Dry battery cells.

So I left my bike on when I tarped it the other day, because the guy before me apparently ripped apart the ignition key slot, and you can pull the key out without turning it off. It was a couple days before I went back out to take it for a ride, and sure enough, it was dead. I jumped it and got it started and running fine, figuring I could just ride it around the block to recharge it. Dead when I parked it again. Figured I should go get a battery charger and let it sit for a bit. Gave it a couple hours and still nothing. Pulled the battery out and saw that all the cells were dry. Filled them back up with distilled water and I sat it back on the charger. Been about an hour or so now and it still hasn't done anything. Is this thing a goner because the cells went dry? I read somewhere that you can use a baking soda mixture and it will fix and clean the inside of the battery restoring conductivity.

 

Sounds like the battery is toast. Buy a new one so you don't get stranded in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone signal. Been there and it sucks.
trust me
MN

 

batteries contain acid. they don't work like car batteries. you need actual battery acid.

when you battery runs totally dead. the acid turns to water. thus, batteries that freeze in the winter.

baking soda and aspirin are myth and more harm then good. can't remember why but it was taught in basic automotive class. leaving your battery on the cemet floor and going dead is also a myth. batteries go dead. over time. regardless of where they sit.

 

Baking soda is a base and will neutralize the acid, similar to taking plop fizz when you had a bad pizza. When battery cases were rubber they contained a fair amount of porosity, lime leaching out of concrete would affect the plates. Dust can accumulate on top of the battery case, shorting the terminals and discharging a battery over time. The battery may take a charge if it hasn't been deep cycled too many times.

 

You have to Fill the Cells with PURE Distilled Water.

The Battery needs to be CHARGED by a Charger capable of delivering at least
4 Amps.
The Charging needs to be Cycled.
Charged for 15-20 Minutes.
Allowed to Chemically React to the Charge.
Additional Charging for 15 Minutes.

The Battery will begin to Gas.
The Charging will make Hydrogen Bubbles.
Add another cycle. Wear OLD Clothes.
The vapor around the Battery is droplets of acid.

Once the Battery is DEEP Charged; normal use will keep it charged or the use of a Battery Tender will help.

 

Charger I'm using has a 2, 4, and 6 amp setting. I set it on a 2amp for an hour or so for it to tell me it was charged, but when I turned the key, nothing. Tried 4 and 6 amp too, but nada. Would buying some battery acid from the parts shop help this any? Since the cells were completely dry, if I flush it with distilled water and then add some acid to it and top it back off will that do any good?

 

Never put sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) into the cells unless you plan to recycle it. It will destroy the battery.
You should never top off a serviced battery with more battery acid, use only distilled water.

Quite so, the myth extends from the good old days when battery casement materials (this included rubber!) would allow acid to leak through the material coupled with acid leakage from the cell servicing ports. Modern batteries do not suffer this problem with the new plastics that are used. There are inherant internal resistance characteristics in all cells that cause a slow discharge regardless of the price you paid for your battery. The more abused the cell, the greater these resistances become and reversing the damage is not cost effective (in some cases impossible).

 

After reading through a couple threads here and other places, I decided in the interest of science that I'd try what one guy did and put household hydrogen peroxide in the battery. That guy filled all the cells with peroxide but I didn't have enough to do it, so I only filled them about a quarter of the way with it, maybe a bit less. It was filled with distilled water and I dumped it out, then filled each cell about a quarter way with peroxide and let it sit, watching it bubble and smoke. Someone else said this is the equivalent of Piranha Clean, an industrial cleaner that combines battery acid and h2o2. After about 15 mins I topped the cells off with distilled water and put it back on the charger. I didn't know if this thing was going to explode so I left the caps off incase it started to boil like a pot of water. Putting it on the quick 6amp charge I let it sit for about 5 mins. I turned the key and everything lit up right away, as opposed to it barely coming on about 10 secs after I turned the key when I charged it for hours. I tried to start it and it turned over a couple times but didn't have the gumption to fire up. I flipped it back to the 2amp charge and put the caps on it, leaving it overnight, I'd say about 10 hours. Came out today, pulled the charger off turned the key and it fired right up. Took it for a ride for about 30 mins, didn't die once. Parked it, shut it off, started again, and it fired right away like it was brand new. I did this about 6 more times and it didn't miss a beat. Once the bike was running under it's own power, I did see the overflow tube dripping, so I'm guessing that the hydrogen and oxygen bubbling was taking place as usual after all this. I didn't find much information on this because I guess no one's crazy as I am to put h2o2 in the battery and see what it does, but what do you guys think?

 

never heard of the idea. but i'm game for learning something new.

you'll have to keep us posted as to how long it lasts. have you checked the charging system to make sure it's in specs.

 

I'm not a chemist so I'll only say that it sounds like you pulled it off. If you could take that battery to the store and have them do a load test on it, that would go a long way to re-enforcing your efforts. Best of luck!

 

I wouldn't try to duplicate that experiment in a University's Chemistry Lab wearing a Bomb Squad Suit with Paramedics standing-by to stabilize and transport me to the MediVac Chopper spooled-up on the Football Field ready to lift-off and get me to the nearest Trauma Unit where the Nations leading Ophthalmology Specialists had Corneas from an Organ Donor on ice and were watching the Experiment on Closed Circuit HDTV gritting their teeth as the Peroxide got poured into the Battery.

No thanks.
I'll buy a new Battery, first.

 

Fascinating !

 

According to the chemist here at work, your efforts are for naught. The hydrogen-peroxide will eventually (in short order he says) release it's hydrogen through the normal coversion process and leave you with water which will not allow the charging process to work. In short, you bought yourself a few more starts but it is effectively a dead battery now.
It will be interesting to find out what how long this thing works. Keep us posted (and start saving for a new battery, you WILL need it).

 

I recently resurrected a 6V battery (new) that the owner had cooked dry with a 12V charger. I simply filled it with distilled water and put it on a 6V trickle charger. My reasoning was that it was the hydrogen and oxygen (water) that had been cooked off and that the acid will still be in there.

It was a kick start enduro so I called it good. Not sure I'd want to rely on that battery if I needed electric start.

 

Replacing the headers on it because the ones I have, have alot of rust on them. The headers I got in were off a Seca so they don't match up for my Maxim. Gonna sand and wire brush down the ones I have and repaint them flat black and put them back on in the next week, I'll let you guys know if it's still going by then.

 

I would get another battery, soon. Your mixture of concentrated H2SO4 and H2O2 (piranha) solution is used for cleaning glassware. When prepared, the solution becomes very hot (as you would expect, when concentrated H2SO4 reacts with water.)

It is dangerous because of the heat generated and the potential for spewing boiling solution. It will sometimes react explosively with the residue on the glassware that is trying to be cleaned. And, the piranha solution cannot be stored because the H2O2 will decompose (to H2O and O2) over time, which can result in an explosion.

 

Update: It's been a week since I parked the bike after my peroxide experiment, been lazily waiting to sand down my headers and put them back on, finally did it today. To my surprise, and probably yours, the bike started right up. I didn't leave it on a charger for this past week, just let it sit. The only charge it go was the 20 min ride I took when I finally got it started a week ago. So, for the record, it's still working. I can't say I'd advise everyone to run out and do this to their old batteries for a quick cure but it seems to have worked for me. I'll let you guys know when, or if, it stops working.

 

Hydrogen peroxide is a powerful oxidizing agent and liberates pure oxygen gas...mix it with hydrogen gas add a flame and you know the rest!
I have done a frankenstein job on a very sick battery by flushing it with water MANY MANY times and shaking the lead powder out from the bottom of the cells but its only a temporary fix and will only give you a few months...Buy a new battery mate!

 

Those citing that this is the same setup as Piranha clean are ignoring the facts that the actual chemical ratio isn't even close. That stuff uses 30% H202, OTC Peroxide has about 3%.

 

Uhhhhh, does this mean you don't think it's a good idea to try to bring a battery back to life using the aforementioned method?

Loren

 

At the time of this post, I've sold the bike off, battery still seems to be brand new. No outside charging other than the bike's own charging system has been used. The bike was used nearly everyday since I rejuvenated the battery with no ill effects. The battery casing did not get hot, it didn't fail to start, and it certainly didn't explode. 11 days of near continuous use and it seems fine to me. I don't think it was that the peroxide caused some kind of chemical reaction that created a charge, I think it was more that it cleaned the plates that were inside enough that they would be able to charge properly. I bet if I had dumped it out and refilled it with distilled water, it probably would have taken a charge and fired right up. Guess we'll never know, but you people are free to see what you figure out in your own experimentation. Thanks for the replies and thoughts, hopefully this perked some interest.

 

It can also be dangerous. Acids and bases annihilate each other with a vengeance. I'm sure everyone has seen a baking soda and vinegar reaction.

If that takes place inside a small area with limited venting (like a battery case), that's a recipe for an explosive reaction. At best you might get a faceful of acidic reaction foam.