TO
W
ill a battery desulfator
Recover or Extend the Life of My Lead Acid Batteries?
Simple question, complicated answer.
Sulphate crystal build up has been known about
since the Lead Acid battery was first invented,
and this build up leads to over 70% of prema-
ture failure of lead acid batteries. However all
batteries wear out over time and no device can
stop that happening.
Over the last 30 years or so battery manufac-
turers have made great strides in combating
sulphate build-up and improving the lifespan of
their batteries, by introducing changes to the
construction of the battery plates, and in ideal
circumstances, proper maintenance and correct
charging, sulfation should not be a problem.
However we do not live in a perfect world and
sulphate build up remains the major cause of
battery failure.
It has been found that a controlled overcharge
of the battery will break down the crystals, and
if used correctly will keep the batteries in good
clean condition, and extend the useful life of the
battery. This method is not recommended to be
used on sealed lead acid batteries (also known
as AGM or VRLA batteries)
Around 20 years ago a simple device that cre-
ated high voltage pulse sent to the battery was
developed, called a pulse generator or desulf-
ator. This, in practice, created the same effect
as the controlled overcharge except it was not
regulated, so over time these high voltage puls-
es damaged the battery plates. This negated
the positive effect. The circuit board diagrams
for this type of device are freely available on the
internet and many of the low-cost devices avail-
able today are built using these designs. Short-
term solution, long-term damage.
At the same time, alternative solutions were
considered and experimentation showed that
if a frequency pulse was sent to the battery it
could break down the sulphate build up if the
correct frequency could be achieved, however,
different frequencies were required for different
sizes of crystal that built up on the plates. So
the devices using the single frequency method
were and still are, hit and miss, some work some
worthless.
48
WWW.GOLFCAROPTIONS.COM
What was needed was a device that would work
over a range of frequencies, voltages and size
of battery. Until the last few years building, this
type of device was very expensive (in excess of
$1,000) and large (the size of an old style video
player). As no guarantee could be given to the
end-user that sulfation was the problem with
their battery no companies were prepared to
develop them.
Dramatic drops in the size and cost of compo-
nents has allowed companies to produce small
reasonable prices products able to clean the
plates of batteries of various capacities and
voltages.
A small number of manufacturers around the
world now produce products that can clean the
plates of old batteries and stop the sulphate
build-up on new batteries, so recovering them
or keeping new batteries clear of the build-up.
In effect recovering many old batteries and
extend the life of any battery that is not charged
or maintained in the correct way. This is ALL
they do and is the only thing responsible man-
ufactures claim that their desulfators can do,
they cannot recover batteries with any internal
damage, shorted cells or AGM batteries that
have dried out.
As it is not possible for suppliers to determine
the condition or faults of the batteries custom-
ers intend to use the device on you should look
for suppliers, who give clear information of how
to test for faults within the battery, or offer
a telephone or email service to help with any
problems you may have with using a desulfator
or with your specific battery setup.
In conclusion, modern multi-frequency de-
sulfators are not a magic bullet that will repair
all faulty batteries, but they can significantly
extend the life of your lead-acid batteries, and
recover a large proportion of batteries that are
sulphated and would otherwise be scrapped.
This would greatly reduce you replacement
battery costs, which is not insignificant on appli-
cations like solar storage batteries, ride on golf
carts, fork trucks, large boats and motorhomes.