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wind-pirate

Senior Member

Joined: 01/02/2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 101

Posted: 01:42am 23 Apr 2007

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I have aquired 18 old glass batteries. There is no voltage reading on them right now. they have been in storage or a number of years. they still have liquid in them, It seem to be acid. (I used the zink acid test). I have been told that they were very popular with the old 32 volt systems of yesteryear.

I would like to hook up a battery charger to them and try to charge them. Any info about them i have been able to get tells me that they are 2 volts 400 ah each. The glass containers are about 12" x 12" x 16" high. each weighs about 75 lbs. I would like to hear from any one who has tried to renew old battiers. "any thoughts" or
"any suggestions". I think they would make a awsome barrery bank if they could be brought back to life.

Ron

THE Pirate.
stealing wind & solar energy is fun

thefinis
Regular Member

Joined: 23/08/2006
Location: United States
Posts: 53

Posted: 11:37am 23 Apr 2007

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I always wanted to play with those. I have one of the glass cases but use it for a fish tank. What you have is a real find even if you don't get them to work as batteries. They may be worth more if you don't change any thing and sell them to collectors. Hard to find much info on reviving them.

Finis

tp://www.edisonian.com/p001batoilbot.htm

Texas born and bred

EPuckett

Newbie

Joined: 19/04/2007
Location: United States
Posts: 1

Posted: 03:49pm 23 Apr 2007

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A lot would depend on the condition of the plates. Being they're in glass cases it should help in determining their state of deterioration. I don't have any experience along this line, but I think that if I were trying to restore them I'd try working with one of them as a test and do the following.

Drain the old electrolyte and try to flush as much sediment out of the bottom of the case as possible. Be very careful of the old acid and use only distilled water to do the flushing. I would then try to determine the condition of the plates, posts, and connecting conductors to see if they are still usable. If not, you will have to make the decision as to whether they are worth repairing.

I would then add new electrolyte (battery acid) and put the battery through a desulfating charge. Or perhaps it would be better to try the Desulfating process before flushing and changing the electrolyte. Desulfating will change the solution of the acid.

Again, I have no practical experience in this type of problem, but here are some further references.

The Battery University
www.batteryuniversity.com

Desulfator Plans
www.inthelight.co.nz/electronics/desulfator.htm
www.shaka.com/~kalepa/desulf.htm

A Battery Equalizing (EDTA) product
www.batterylifesaver.com/battery-life-saver-revive.html

An ebook that has information about restoring fork lift batteries
www.poormansguides.com/index1.htm
Edited by EPuckett 2007-04-26

Ed in Texas

KiwiJohn
Guru

Joined: 01/12/2005
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 691

Posted: 08:48pm 24 Apr 2007

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Hmmm, I suspect that although these batteries are in the condition most eloquently defined as "stuft" you many actually be able to rebuild them.

If the plates can be individually lifted out you can clean and renew the active lead material, at least you could on the old glass cells once used by railways and telephone exchanges etc.

However, rather toxic and unhealthy job, speak to an old time battery expert if you can find one.

wind-pirate

Senior Member

Joined: 01/02/2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 101

Posted: 03:13am 25 Apr 2007

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Thanks for the replays guys. I have the batteries moved to my shop now. I'm going to try and charge one of them in the near future. they seem to have a lot of sediment in the bottom. The tops seem to be easy to remove, so i may try to flush one out. I will post the resultes when i have some. Thank for the leads

Ron

THE Pirate.
stealing wind & solar energy is fun

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