Battery conditioners

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TerryG
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Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:54 pm
Location: East Midlands

Battery conditioners

#1 Post by TerryG » Wed Mar 22, 2017 9:55 pm

'evening one and all.
I've got a new toy, I'm curious if one of it's functions is clown science or if it may do as advertised.
I have a couple of batteries in my garage that I keep for jump starting things if required. One is from a 2.0 diesel focus and the other from a 1.6 diesel one

the larger one is 70ah - 680cca, smaller one is 70ah - 570cca
When playing with the test function on my new toy, the large battery shows 12.8v and the CCA test is showing 228. The smaller one shows 12.6v and a CCA of 332.

To make sure the smart charger (Ring RSC612 for those that are interested) isn't telling porkies I tried it on the battery in my car which is supposed to be the same spec as the larger spare battery (i'd need to take it out to read the sticker) and I get 718cca and 12.8v.

This fancy new charger has a "restore" function which says "Used to restore batteries from a deep discharge as low as 2.0 volts". Not trusting it to actually do anything I've been having a probe with my meter.
What it seems to be doing is increasing the voltage up to 15v over a period of 20 seconds, holding it there for 40 seconds then waiting for the voltage to drop to 14v before doing it again.
Is that likely to do anything (other than start a fire) or am I wasting time when I should just throw them away?
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suffolkpete
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Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 11:54 am

Re: Battery conditioners

#2 Post by suffolkpete » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:19 am

My CTEK smart charger has a similar function to restore batteries. I've never had to use it in anger so can't say how effective it is. The instructions warn you not to use it too often as it causes excessive gassing which can cause loss of electrolyte and damage the plates.
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Luxobarge
Posts: 1898
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:12 pm
Location: Horne, Surreyshire

Re: Battery conditioners

#3 Post by Luxobarge » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:36 am

As above. No, don't throw it away, that's a legitimate function I believe, to de-sulphate the plates etc. and yes, I have definitely seen an improvement in some batteries as a result - not if the battery is totally shagged, but in a mid-life battery where the plates are still all in one piece it does seem to have a rejuvenating effect. But as Pete says, not too often.....

I'm a fan of battery conditioners, the number of vehicles I have that only move rarely they have paid for themselves many times over in greatly prolonging the life of lead-acid batteries in dormant vehicles. C-Tek are the market leaders here I believe, but no reason to believe that your Ring device is really any less effective.
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