HI,
I don't know if this has been done here before. But here is what I intend to do.
I was watching a series if videos on the recovery of lead acid car batteries.
Here is the link.. definitely interesting.
So, I have a number of old batteries and decided to give it a go.
Today I dug out a battery that has 9.9 volt across the terminals. It was first charged in 2000. So it is 14 year old.
I picked this one as even a flat battery should have 9 volt if it isn't damaged.
It is a MotorCraft Superstart EMF 560 030 060 W. 12 Volt 590 Amp 60 Ah.
The start conditions of this experiment are.
Cells checked for electrolyte. Found to be all at top of plates. Added a bit of distilled water to each to ensure plates covered.
Terminals in reasonable condition, non of the hard crusty layer often found on the + terminal. Cleaned them up.
Connected a small charger (max 6 Amp) with a 5 Amp moving coil meter in circuit.
Switched on.
Initial charge rate 0.1 Amp. 11.7 Volt across the terminals.
Now , this voltage is too low. Should be around 14 Volt at first. So the charger is suspect.
Tomorrow I will buy another small charger. I have a big charger, but don't want to use it for this test.
I'll keep going out to check on progress this evening.
When the battery has been charging for 24 hours (4 PM tomorrow) I'll record the numbers then it is a matter of awaiting the Alum before proceeding.
Dave.