[gtofreek]

Ever try to charge a dead battery and the charger won't start charging it. You leave the charger on for several hours or days and still nothing. Then you scrap the battery and buy a new one. Here is a trick I learned back in the 80's when I did auto electrical for a living. This trick usually works and saves an otherwise, dead battery.

Hook the charger up like normal, and turn it on. If it doesn't register a charge, then you need to temporarily hook up another voltage source to it. You can either hook up another 12 volt battery that is not dead, just like you were going to jump start it, or you can just use a 9 volt battery. Simply hook up some wires to the negative and positive terminals of the dead battery[with battery charger turned on], and touch them to the negative and positive terminals of the 9 volt battery. You should see the charger instantly jump up and start charging the dead battery, then unhook the 9 volt battery and the jumper wires, and let the battery charge. Set the charger on the lowest trickle charge setting[2 amps], and let go for 24 hours.

What is happening here is when the dead battery has 0 voltage, most battery chargers don't know they are hooked up to a battery, therefore, they never start charging. By simply adding a voltage source, the charger now see's a battery and starts charging.

[gtofreek]

Oops, guess I should've put this in the electrical section.

[1969GTO]

would it also have a short in the battery?

[gtofreek]

I'm not talking about shorted batteries, there is no hope for them. I'm talking about batteries that have been sitting for a long time and lost all of their charge, but won't take a charge when you try to charge them.

[GOAT WHORE]

I was told this is the only way to charge an Optiman battery,

[Ben M.]

I like my older battery charger, it's dumb and doesn't really care if the battery has no voltage registering on it - it will start charging. I did have to do this trick on a more modern charger and it worked to get the car started.

[gtofreek]

Yeah, that's what's nice about old technology. It's just like try to find a new test light from the Snap-on guy that doesn't have a circuit board in it. Impossible. I just want a test light with a light bulb instead of fixing my 30 year old one from time to time.

Sorry about the rant!

[59safaricat]

Originally Posted by Ben M.

I like my older battery charger, it's dumb and doesn't really care if the battery has no voltage registering on it - it will start charging.

X2. My charger has got to be pushing 50, if not older.

[gtofreek]

Back when they made them good!

[george kujanski]

I just use an old regulated high current (10A) power supply...set it to 14.0 and let it go.

George

[63Banshee]

Low temperature aside, battery power (charge) is a factor of plate sulfation. Battery chargers send current thru a battery at a level high enough to force sulfur molecules off the lead plates. The problem with this is a fair amount of lead is lost and loosened in the process, therefore lowering battery life. This is why trickle charging is a preferred method as it does less damage. That said, I can tell you that there is a low power pulse waveform that effectively releases the sulfur/lead bond on battery plates without damage. This waveform is effective for maintaining charge and aiding desulfation during high current charge.

I encourage anyone interested to try a Pulsetech battery maintenance product. Their technology desulfates lead acid batteries without damaging the plates, therefore extending battery life. I engineered for them back in the day and can tell you that other products on the market that claim to do the same are nothing more than trickle chargers. You don’t hear much about Pulsetech mainly because they are most interested in Military contracts and don’t advertise effectively to the public.

Also, if you warm up a cold battery it will likely show some charge, unless it’s so badly sulfated or damaged from previous charging that chemical reaction is no longer possible.

[59safaricat]

Originally Posted by 63Banshee

Low temperature aside, battery power (charge) is a factor of plate sulfation. Battery chargers send current thru a battery at a level high enough to force sulfur molecules off the lead plates. The problem with this is a fair amount of lead is lost and loosened in the process, therefore lowering battery life. This is why trickle charging is a preferred method as it does less damage. That said, I can tell you that there is a low power pulse waveform that effectively releases the sulfur/lead bond on battery plates without damage. This waveform is effective for maintaining charge and aiding desulfation during high current charge.

I encourage anyone interested to try a Pulsetech battery maintenance product. Their technology desulfates lead acid batteries without damaging the plates, therefore extending battery life. I engineered for them back in the day and can tell you that other products on the market that claim to do the same are nothing more than trickle chargers. You don’t hear much about Pulsetech mainly because they are most interested in Military contracts and don’t advertise effectively to the public.

Also, if you warm up a cold battery it will likely show some charge, unless it’s so badly sulfated or damaged from previous charging that chemical reaction is no longer possible.

Something like this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BatteryMINDe...80d80b&vxp=mtr

[1966geeto]

We used to turn the parking lights on when we would charge them back in the day was part of pre delivery inspections at the dealers or dead lot cars.

[63Banshee]

Originally Posted by 59safaricat

Something like this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BatteryMINDe...80d80b&vxp=mtr

No, not like that. Pulsetech products are the real deal.

[tarheeldude]

Originally Posted by gtofreek

Ever try to charge a dead battery and the charger won't start charging it. You leave the charger on for several hours or days and still nothing. Then you scrap the battery and buy a new one. Here is a trick I learned back in the 80's when I did auto electrical for a living. This trick usually works and saves an otherwise, dead battery.

Hook the charger up like normal, and turn it on. If it doesn't register a charge, then you need to temporarily hook up another voltage source to it. You can either hook up another 12 volt battery that is not dead, just like you were going to jump start it, or you can just use a 9 volt battery. Simply hook up some wires to the negative and positive terminals of the dead battery[with battery charger turned on], and touch them to the negative and positive terminals of the 9 volt battery. You should see the charger instantly jump up and start charging the dead battery, then unhook the 9 volt battery and the jumper wires, and let the battery charge. Set the charger on the lowest trickle charge setting[2 amps], and let go for 24 hours.

What is happening here is when the dead battery has 0 voltage, most battery chargers don't know they are hooked up to a battery, therefore, they never start charging. By simply adding a voltage source, the charger now see's a battery and starts charging.

What to do if running an original 6VDC battery in a 1st series GMC pickup... slam it with 12 volts?

[gtofreek]

Originally Posted by tarheeldude

What to do if running an original 6VDC battery in a 1st series GMC pickup... slam it with 12 volts?

just use a 4 AA batteries hooked together to make 6 volts, then do this trick and it should start charging if there is any hope for the battery.

[FrankieT/A]

Originally Posted by GOAT WHORE

I was told this is the only way to charge an Optiman battery,

I've killed my Optima 3 times over ten years. Dome light for days....According to Optima, if you connect a fully charged battery in parallel with the dead optima and a battery charger on it, it comes right back. This battery is ten years old and will turn AOC's mother over on a cold night.

0 volts plus 12 volts equals 6 volts.

[george kujanski]

That's strange math to me.

George