Reviving batteries

[sitiak]

Looking for ways to revive "dead" batteries i.e. sealed lead acid, ni-cd etc.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Take a look on You Tube. There are dozens of great videos. One guy hooked up a 12V car battery and just touched it to the contact points on dewalt dead battery and brought it back to life.

Other use another battery in a series to charge a dead battery. I did this and it really works.

Couple other have a solution to pour in ( I think salt of some sort ) and it breaks up the corrosion in a battery between the plates.

 

[kensnelling]

Also search on TBN. There have been a few threads in the past on this subject.

Ken

 

[Tig]

I used to revive old Ni-Cd batteries using a technique similar to what Cat_driver describes. As I refined my technique I learned more about what I was doing.
Some key points;
It's dangerous. You need to build a blast box to contain the battery during the process and safely direct the energy of a malfunction.
Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal. If a battery does go off, you have problems.
Once I had the information on Cadmium, I no longer had any interest in reviving batteries and I disassembled my set up.

 

[vabiker23518]

Before trying to revive, recommend taking to Advance Auto or Auto Zone...or similar car places. They will conduct a "stress test" to ensure the cells are connected and working. No need to try fixing something that is too far gone. Especially a battery that may explode! Flying acid can ruin your whole day.

Obviously....I misread the initial post....we're not talking tractor batteries. My bad.

 

[Briana03]

Welcome to TBN

I moved your thread to the Parts/Repairs Forum.

 

[pat32rf]

While I have dismantled and replaced bad cells in Ni-Cad drill batteries, I would never expect to get much more life out of them before the next cell dies. As far as lead acid batteries are concerned I don't believe in free lunches.....