Restoring a Lead-Acid battery

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sorvigt
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Restoring a Lead-Acid battery

Post by sorvigt »

Hey guys,

I've got a little problem that I'm looking for some help to solve. It looks like you guys have an excellent community of chemists on here, so it would appear that this would be a great place to get advice.

Here's what I'm looking at.

My company has a number of electric forklifts, all running on lead-acid battery cells. One in particular has been steadily declining in its ability to hold a charge. Looking around online for solutions to this problem, I find several references to products that claim to reverse/fix the issue of sulfation (http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/arti ... prevent_it) on the negative electrode of the battery, freeing up more plate surface area to interact with the electrolyte.
BatteryChem (http://www.batterychem.biz/) is one such product, but alas, though they are very helpful about how to test your battery, they will not give out the chemical makeup of their product. The other one that keeps coming up is Epsom salt, MgSO4. Now, my grasp of the chemical situation is extremely rudimentary, so I apologize for my ignorance, but what I'm looking for is a chemical explanation for whether or not adding a compound such as this to the solution could actually do what some say it can, potentially extending the life of our forklift battery.

I've found several explanations for how the lead-acid batteries themselves work online

https://www.av8n.com/physics/lead-acid.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93acid_battery

But the addition of another player escapes me. Presumably, it would replace the lead in PbSO4 and settle out, freeing up the lead for new reactions.

It sounds reasonable, which is dangerous. "Anything's possible, as long as you don't know what you're talking about." In theory, as long as the plates are still somewhat intact and you have room for electrolyte, the battery should work, correct? Would it be potentially worth a person's time to wash out the cells, treat them with something to remove the sulfation/sediment buildup, and then replace the electrolyte? It's a 36 volt battery, which carries a $6000 price tag to replace.

Alright, I'm rambling. I'd surely appreciate any insight into this problem, and again, my apologies for my ignorance. Please let me know if you have any other questions for me. Thanks!
expert
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Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:08 pm

Post by expert »

It is risky to do it yourself. Better Google restore forklift battery and then find reputable shop. Scientifically, it is possible to extend life of a battery by a right treatment, so better find professionals and trust them
Remember safety first! Check MSDS and consult with professionals before performing risky experiments.
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