extending battery life

[wingski]

Years ago, a fellow who had worked with batteries all his life told me this. If you put a test light across the poles of a battery and wait until that light is almost out before putting it on a charger, you will extend the life of that battery up to six times. He explained that it had to do with battery memory and that by doing that with the test light you were charging the entire battery and not just the part that was discharged.

I tried it, and it worked. I've had batteries that lasted well over ten years. I just forget to do it with all my batteries because it takes time.

Mike

[pooch]

Might work with a small rechargeable appliance battery, but certainly not a lead acid car battery.

Hogwash.

[tiger.1000]

I am lead to understand that the procedure for maintaining and prolonging the life of a battery is a process called "cycling". Leave the side lights on until they are nearly out and then charge the battery. Repeat this process every so often.

[3.6rs]

Originally Posted by wingski

Years ago, a fellow who had worked with batteries all his life told me this. If you put a test light across the poles of a battery and wait until that light is almost out before putting it on a charger, you will extend the life of that battery up to six times. He explained that it had to do with battery memory and that by doing that with the test light you were charging the entire battery and not just the part that was discharged.

I tried it, and it worked. I've had batteries that lasted well over ten years. I just forget to do it with all my batteries because it takes time.

Mike

A car battery has NO memory ! (some) batteries for cell phones etc does.
I have cars with batteries well over 10 years old without doing the test light thing.

[Crankster]

Stationary lead-acid backup batteries, like those used in telephone service, supposedly last around 20 years. Heat, and vibration then are clearly what accelerate battery damage.

[wingski]

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The way the guy explained it to me made a lot of sense. He said that if you had a lead-acid battery that was 20% discharged, you were only charging that 20% of the battery when on a charger. Same thing with 40%, 50%, or 60%. This guy wasn’t selling me batteries. He wasn’t selling me anything. He was just sharing something he’d learned, and he emphasized that the battery had to be full of electrolyte.

I really appreciated a stranger taking the time to share something as important as that with me. Finally, he took a glass of water and poured almost all the water out of the glass, then refilled that glass with fresh water and compared that to a battery’s charge. That last example stayed with me, so I tried it myself and was very satisfied.

I took the time to share this with you because I thought you might appreciate a way to possibly save money and get more use out of something.

Things don’t always have to make a lot of sense to work.

I take naps to recharge my own battery, but I don’t think it would be a good idea to let my light almost go out before re-charging.

Mike

[johnbuckley]

google battery myths for further idea that have bubbled up to the surface over the years!

[California Travieso]

Wingski,

Should have waited til April 1, to post that story!

David Serrano

[3.6rs]

Sorry "wingski" but the guy who told you that was intoxicated with something.
I bet that the floor wasn't even wet when he pourred the water out of the glass ...

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

When there's NO WEATHER to talk about, Folks tell BATTERY "STORIES"----"Sometimes" batteries do STRANGE things, that we can't even explain!!!
Bill Letitgo

[Tom Wesenberg]

Special DEEP CYCLE batteries are made for items like electric trolling motors, golf carts, and standby power, for being discharged to a low level, but even these batteries don't do well when discharged too deeply.

Years ago I read that each time you run a car battery to total discharge, and then recharge it, you have killed 10% of the life of that battery.

[burner31]

What is the difference between an HMO and a car battery? The battery has a positive side!

[Crankster]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

Years ago I read that each time you run a car battery to total discharge, and then recharge it, you have killed 10% of the life of that battery.

Something like that. Just a half dozen or so deep discharges of a standard automotive start battery can be enough to kill it. Marine or "deep cycle" batteries are designed differently, and can withstand hundreds of deep discharge and recharge cycles. They are usually large, heavy, and expensive though. AGM has characteristics of both.

I've also read that a flooded lead-acid battery must be stored (ideally) at 100% charge to maximize service life but, they will "moss over" sitting on a charger, whatever that means, if they don't get used periodically. I take it to mean they need to swap some electrons now and then, they can't just sit on a float charge forever.

This became an issue with Ni-Cad battery devices and others, they would take a set and "memory effect", basically becoming useless if not put through the paces once in a while, their capacity was diminished to hardly nothing even though the charger said 100%

[wingski]

Ok, forget about the batteries. Here’s another one. Ever since I was little, I was taught to gargle with warm salt water after being exposed to someone who was ill. I was taught to start gargling away as soon as I got a sore throat. My Grandma told me that it was a preventative measure that our family had used ever since they discovered salt water.

It has worked for me, and every person and every doctor I told said I was nuts. I gargled and they got sick. The more I gargled, the sicker they got. When I asked them if they had taken my advice to gargle with salt water, they all coughed out “Huh?”.

You can file this with the Wingski’s batteries blurb.

Mike

[pooch]

I thought this was a Model A forum and not a list of mythbuster episodes to do

[wmws]

I keep my batterys fully charged and yes I do gargle with warm salt water. They both work for me.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by wmws

I keep my batterys fully charged and yes I do gargle with warm salt water. They both work for me.

I use SEA-SALT, imported from the Meditteranean Sea & BENEFIBER, made in FRANCE
Bill Healthy

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

I use SEA-SALT, imported from the Meditteranean Sea & BENEFIBER, made in FRANCE
Bill Healthy

And the people living around the Mediterranean Sea probably import their salt from the U.S. because "it's healthier"!

[Crankster]

All salt is "sea salt", by definition.

I've always grabbed for some Dill Pickles at the first sign of a scratchy or sore throat. It seems to work. Lots (heh) of salt in pickle juice, too. Hm.

[oldforder]

When I was a little kid eons ago, my doctor told me to gargle with warm (hot) salt water when I had a sore throat. When in the army in Vietnam, I got a sore throat, and the doc told me to gargle with salt water. Also, I still have my tonsils.