BATTERY REGENERATION
Batteries for commercial vehicles are very expensive items. Fleet operators must aim to achieve maximum battery life to keep cost per mile to a minimum.
This is why BATCURE is proving to be a major benefit to transport operators.
BATCURE is a new and innovative product which effectively tackles the problem of Battery Sulphation. Every transport operator and other users of Commercial and Traction Batteries will be aware of sulphation. The problem is inherent in the design of lead acid batteries and gradually leads to reduced efficiency and eventual failure.
BATCURE offers the opportunity to remove sulphation and extend battery life.
It is not a magic wand instant cure, unlike claims made for other products. There is a planned procedure to follow to identify cell problems and ensure that time and money is not wasted trying to revive dead batteries. However, at the end of the procedure you will have a battery back on the road that would otherwise have been on the scrapheap.
BATCURE also provides an important preventative function when used with new batteries.
Answers to BATCURE FAQ's and Battery Regeneration Procedure are listed below.
If you need more information, please contact us by phone or e-mail.
Your enquiries are always welcome.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT BATCURE:
1 What is sulfation?
Answer: Lead acid batteries use sulfuric acid as an electrolyte for conducting soluble ions between positive and negative plates. Soluble sulfate ions in electrolyte play the role of a transporter and help to mobilize oxygen and hydrogen during charge/discharge reaction. When the battery is externally connected and some load is applied, the battery supplies the power. During the power generation process, sulfate ions from electrolyte react with battery plates and convert into lead sulfate. The loss of soluble sulfate ions from electrolyte and simultaneous formation of insoluble lead sulfate salt is generally known as sulfation process.
There cannot be power generation from a lead acid battery unless there is sulfation.
2 What is de-sulfation?
Answer: When a battery is externally connected to battery charging machine, the dc current is pumped into the battery. The incoming dc current reacts with insoluble lead sulfate salt and breaks it into lead and sulfate ions. The freshly regenerated lead remains on the plates while sulfate ions go back into the electrolyte. The process of electrically breaking of insoluble lead sulfate salt into spongy lead and sulfate ions is known as desulfation.
There cannot be power storage into the battery unless there is desulfation.
3 What is irreversible de-sulfation?
Answer: Irreversible de-sulfation is a condition of a battery plates when dc current pumped into the battery cannot BREAK lead sulfate into lead and sulfate ions.
4 How irreversible desulfation develops?
Answer: When insoluble lead sulfate salt on battery plates begins to turn into macro crystal from micro crystal stage, irreversible desulfation develops. Any physical condition or chemical additive that helps to promote macro crystallization of lead sulfate generates irreversible desulfation.
5 What are the physical conditions that promote irreversible desulfation?
Answer: For irreversible desulfation lead sulfate crystallization process to develop, it is the concentration of lead sulfate that deposits on the battery plates. During deep discharge the lead sulfate concentration is highest on battery plates. If highly concentrated lead sulfate salts allowed to sit on the plates for a longer time, the macro crystallization process is initiated. The internal and external temperature also assists into macrocrstalisation. The battery plate structure also found to assist in macro crystallization.
6 What are the chemicals that promote irreversible desulfation?
Answer: Some of the alloying metal additives in positive plates, when leached out into electrolyte, promote irreversible desulfation. Impurities from electrolyte and low concentration of acid in discharged battery helps to promote irreversible desulfation. Another source of chemicals that are found to promote irreversible desulfation is from separators. Antistatic/antioxidants oils/additives that are used for manufacture of separators leach out of separators and greatly enhance the irreversible desulfation.
7 Can there be irreversible desulfation lead sulfate in a new battery?
Answer: Yes, your new battery is NEVER 100% FREE from irreversible desulfation lead sulfate crystals.
8 How can there be irreversible desulfation crystal in a new battery?
Answer: The battery plate manufacturing process does not have 100% guaranteed system that can produce plates free from irreversible desulfation crystals. Even the dry charged plates have tendency to absorb oxygen and moisture from atmosphere to form irreversible desulfation crystals.
9 How do I know that my battery has started picking up irreversible desulfation?
Answer: Whenever you discharge a fully charged battery and find that your battery is not as per battery capacity rating then it confirms that battery has started to pick up irreversible desulfation. The less power back from the battery then its original capacity is strong indication of irreversible desulfation.
10 How do I protect my new, in service or irreversibly desulfated batteries?
Answer: Please see BATCURE REGENERATION PROCEDURE.
PROCEDURE FOR BATTERY REGENERATION WITH BATCURE
Before you carry out BATCURE treatment on batteries that have lost power storage capacity, it is important to know the present health condition of the battery that is being subjected to BATCURE treatment.
CHECKING THE VOLTS:
Note the battery volts first. For automotive 12V batteries the minimum volts should be above 10.5Volts and for 6V battery it should be above 5.25Volts.These parameters for automotive batteries are valid for a battery that has been removed from service within in 30 days. If the batteries have been removed from service for more then 30 days then the volts may be lower. These batteries need to be charged for 2 to 3 hours and then disconnected from the charger . Allow the battery to settle down for 12 hours and then measure the volts. If the volts are above the minimum requirement as mentioned above, the battery condition justifies further tests. For traction batteries the minimum volts should be 1.75 per cell.
CHECKING THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY:
Note the specific gravity in each cell with a hydrometer. You will find a different reading in different cells. However, heavily sulfated cells will show exceptionally low gravity as compared to other cells. Mark the low gravity cells.
CHECKING THE MECHNICAL FAULTS:
It is the most difficult job to find a mechanical damage to a particular cell or cells. However, on the basis of our experience we have tried to record some important steps that can help us to find a mechanically damaged cell.
After you have noted the battery volts and specific gravity in each cell, connect the battery to a charger. Apply normal current charging that you use for different capacity batteries, normally it should be 8 to 10% of battery rated capacity. Carry out battery charging for 3 hours. After 3 hours observe the following while battery is still being charged.
(1) Is there a uniform bubbling or gassing reaction in each cell?
(2)Is any one or more cells giving high bubbles as compared to other cells?
(3)Is there an exceptional rise in battery electrolyte temperature that is creating high bubbling?
(4)Is the current passing in each cell? If there is no bubbling at all in a particular cell or cells then that cell has a permanent mechanical failure.
If all the cells are giving uniform reaction and normal gassing is observed then the battery has a better chance of fixing with BATCURE. If one or more cells are giving exceptionally high bubbles or gassing then it is possible that such cells have heavy shedding of active materials, separator, puncture, mechanical short, or sludge formation at the bottom area. Such cells will not give any improvement in the gravity which will remain same as it was before battery was put to charge. Such batteries need to be discarded. Most batteries that have been sulfated will give a rise in electrolyte temperature but will not have uneven gassing in all the cells. These batteries can be selected for BATCURE treatment. If you find that one or more cells do not give any bubbling at all then it confirms that the current is not passing through that cell or cells. This may be due to inter cell-welding damage. Such batteries should also be discarded.
After you have made the above analysis, remove the battery from the charger . Allow it to come to room temperature and then measure the battery volts and gravity in each cell. Compare the volts and gravity reading with that taken before the battery was put on charge for 3 hours.
If you find that there is an improvement in battery volts and gravity in each cell, the battery can be selected for BATCURE treatment.
Another simple method of finding the battery sulfation is to find out the power storage capacity left in the battery. Suppose your healthy battery gives 6 hours of power at a particular discharge current but due to sulfation it has now come down to 1 hour only. That means battery has lost 5 hours power storage capacity due to sulfation. Since the battery has still one hour power storage capacity, it confirms that there is no mechanical damage and battery can be treated with BATCURE.
ADDITION OF BATCURE IN SULFATED BATTERY.
HOW MUCH BATCURE IS REQUIRED PER CELL?
In order to find out how much BATCURE is to be added per cell of a battery, please find out the volume of electrolyte in each cell of the battery. This can be found from the technical specifications for a particular battery. If the electrolyte quantity is given in kilos (weight) per cell, then divide the weight by 1.3 (S.G) for traction and VRLA sealed battery and by 1.25(S.G.) for liquid automotive battery to find the volume of electrolyte in liters.
Once you know the volume of electrolyte in liters per cell, add 5 ml BATCURE per liter. Suppose there is 5 litres of electrolyte in each cell then you will be need to add 25 ml BATCURE per cell. Use a medical or industrial syringe to measure out BATCURE from the bottle and inject it directly in each cell.
After adding BATCURE mix it well with the electrolyte using a hydrometer. A reddish yellow color will be seen in the electrolyte. Leave the battery in idle condition until the electrolyte becomes colorless. This may take 12 to 24 hours. The less sulfated healthy cells will have faster discoloration and more sulfated cells will have slower discoloration. If the cells are mechanically damaged then there will not be any discoloration.
CHARGING A BATTERY:
After the discoloration of electrolyte has been completed, carry out normal battery charging using different amps for different ah capacity batteries. Continue to charge the battery till full gravity is observed in each cell and the battery volts reached above 15.5V for a 12V battery and 7.5V for a 6Volts battery. For traction battery it should be 2.6volts per cell. For example for 36volts battery it should be 2.6volts X 18 cells= 46.8 volts minimum. These are online volts whilst the battery is connected to the charger. The fully charged battery is then removed from the charger and allowed to settle to room temperature. When the battery has cooled to room temperature, note the volts and gravity in each cell. You will find that the battery is showing more then nominal volts of battery. All the cells will show at least 1200 specific gravity in each cell.
DISCHARGING THE BATTERY:
A charged battery is required to be discharged for sulfation removal. Discharge can be carried out using standard discharge testers or dc halogen bulbs. Complete discharge is recommended. Recharge the battery/discharge the recharged battery for at least 3 to 4 times for complete removal of sulfation.
LOAD TEST OF A BATTERY:
After the battery has been cycled for charge/discharge, carry out a load test as per standard load testing procedure.
We strongly recommend that once you find during the course of battery operations that battery has gradually started to lose power storage capacity, you must immediately add BATCURE to each cell to extend the life of the battery because once the battery begins to lose its power storage capacity and if not treated with BATCURE there will be a faster sulfation and more corrosion of positive plates resulting in a permanent damage to the battery.
We also strongly recommend that you must add BATCURE in your healthy batteries as well so that you can protect the batteries from sulfation and corrosion. There is no battery in the world without sulfation since it is a part of battery electrochemistry and therefore you must add BATCURE in each and every battery
VRLA BATTERY REPOWERING WITH BATCURE:
In the case of VRLA batteries, you will find a plastic strip on the top of the battery case. First remove this strip with the help of a screwdriver or a knife. Once you remove the strip, you will find that there are 3 or 6 (3 for 6Volts and 6 for 12Volts) small vents which are covered with a rubber cap. Remove the rubber caps from all vents. Then add required quantity of BATCURE in each cell. (Quantity of BATCURE required depends on the size of the battery, add 5 ml BATCURE per cell for 20 ah to 50 ah, 7 ml per cell for 55 ah to 80 ah, 8 ml per cell for 88 to 120 ah, 10 ml for 130 ah to 150 ah, and 12 ml per cell for 160 to 200 ah capacity battery)
After the addition of BATCURE add distilled water up to plate height in each cell. After the water has been added, shake the battery to and fro for few times for uniform mixing and then leave the battery for 24 hours in idle condition. During this time BATCURE will be attracted to the battery plates .After 24 hours carry out normal charging of the battery. A fully charged battery is then discharged. Repeat 3 to 4 charge -discharge cycles to remove the sulfation completely.
Once the battery has come to required level of capacity, close the vents with rubber caps and reseal the top with the strip using suitable adhesive.
We strongly recommend that all new batteries or in-service batteries be treated with BATCURE to remove sulfation. Inhibition of sulfation will extend the life of a battery. Add only half the quantity of BATCURE that was used for sulfated batteries. For new or in-service batteries no cycling is required. Add BATCURE once in year to keep your batteries healthy.
