And back on the topic of Battery conditioners.
I have dabled in this topic multiple times in the past. done some research years ago and some more in the last few days.
Before i start with my HUGE Chemistry/electronics lesson. i just need you guys to understand im a software developer, not an electronics neither a chemistry expert, my knowledge comes from googling about a lot and A level understanding of Chemistry/Physics.
Geoff and Mark are very likely call me out here.
most of the time Lead Batteries lose efficiency because of a chemical reaction refered to as "Sulfation".
"lead batteries" have sulfuric acid and lead "plates" (or mesh) the quality, or capacity of the battery is mostly affected by 2 factors.
1 how strong the sulfuric acis is
2 how much lead surface is available in each plate.
the process of going through cycles causes sulfur crystals to attach to the lead mesh(aka sulfation), which has a double negative effect 1- reduces the surface of lead available for the acid to transfer electrons, and it also reduces the acidity of the acid.
most of you (and note, im already too young to find this "common") will be aware of products like
Bat-Aidproducts like this try to remove sulfur crystals via chemical reactions, and maintain acidity by adding more sulfur to the water.
Battery Conditioners achieve the same result using a different type of chemical reaction to the BatAid tablets, there are more than 1 type of conditioners. but in a nutshell they use different higher voltage pulses in order to "shock" sulfur crystals into cracking/breaking allowing the sulfur in the crystals to be re-used and make the acid stronger.
theres a fine balance in these systems. as the ideal circunstances to break the sulfur require a warm/hot acid solution inside battery (30 to 50c) and a pretty high voltage. (the higher the voltage the bigger the % of crystals will be broken down. The problem is that higher voltages also cause more heat, and if the battery gets too hot, you end up with the explosions we all fear. (not strictly correct, as explosion can be based on h2 buildup as well, but ill ignore that fact)
Now, when everyone talks about buying a branded conditioner. its worth keeping in mind that for an electronics engineer, creating a pulse high voltage conditioner that works on a frequency and voltage safe enough to ignore increase in temperature of the battery is a doodle.
this is a kit to make your own conditioner for example If you think your buying a charger AND conditioner piece of kit, you need to be very careful reading the labels. The wording "smart charger" is used to describe "this charger will trickle charge after the battery is full to avoid overcharging" while a real battery charger and conditioner circuit will be trickle charging on higher voltages than 14-15v of a normal charger to break the sulfur crystals.
all in all. I have purchased 2 batteries in the past 12 years.
one was to replace the 4runner battery that build up a bulge in the casing and was no longer safe to recondition
the other was pieced by a headlamp adjustment bolt when i had an accident and the front of my car was slightly bent.
my approach to batteries is this.
unplug if you know your not going to touch the car for a long period of time.
if the battery needs charging because of some reason, use a smart charger. that will drain it down and recharge it multiple times (mine does up to 5 cycles) and after the 5th cycle i always plug my battery conditioner to the battery for a week, then i recharge the battery up just onse.
this is my smart charger. its not a very expensive charger (cost me 22 quid few years back). i came across this in a rc car enthusiasts forum, its versatile (works for Lipo, NiMH and lead) but requires you to know what your doing to set it up correctly. it does allow an extremely wide range of uses (from 2 to 24v charging), and also has the option to perform up to 5 charge cicles.
the battery desulfator I use set me back close to 30 quid, and came from spain, the seller no longer sells it, but it
looks similar to thisi hope this information is usefull.
YES im still preaching to not use trickle chargers for your batteries, the longer you leave that machine plugged next to your car, the higher is your risk of something going wrong and causing sparks, either in the battery, or the charger. The safest option is to unplug and remove the battery whenever you dont expect to use the elan for a long period.
