Bring old batteries back to life

[hingeman]

I read on a website to dump all of the water / acid out of the battery. Then refill with a solution of distilled water and epson salts, then recharge as normal. They say it will take a few charges to bring it up. Has anyone heard of this? It sounds too good to be true! Is it? How would it work with no acid? Maybe it wouldn't?

 

[HotRodCarts]

I've heard of rinsing batteries with water and Epsom salt or water and baking soda then flushing with clean water then adding new acid and recharging. I wouldn't waste my time on this. If the batteries are bad they're bad. Only one fix works and that's buying new batteries.

If you decide to try it let us know how it works out for you.

 

[BadToTheBone]

I'll drink to that.

Many have made claims of "magic potions" and to my knowledge non of them worked.

 

[hingeman]

Ok, ok, I get your point! I bought new batteries. They ARE nice! Thanks for your help.

 

[kg2289]

I have a 98 48 volt ds and I tried the epson salt and distilled water about four weeks ago. I was amazed how well it worked. I had six dead batteries that would not take a charge. Now they charge up to around 55 volts and battery live is great. It runs like I put six new batteries in.

 

[hingeman]

That will teach me to listen to others who won't try anything new! 6 months IS a long time to wait for the right post though. I'm glad it helped someone anyway. Too bad it wasn't me!!! Maybe it will help someone else as well!

 

[dougmcp]

Don't worry, you made the right decision.
The epsom salt trick has bee around for years and it even works for some batteries for a short period of time. If you expect any longevity out of this you're kidding yourself.
If you look after them, your new batteries will be going strong 5 years from now and kg2289 will be posting "where's a good place to buy batteries" in 1-6 months.

 

[hingeman]

Thanks DougMCP, That makes me feel a little better. After all, the batteries were 7 years old BUT they were still going pretty strong until a bad headlight switch was left on and completely drained the batteries. They were never the same after that! Thanks again for every one that helped! ....... Oh, kg2289, keep us posted on how your batteries are doing. Someday, we'll all have to make that same choice again!

 

[kg2289]

I'll let you know. So far one month down and still going strong. My batteries were three years olds and the kids left the lights on while the cart was at the lake house. A couple a months later when we went back the batteries would no longer take a charge. I figured it was worth a try for only a few bucks. We'll see! By the way I'm knew to the site and glad to be here.

 

[HotRodCarts]

Seeing how your batteries are only three years old they may hold up a while now. It's a little different when the batteries are 5 + years old.

 

[kg2289]

What I've read its it will not work on batteries that have a bad cell, have been frozen, or older batteries around 9 to 10 years old.

 

[golfdog]

As a matter of interest what was the ratio of Epson Salts to water that u used

 

[kg2289]

Three tablespoons to one quart of hot water. Water should be around 150 degrees to desolve the ebson salt. One quart should fill one battery just above the plates. Agitate the battery prior to charging. You may have to charge the batteries with a car charger first to bring up the voltage so the cart charger wil charge.