have ever
>> looked inside to check the water level was 2 or 3 weeks ago. The
>> truck is run every week during the decent weather and is started every
>> couple of weeks during the winter. I do keep it inside a drafty barn
>> (gotta protect the Aervoe paint). Joe Young must have had a good
>> batch of batteries then.
>>
>> BTW the new ring mount looks most excellent on my truck. Every kid in
>> town (even old kids) want to spin it around. The neighbors who don't
>> know me are concerned and we will keep it that way.
>>
>> Dave McConnell
>
>
>
>
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