Refurbish process for forklift batteries

[DPC]

I made a test and my stick welder seems to work with normal 12V car battery. I'm going to try it with this big one (on four segments of course), but I'm not going to do it inside. It means that I have to wait until weather suits my forklift. Also not sure if my welder works with this big battery at all.

I've seen videos people doing it while the battery is still inside the car, so I assume battery being full is not an issue? This way the current is making heat = twisting those plates to knock off sulfation?

Cant see the big chargers in this photo....
After a while motor crews get lazy and don't charge enough.
After deep discharges the batteries get weak and are starting to sulphate.
That's when they start calling about a dead loco on the track without enough power to get to a charger

It seems to help putting a heavy load on in short burst with some mechanical agitation, then back to the car barn for an equalization charge.
Batteries get warm and somewhat revive after doing this for an afternoon.
I'm no expert but I suspect the heat sudden loads higher than normal charge rates and mechanical shock of a good thrashing starts to crack up the hard sulphate film that develops on the cells.
.
WAY back when I was a wee lad my gramps used to take the un-serviceable batteries from the 1960s pre-solar system and drain and wash them out.
He would define un-serviceable by hydro reading if some cells were weak and that battery was pulling down the system.
He'd put them in a steel washtub fill with clean water start a fire under them and gentle stew for an hour or so.
A surprising amount of crud would be loosened up.
Then wash again refill with electrolyte and charge.
I don't think it made much difference, after a while there's very little use able material on the plates.
But squeeze the last blood from the stone before they went to recycle.

 

[Consumerbot3418]

I have tried it using a cheap inverter style welder (won't use my good welders as it has to be hard on the caps) and found every welder I tried has anti stick and won't run if both cables are connected to a battery. Hasn't worked for me, just wanted to try it on some old automotive batteries I'd use on small engines such as a lawnmower.

So, I came across this YouTube video entitled "D.I.Y. How to convert an inverter welder to a 12 volt battery charger."

Rather than looking for a solution to revive lead acid batteries, I'm just looking for the lowest cost per charging amp for a 12V system. For 48V, there's the EG4 Chargeverter, and threads about DIY builds like this one.

Anyway, in the video, the guy modifies his cheap Chinese inverter welder with a shunt, switch, relay, couple resistors, and a cap, and gets about 30 charging amps out of it. I paid a bit over $60 for a cheap little unit, and am considering attempting the modification. A 12V RV charger seems to start at around $2.50 per charging amp. So this might end up being only slightly cheaper, but at least I'd have a welder! Another benefit is that it can operate on 230V. I spent quite a while looking at RV Converter/Chargers and never could find one specced for 230V, except a WFCO-branded one intended for the European market (?!), and fairly expensive.

I've attached some screen grabs from the video for anyone interested.

 

[Noneyabussiness]

Try searching " phosphoric acid into lead acid battery " on Google, might help " revive " them as it helps to make the plates far more conductive for a temporary amount of time..

It helped my 2 forklift batteries, i put 100ml in each cell ( 5 L phosphoric acid of fleabay 48 cells ). My batteries are in pretty good condition, but it did help with no major side effects. now battery voltage in the morning is improved, and they seem to be happy with higher charging currents ( its not huge but a significant boost).

 

[Zwy]

So, I came across this YouTube video entitled "D.I.Y. How to convert an inverter welder to a 12 volt battery charger."

Rather than looking for a solution to revive lead acid batteries, I'm just looking for the lowest cost per charging amp for a 12V system. For 48V, there's the EG4 Chargeverter, and threads about DIY builds like this one.

Anyway, in the video, the guy modifies his cheap Chinese inverter welder with a shunt, switch, relay, couple resistors, and a cap, and gets about 30 charging amps out of it. I paid a bit over $60 for a cheap little unit, and am considering attempting the modification. A 12V RV charger seems to start at around $2.50 per charging amp. So this might end up being only slightly cheaper, but at least I'd have a welder! Another benefit is that it can operate on 230V. I spent quite a while looking at RV Converter/Chargers and never could find one specced for 230V, except a WFCO-branded one intended for the European market (?!), and fairly expensive.

I've attached some screen grabs from the video for anyone interested.

I went back to the first video I saw about using a DC welder to remove sulfation from the plates. I bought the one he recommended for about $175 and it works good.

I do an occasional battery with it, not all will recover.

 

[Zwy]

Try searching " phosphoric acid into lead acid battery " on Google, might help " revive " them as it helps to make the plates far more conductive for a temporary amount of time..

It helped my 2 forklift batteries, i put 100ml in each cell ( 5 L phosphoric acid of fleabay 48 cells ). My batteries are in pretty good condition, but it did help with no major side effects. now battery voltage in the morning is improved, and they seem to be happy with higher charging currents ( its not huge but a significant boost).

Known to not work in close to 100% of the tries.

Only a few things should be in a lead acid battery. Lead, acid and water. The remaining is a byproduct of the first 2, lead sulfate.

Only a few ways to remove sulfate, reverse the process with electricity or blow it off the plates and let it settle to the bottom.