diy solar

diy solar

Restoring FLA batteries

NMNeil

Solar Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 14, 2020
Messages
441
Found a most interesting patent from 1997.
It gives the following method to obtain a carbon suspension.
"Water (pH: 7) was used as an electrolyte solution. An negative electrode was made by bending a mesh plate of stainless steel in a cylindrical shape to have a diameter of 100 mm. A positive electrode of a graphite bar having a diameter of 20 mm and a length of 100 mm, was inserted in the cylindrical negative electrode. Direct currents of 3A were supplied for twenty four hours to produce a colloidal carbon suspension."
Robert Murray Smith did something similar but he thought that the suspension was graphene.
The patent then goes on to describe how this carbon suspension was used to restore decidedly dead batteries, giving 16 separate 'how to do it' examples.
Time for some experiments :cool:
 
Normally, I view a 23 year old patent that's never been commercially exploited as a "junk" patent. All examples are for starter batteries, which need momentary bursts of high current. This is vastly different from power system storage that need actual capacity. A starter battery can perform acceptably at 20% health. A power system battery at 20% health is junk.

REGARDLESS... please conduct meaningful capacity testing and let us know how it goes... :)
 
I disagree.
There is now an active interest in zinc bromide non flow chemistry, which was originally patented in 1885.
So being old doesn't automatically make it junk, just overlooked. ;)
 
Back
Top