How many times have you heard the expression, "My battery won't take or hold a charge" or "I’m losing duration of battery use time?" More often than not, sulfation has occurred. sulfation is the formation or deposit of lead sulfate on the surface and in the pores of the active material of the batteries' lead plates. If the sulfation becomes excessive and forms large crystals on the plates, the battery will not operate efficiently and may not work at all.
In normal use, battery plates are getting sulfated all the time. When a battery is being discharged the lead active material on the plates will react with the sulfate from the electrolyte forming lead sulfate crystals on the plates. When there is no lead active material and or sulfate from the electrolyte remaining the battery then is completely discharged. In essence the electrolyte has been reduced to its H2O state and the specific gravity can be read with a hydrometer. The battery must then be recharged to reverse the process and allow the sulfate to return to the electrolyte.
If a battery is left standing in a discharged condition the lead sulfate will become hard and have a high electrical resistance. This is what is called a sulfated battery. Hardened sulfate also forms in a battery that is constantly being cycled in the middle of its capacity range, somewhere between 80% charged and 80% discharged and is never recharged to 100%. If the battery is continually cycled in this manner, it will lose more and more of its capacity until it no longer has enough capacity to perform the task for which it was intended. Normal charging may not break down the lead sulfate crystals if they become too hard. Most charging sources, engine alternators and battery chargers cannot break down the hardened crystals.
The next time your batteries don't seem to be taking or holding a charge, check the specific gravity with a hydrometer. If all cells are low even after a long time on charge, chances are you've got some hardened sulfate that has accumulated on the plates.
We recommend the BatteryMINDer for use with new or used batteries. With its patented pulse desulfation technology the charger-maintainer-desulfator will extend both the performance and life of all types/sizes/brand of batteries.
