Charging a dead battery

MrC

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My old Simplicity has been in the garage for 6 years. The battery is dead as a door nail. Can a battery that has been dead for so long be recharged?

Thanks in advance,

Rick in Tennessee
 

BKBrown

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Try it - Probably won't take a charge, but you may be luckier than I am with batteries. I'd bet you'll be getting a new one !
 

JDgreen

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My old Simplicity has been in the garage for 6 years. The battery is dead as a door nail. Can a battery that has been dead for so long be recharged?

Thanks in advance,

Rick in Tennessee

I could be wrong but I am quite sure a battery dead THAT long will be so heavily sulfated it will suffer an internal short and refuse to take a charge. If you do try to charge it, I think you should feed it only 2-3 amps at the beginning then gradually increase it to a higher chargihg rate.
 

KennyV

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I have had 'some' luck charging long dead batteries...
If you have any small DC motor , like the little 12 volt air compressors or a heat A/C blower motor, put it in series with the battery you are trying to charge...
The motor will likely turn very slow or not at all...
Let it set for a day, hooked up in series... if it is not 'open' it will start taking a charge, the motor will at some time start turning and the pulsing that will occur because of the motor turning will Decalcify the plates...
If you are lucky this will bring the thing back to life.... FOR awhile... but depending how bad it was the stuff falling off the plates will build up at the bottom and eventually short it out... BUT you may keep it from having to be melted down for a while... :smile:KennyV
 

Bobrien

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I'd recommend purchasing a new battery. I had problems keeping my lawn tractor charged so I purchased a $20 trickle charger and it really makes a difference maintaining the battery. I also have a solar trickle charger for times when the tractor is sitting outside my garage. The chargers will maintain the charge once the battery is at full charge.

The cheapest battery I've found is at Walmart. I've yet to see a battery that's really superior for the price. If it dies, it doesn't cost much to replace.
 

BKBrown

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I've been told (by some that should know) that one of the reasons WM and other large discount chains can charge less is because they buy the seconds in bulk - if they do need to honor a warranty - they are still ahead because they got them so cheap.
 

KennyV

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I've been told (by some that should know) that one of the reasons WM and other large discount chains can charge less is because they buy the seconds in bulk - if they do need to honor a warranty - they are still ahead because they got them so cheap.

If it were only in a small region that they were selling for less I might think that myself... But considering how many they sell world wide, I don't think there have been that many 'seconds' built ever...
Their price reflects what they pay when making huge wholesale purchase agreements and then their sheer retail volume ... In mower size battery's there is not going to be much difference from one to the next...
just like all lead acid batteries try to buy the heaviest for the least $ per pound... :smile:KennyV
 

Bobrien

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I totally agree with you on the seconds, but it's hard to beat a $20 battery, considering I've gone through a battery every two years and less.
 

poncho62

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I have had some luck restoring old batteries......Granted, they were not totally dead, but its worth a shot.

What you do is drain out all the old battery acid and replace it with a distilled water/Epsom salts mixture. Take a pan of water (2 quarts), heat it almost to a boil and ad about 8 tablespoons of Epsom salts and mix in.....Then put them on a slow charge (2 amps) for a day or so, I have restored 3 garden tractor batteries this spring that would not hold a charge anymore. How long they will last, I dont know yet
 

KennyV

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Lawn & garden tractor battery's are never the greatest designed battery...
The type of charging system on an engine is also not the best... so the life span on that type battery is going to be short... 2 yrs... is good, 3 if your system is better than the average... :smile:KennyV
 
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