Baking Soda in Battery?

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: Baking Soda in Battery?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Wicker on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 07:56 am:

Heard this yesterday,add some backing soda to a battery. Its supose to help a week battery.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Paul on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 08:31 am:

I don't think so.....baking soda neutralizes the acid!

It's used to clean the outside of a battery. Try it on your corroded terminals and see what it does.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 08:52 am:

Fred,

Where ever you heard that is not a good source of data. Particularly with regard to batteries!

My dad was telling me about how his dad (my grandfather) used to take apart original Ford Model T batteries to overhaul them. He would dump the acid into a galon jug. Then disassemble the cell bars, and finally disassemble the plates within each cell.

Each plate would be scraped to remove the corrosion. Fresh cardboard was used as dividers between the plates. All the cell link bars would be cleaned for good connections. The cells and bars would be put together with grease over the connections. Then the acid would be dumped back in. None of this would be approved by the EPA......

Back then a new battery cost a week's pay. A rebuilt battery would sell for about half, maybe $10 installed.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By keith g barrier on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 09:06 am:

You can refurbish a battery at times with epsom salts and distilled water, as David said soda neutralizes the acid. KB


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Wicker on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 09:25 am:

yea I knew it would neutralize the acid...
He was saying a old battery that will hold a charge for a couple of weeks,add a table spoon to the cells (a little in each cell) then put a full charge on the battery...the soda would cause a reaction causing the deposits to disolve off of the plates. The battery would would work for another year.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charlie B actually in Toms River N.J. on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 09:52 am:

Ooo-faa! That'll help a weak (or even a new) battery to become the turn in core when you buy a new one which you'll have to do if you try this "experiment". Ran the battery room at Homestead AFB for a while centuries ago. Had a Sgt. that stopped in about once a week for a drain & re-fill w/acid for his car battery. No amount of talking, even though it never worked, would convince him to get a new one. I guess the work involved, plus it was free, beat the heck out of pulling that piece of dead cow out of his back pocket.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cameron Whitaker on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 02:33 pm:

I've had some luck bring back a stone-dead battery by filling it with water and a few spoonfuls of table salt. I don't know how well it worked or how well it held a charge because I used the battery for my projects rather than in a car. It seemed to do just fine in that regard. I had absolutely no money back then, so anything I could do to make it work was worth it.

It would be interesting to try it on a known dead battery just to see what happens.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John B Joyce on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 02:52 pm:

I'll bet therea lot of magic fixes out there. Two I've heard are dump in a little 7-UP and the other is put an asparin in each cell. Same thing my doctor tells me when I have weak cells. John


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Norman T. Kling on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 03:18 pm:

It MIGHT work if you were to dump out the acid into a container then flush out the battery with soda water and then pour that out and put in clean water and flush again several times with clean water, then dump that out and pour the acid back in. But it would neutralize the acid to put the soda directly into it with the acid still in.
Norm


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By keith g barrier on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 07:46 pm:

I have added 6 months to a battery so far by doing the epsom salts and distilled water method. It does work if the battery doesn't have a shorted cell which is easy to check with your ohm meter. I be po folk and have po folk ways. Batteries are very expensive these days! KB


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By George Clipner-Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 08:47 pm:

I've heard here by a teacher, that the use of hydrogen peroxide, one or two cupfuls is beneficial. I got a couple of years extra out of a battery, got to use it on a regular basis.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Scott Gilham Bellflower Ca. on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 10:48 pm:

Where I work I've listened to a lot of stories, but never heard of introducing any of these granulated substances you mention. We've had sales people come in the the little bottle of "snake oil" that's supposed to give your battery a "Boost" None that I've tried or witnessed EVER changed the readings in either voltage or CCA's. The only thing I've ever done that sort of worked was on sets of golf cart battery's that were possibly over watered at the course. I would after a full charge, if the gravity was low, dump them and refill with 12.60 acid. The customer was happy if even for a few short months


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Erik Johnson on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 10:57 pm:

My opinion is that even the best and highest quality car batteries are not expensive, especially if you amortize the cost over the life of the battery. For my modern car, that works out to approximately $20 annually. That's a real bargain for reliability and peace of mind.

Nursing an old, weak battery is not worth the time, energy and inconvenience.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Howard D. Dennis on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 11:03 pm:

some interesting claims here:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+restore+dead+car+battery+&oq= restore+dead+&gs_l=youtube.1.0.0i5l3.3299.8650.0.12721.13.13.0.0.0.0.109.1082.12 j1.13.0...0.0...1ac.1.EwreYBHuOBI



Howard Dennis


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Craig Anderson, central Wisconsin on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - 11:18 pm:

If you want to "bring back" a dead battery take it somewhere as a core on a new one....... :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By keith g barrier on Thursday, December 20, 2012 - 10:15 am:

Eric, if you have been unemployed for 3 months and are 61 years old, everything is expensive! KB


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Henry Petrino in Modesto, CA on Thursday, December 20, 2012 - 11:55 am:

Eric,

I hadn't purchased a car battery for years until recently. I was prepared for a little increase as compared to my recollection of about $10 per warranty year. As you say, $20 is about right now, a bigger increase than I expected!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry VanOoteghem on Thursday, December 20, 2012 - 12:20 pm:

Keith,

How would you check for a shorted cell with an ohmmeter?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Davis-SE Georgia on Thursday, December 20, 2012 - 05:54 pm:

Why would anyone want to bake soda in a battery?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By keith g barrier on Thursday, December 20, 2012 - 06:59 pm:

Jerry, on the old tar top batteries you just punched your probes through to the lead, on modern batteries take the covers off and check from cell to cell that way. All should read about the same resistance, if not it's not worth fooling with. You can also use a hydrometer to check specific gravity if you have one. I make some long probes from wire to use with my ohm meter so as not to get the acid on my meter probes. KB


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Thursday, December 20, 2012 - 09:24 pm:

I know a couple folks that swear this works.
I aint tryed it and I depend on my golf carts to much to get around here to keep taking them heavy batterys out all the time.


http://www.golflink.com/how_3571_refurbish-golf-car-batteries.html


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