Most other 'lead acid battery recovery' videos attempt to remove the sulfation that occurs mainly if the battery was discharged to low for an extended period of time. This video is one of only a few I've seen on youtube that addresses the *other* main way lead-acid batteries fail: *accumulated plate shed material in the bottom of the battery, which eventually builds up enough to cause "soft short(s)" on the bottoms of the plates in one or more cells* (usually starting with the cell on the positive terminal). That causes internal resistance to rise, which requires more amps to recharge to full voltage because more of the charger's electrical output being converted to heat (i.e.: the battery heats up a lot). In comparison, heavily sulfated batteries typically have poor charge acceptance (i.e.: the charger doesn't put out much current and the battery doesn't heat up).

Thank You for answering me about putting new electrolite in the battery.

THANK YOU, WILKES FOUNTAIN. I'M SO GLAD YOU MADE THIS VIDEO. NOW, I CAN DO IT MYSELF TOO. from the philippines.

This is one of the best video's on YT I've seen. Most vid's want to jump to charging/discharging or pulsing, or reverse charging for sulfating, yadda, yadda. Man here shows that its probably all the crap from the plates slowly shedding material or dendrites pushing through a cell which is a physical unfixable failure. Clean that crap out, and you should be able to use hot tap water for the flushes, and can do a final rinse with that 1$/g DI or distilled water. Or just let it dry upside down. Filtering the old acid is smart, however without a hygrometer you don't know how strong it is. You can get new acid and hygrometer pretty cheap at the parts store. Thing I liked mostly was showing that sometimes getting your hands dirty is all it takes vs experimenting with pulsers, welders and crazy charge/discharge cycles, reverse charging, etc. Actually was rather surprised at how much crap came out. Next time I'm under the hood, I might just pull my newer 2 y.o. battery out and do the same thing as PMCS.

that was amazing! Thank you for sharing.

Great tip,i keep my battery on a float charger when im not driving my truck and starts everytime,,so thank you for the info on how to clean the batt cells✌

Thanks for posting this demonstration of reworking a car battery! I had heard of doing it this way, but hadn't actually experienced it done! Thanks! Most folks don't know what to do with battery water. You mix soda with it to neutralize it...but you still have to treat it like HAZ-MAT, and take it to a battery shop for proper disposal. The guy at the battery shop haa an apron that's heavy vynal, that he wears, and heavy vynal gloves, but he won't let you watch him work...if the truth were known, he does exactly what you just demonstrated! Thanks!!!

I've been thinking of doing something like this for a while. Now that I saw you do it, I know what to expect. Thank you.

This great video has proved why we must buy a new battery. Great tutorial sir.

Had to thank you for the battery test you gave us earlier. I've taken notes and saving in my vehicle troubleshooting files... Thanks !!!

Wow...that was some gunk flushed out! Thanks.

Good video. I like the way you describe everything before you start

With all that hassle I'd say I rather buy a new battery, but thank you for sharing your battery venture.

I have done this a few times with success, i used the garden hose to flush out the cells with the battery lying on it,s side and facing down hill a little. On a vehicle you do not use everyday or rely for work this is well worth doing!!

"Always err on the side of safety" but...no gloves and dressed like you're catching a plane to Hawaii right after 😂 Still, thanks for the video.

Shorts, t-shirt, and no gloves while draining and rinsing a battery......you sir are a soldier!

Very educational Wilkes, your greatly appreciated for taking your time to share this with us all. I've subscribed and ill be looking for more of your videos! Thanks sir!

Two years ago, I easily rebuilt my 4-year-old almost dead Walmart battery in a day for less than $10. The battery is now over 6 years old and cranking super - even in freezing weather. I learned how to refurbish car batteries on KZfaq. So far, I've refurbished two - a Walmart and an Interstate. Easy to do. Sulfuric acid is the key.

I worked at a service station one summer in high school back in 1967, the owner had me do basically what you did in the video except we used tap water and a paint can shaker to break up the deposits, then drained the battery and refiled with distilled water and rinsed the inside, then refilled with new acid. I also had to wear acid proof gloves and apron along with a full face shield. We also first cleaned the outside of the case with a water and baking soda solution before working on the inside. He sold them used at half-price of a new battery mainly to teenagers. I have done the same procedure many times since then; it worked about 80% of the time and I typically got another year or two out of the battery.

Been doing this for many years and it really does work. Just gear up safely and rinse and shake the battery many times until the flushing water clears up or your arms wear out. I usually add new acid but have gotten by with old acid too, just let it sit long enough for the crud to settle out before pouring it back into the battery. If you do not have enough acid to cover the plates do not add water which dilutes the acid but use some old acid from another donor battery.

That was nice that the battery worked for you and I will try that on a few batteries I have and see if they work after the cleaning and installation of the battery.

Jon Jonson must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed the guy is only trying to help us out in fact I did that to my battery years ago and it’s still going so the guy saved me a lot of money which I thank. 💯👍🏼😊

This is a good trick to know if you are in a jam. Thanks Wilkes Fountain.

You are onto something here. I recall as a child upon the battery in our car being stuffed, dad would lift the caps and looking into the wells, yes we could see some of the plates bent and twisted, I suspect this shorted out the battery. Where as now days if you look inside the plates all look reasonably good. I believe the reason what looks to be a good battery is stuffed is simple. The old style battery had a deep well below the bottom of the plates and so any small metal that broke away would drop down out of harms way. Today the same area is very shallow and so only a little metal needs to gather there to then short out a plate. I had thought about doing as this guy did but have no way of disposing of the dirty water so never did it. Glad to see it worked for him.

I have heard of this but never seen anybody do it , Good knowledge to have so when everything goes wacko , I have a few tricks to apply to the situation . Thank you Sir .

A good bush fix will be a good thing if SHTF one day. I've made carb gaskets out of the back cover from a spiral notebook and used a thick piece of cotton string that I soaked with candle wax for a rear end housing gasket when I was a teenager. Sometimes you had to do what you had to do get to town to buy a new one.

Wow!! Unbelievable it's working I just spent a dollar for destilled water now my battery come back live..thanks man for this video

Very good to know I've been junking batteries because I didn't know how to do it and the little 10:42nds showed me Alot , and the used battery shops are doing the same thing and selling them as new/used batteries , thank you for this new knowledge

now your knowledge is become ours ... good of you to make this vid'

1st I like this guy. A good personality is like a breath of fresh air now that there aren't many. I am pretty sure I heard that a video clip with half a million views is a pretty good run here, and that lends to my theory on that. Sure, guy below, you'll go buy a new battery until it gets stupid. I bet I'll give this a shot before I replace a battery. A young guy doesn't understand that even an average accumulation of a middle aged man (and up) requires about 10 working batteries. Let's count. Truck, travel trailer, car 1, car 2, car 3 (a.k.a girlfriend/wife's), car 4 (because you get sick of being stranded/ asking for rides), lawnmower, atv, boat, tractor, motorcycle. That's (11) here, and I am not a successful man ha,ha. I have the bare bones of the things I wanted most, but it took some doing, and a long time. I'm as happy as a very middle to low class guy could be, but I'm about one addiction or personality flaw away from qualifying as white trash. Really, after thoroughly kicking myself for all good things I let go as a younger man I got smart enough to hold on to most of the good things that I acquired over the last 2 and a half decades. The winters here are rough, and it causes batteries to go weak or fail at a rate of 2-3 a year so even a 50/50 chance is cool. Using less money is as good as making more money, youngsters. Right boss? (Thanks for the intel Mr.Fountain)

I looked up a solar charger to charge it up. This is the best plans for preservation of this.

Got the same battery sitting in the garage.Already bought a new one.I'm stil gonna try this,is always good to have a spare.

Since you’ve been doing this for years successfully I gotta giver a go thanks for sharing!

Easy simple fix ,love it thx.

I've restored lots of very dead lead acid car batteries. I throw away the acid and wash out with cold tap water until the cells come out clean, then mix up some sodium bicarbonate mix and fill each cell and leave over night. Wash out thoroughly the next day and then fill with new battery acid. Providing the lead sheets in the cells aren't too badly warped the battery will be like new again and last for many years. I have noticed that post 2010 batteries are made with much thinner lead sheets in the cells than they used to be and often these breaking down are the cause of the battery failure. These batteries are not usually repairable.

Good demonstration man. I got the idea. You did just fine. Thank you for the info. Makes sense

You took a good battery and made it better, awesome!!

"Probably better to have gloves on" You're not kidding!

I think Interstate makes the best battery available. I have left a light on and discharged my battery to where it would not even power the dome light, only to trickle charge it and, have it come back to life and stay that way for years. I did that to my 1997 Jeep 3 times, leaving the GPS plugged in the live port on the dash board. The Jeep sits a lot because it's custom and I drive my car a good bit so the jeep stays clean and undented or does not get scratched and also keeps the miles off it, as my Jeep currently has under 90K on it. I learned my lesson and plug the GPS into the cigarette lighter port, and that ended me coming out to a dead battery. I have Snap-On's best battery charger, which will even start a car no matter how dead the battery is, however 99% of the time I set it for 90 minutes on the fine setting, and I"ll do that two or three times, and the battery always seems to come back and not go dead again. So the battery in my Jeep which was already a year old came back after being totally dead 3 times. Your method is pretty cool, but if the battery is in the car you need all the time and it keeps going dead, I'd say it's time to buy a new battery and find out why the battery went dead in the first place. In my case I knew twice the GPS drained it, and the third time I left the dome light lit or illuminated. On a trip, I carry a spare brand new Interstate battery with me and a good set of heavy duty jumper cables at least 1/2" copper wire in them. A spare battery can save your day and also keep you from having an expensive tow truck bill. To me the battery is the most vulnerable part of any vehicle other than perhaps a flat tire and having no spare or a plugging kit. Remember if you use Fix A Flat to inflate your tire, it can never be repaired via plugging or patching, it's a last ditch resort but is good to have a can with you on a trip. I carry towing insurance, but a lot of people do not want that extra cost on their insurance or a separate bill. If you travel a lot, these items are great ideas. If you do carry a spare battery, make sure you put it on the back seat floor, as in an accident it could become a projectile just as any cargo you are hauling, usually more true in sedans, hatchbacks, and SUVs. I also purchased a inexpensive wrench set so I can change a battery myself while traveling (include the hold down bolts, because some newer cars will not run with a totally dead battery because of the sophisticated electronics. In a extreme emergency, find a good solid hole in the engine compartment and just sit your new spare battery there and leave the jumper cables hooked up until you can get to a repair center. Just insure the cables are out of the way of the engine fan and any other moving parts. That way a day going to the beach does not get ruined for you and your family because the battery went dead without warning as they often do.................... Removal of that black gunk that was shorting out the plates was a great idea, a very good & wise video. Don't forget to wear clothes you can throw away if battery acid splashes on them. I'm not sure I would use your method on my every-day driver, but I'd certainly use it for farm equipment or even the home riding mower.

Thanks for sharing. Heard about this, but never actually seen it done til now. - take care

That was very cool, I enjoyed watching this video, One day I might do this. Thank you for this video.

Thank you very much, winter is coming and we all need advice like that, may peace be unto you and to your family, Shalom!

If you have a serviceable battery the water will evaporate after a while exposing the lead plates slowly killing the battery. Fill it with distilled water over the top of the plates again and your good to go.

Great information to know, thanks for making your video.

Thanks Mr. Amazing demonstration and very informative video. Also thanks for sharing safety measures being very careful as it is acid.

Cool tip Wilkes!

Hurts my back to watch this.

Used to this trick for used cars at a dealership. Worked well, never had customer complaint. Probally have to replace the battery in 6 to 12 months.

best one yet ....great job

Thank you ,you’ve just saved me a whole lot of money

"Danger, Will Robinson, DANGER!"

Sweat shorts and dress shoes with no socks. My man got SWAG! Thx for the tip.

Excellent video! Thanks for sharing!

So how long did it last afterwards is the question? Winter temps?

Love your Battery Advice! At the beginning of your video when you were in your office, I kept looking for a huge Poster of *The* *King* behind you. You and Elvis Presley got the same Sideburns! By the time you put your Battery back in your Vehicle, we could all see your next How-To Video coming up: How to Remove heavy Oxidation on Headlights (smile).

Thank you, i had a 550cca battery measuring 200cca’s and it works like new now.

That's good stuff right there! He mentioned that he did they when he was 17 (or something like that) and I laughed cause I was in the same boat, probably about the same year and did the same thing LoL!! It definitely works! I've done variations of exactly this a few times with good results.

you got Lucky ~ saved a lot of money, batteries now highly overpriced necessities ~ congratulations ~

I'm adding this procedure to skillset under(emergency/get by/no money)=TeamPoverty approved, BigMike&TheMechanics.

Your video 📹 was awesome 👌 I'll try that one day. I learned a lot.

Thank u man stuff is so expensive nowadays. I will try this before I buy a new battery next time. Batteries cost too much

14.x volts is the alternator output. The voltage of the battery prior to checking the electrolyte levels is a surface charge, and is not a good indicator of actual charge, nor of battery capacity. Epsom salts can help to remove sulfate deposits from the lead plates, freeing up surface area with which the electrolytic can react (= capacity). I have successfully used pulse discharge desulfation equipment to restore 10 and 20 year old lead-acid batteries to 95% of their original capacity.

8:05 gunshot, my man lives in the sticks.

Nice save. Don't know if I'd take a 4k road trip with it but safe for in town. Remember when you could get a good bat got about 30 bucks. Now over 100. Hope you have another good year left. Couldn't believe the gunk that came out! Good work. 👍😎🇺🇸🚜

Tried it works like a charm I got another few months before having to purchase a new one.

Nice video, I am 50+ and I have done something like this many, many times. But I did something a bit different than you. Rather than rinsing the battery with only distilled water, I always poured out the acid in the battery, then put a tablespoon or so of baking soda in each cell, then pour in about a cup of distilled vinegar in each. It's pretty messy, but seems to get out alot more with a whole lot of less shaking. Then rinse a time or two like you did.

Without preload testing, before all that was done...and after all that was done, we got no benchmarking and true quantifiable way of knowing if what you accomplished was worth the time and effort invested. I strongly urge you to try it with another battery and publish the results.

Great Video Sir, Lot of folks around where I grew up just can’t go give 150 bucks for A new Battery. Keep up the good work,

Load testers on ebay for $35 does the job well. Been using one for 3 years in oilfield, beside $600 load testers, and it works. Adding a small amount of Magnesium Sulfate in a old battery after rinse is another way of cleaning the battery. Get the water at boiling temp to dissolve it as best you can before adding it. You can mix with the Sulferic acid.

I'd turn the battery over and flush it out with small stream of tap water then final rinse with distilled water. Recycling the electrolyte is a money saving tip extending battery life. Thanks!

Yes this works. Sediment builds up and will eventually reach the plates and short them out.

The possum lives !! Cool video thank ya sir

This makes the list of the top ten best videos on KZfaq. 🏆

Do this for an old beater that you don't have to have reliable, for your commute to work car get a new good battery. Good job.

Really cool. I need to try that.

Great presentation.

Now I know what Auto Zone and others do with the batteries that are traded in, wondering what George Jones did with the acid/distilled water in the large trash can, can the sun evaporate it away. Going to try this on my Golf Cart batteries that were changed out last year. enjoyed the whole video.

All Lead acid batteries (Gel, AGM, Flooded, Drycell, etc) are made up of a series of 2.2 volt cells that are bridged together in series to reach their final desired voltage. For instance, a 6 volt battery will have 3 cells (3 x2.2= 6.6 volts), a 12 volt battery will have 6 cells (6 x2.2=13.2 volts) and so on.That 2.2 volts is the fully charged, straight off the charger number. The actual resting voltage, or the voltage a battery will settle at 12-24 hours after being removed from the charger, is closer to 2.1 volts per cell, or about 6.4 volts for a 6v battery, and 12.7 volts for a 12v battery. These numbers assume 100% healthy cells, and may vary a bit lower for older batteries. Yes, you can have a freshly fully charged battery at higher than 12.6 volts. 12.6V is a 'typical static or resting voltage of a good battery. This does not mean it has any starting current capacity, but just voltage. For example a 200AH battery that is old and tired, may have a voltage of 12.6V sitting, but only have a capacity of 75AH, not enough to start your car. A "dead cell" would usually show less voltage, but NOT necessarily so. The "lead crap" at the bottom of the battery is actually the material that gives the battery the ability to produce the voltage AND current. You can have less of the lead in the battery on the plates inside the battery, but less lead adhered to the plates lowers the CURRENT capacity of the battery, NOT the voltage. Simply put, the guy in the video washed out the crud, (Lead pieces from the plates), and lowered the current handling of the battery. Also.... the lead at the bottom of the battery can, and often does, cause the electrolyte to discharge quicker because the lead, being a conductor to electric, draws current, or power, from the charged battery acid making it go dead quicker. ALL batteries have what is known in engineering as "Internal Resistance". Wet cell batteries have the worst problem with this, as their internal resistance is very low causing them to go dead faster that most other batteries sitting on a shelf, for example. Store a lead-acid battery fully charged next to a Lithium-Ion battery fully charged. You can store the Li-Ion for many years, whereby the lead-acid will be near dead, (if not totally dead), in a year with nothing connected to it at all. I've been in this business for the last 50 years and battery science hasn't changed in its characteristics whatsoever. Batteries get better with different technologies, but the principals with each type is the same no matter what from an engineering standpoint.

Once i had a clear motorcycle battery that had a lot of sediment at the bottom and was not charging so I cleaned and refilled with top water and it worked fine after that ,so this will work specially if adding new electrolyte

I worked for FoCo for 50 years. I knew a Dealer Parts Counter Person that bought a new 1964 Ford Galaxy drove it every workday and he rinsed out the battery and replaced the acid with new acid every until 1989 when it just would not work any longer. We took the battery apart and found that all the plates were tissue paper thin and we're the bottom two thirds of the plates had completely disolved away. He just dumped out the old acid and turned the battery upsidedown and rinsed out the cells with a garden hose.

Nice video!!! - I worked in a metal plating shop - So I tried it out - on my truck battery but I used fresh acid from the auto store( I got 2 more winters and a summer - out of that battery😎

Dang it!!! One week to late for me in coming across this video. I just replaced my battery which was doing the same thing. Maybe I could have saved it and the dent on my wallet. Well, live and learn - right? Hahaha!!! I should have done some research. Nice video; great sound effects with gunshots on both days.

Tried many times......will work for for a about a week of steady driving before dying. Use a good conductive battery tester ( not the old resistance toaster type you get from harbor freight ) to test.

Like your step side man. Those truck's are hard to get in decent shape. Most of the beds are broke on the bottom since their fiber glass lol. Battery deal have done this my self before but with gloves and not shorts. That acid will burn and blister your skin not to mention breathing the vapors off the battery other than that great video it works lol

Cool man. Thanks

hey I thought this man was Rick's Dad on pawn stars... lots younger but looks like him... thank you for video sir

If you do this check the battery with a load tester (they're cheap) because a bad cell can overtask your alternator with expensive results. (Aircraft/truck/motorcycle mech of many years here). Could be worthwhile on a junker though.

OMG my friend i did it just like you taught us.I did twice as u did, such as i bought 3 gallon of distill water, i even use warm tap water to wash out most of the gunk. Basically i start by rinsing it out first with a gallon of distil water, then gallon hot tap water, then another. Gallon of distil water, then hot tap water.then i refilled it with new distill water when am satified that all of the gunk is out.

Here is what I learned as to why Auto Batteries have a short life. While in the store, I decided to pop off the caps of the new battery, to inspect the electrolyte levels. The first battery was so low that 1 of the cells had no acid above the plates. On the second and third batteries, I found them equally deficient. Having studying Automotive Technology at a Public Technical School, I knew what the remedy was. After Sears installed the new battery, I went to my local NAPA auto store and spent an additional $13.00 for 32 Oz. container of battery acid aka sulfuric acid. It took almost 8 Oz. to bring the levels to the bottom of the fill ring. That was in August, 2013, and the battery is just showing signs of failure. Recently while in Walmart, I inspected several EverStart Maxx fluid levels, and discovered the same thing. So, why does the factory not fill them to the lower ring? Because, if they did, some of the electrolyte would spill out, especially when moved with a Forklift.

Back in the days when the top of the batteries were sealed with a thick tar like substance, a friend of mine used to dig out the tar and pull the plates out. Only the positive charge plates used to be bad (they corrode and fall to the bottom of the battery and would ground them out) so he used to cut them out and replace them with negative plates from other old batteries. To weld up the contacts, he used to take out the carbon from an A sized torchlight battery and clamp a 12 battery lead at the top and strike it against the negative, it would get red hot and would weld up those lead contacts in the battery he was repairing. When he was done he would heat up that tar substance and seal the batteries up. Those refurbished batteries of his would work like magic.

Well I've done this before except after pouring the acid/water into a container,I filled it with distilled water almost halfway...then put the vent caps back on and I smacked the sides of it with a 2X4 or a rubber mallet which kind of shocks the plates and makes the sulfate fall off the plates quite well, then did the dump/refill/dump method. Then I used a turkey baster to draw the acid/water from the container being careful not to draw off of the bottom where the original sediment is put it back in the battery, then top off with distilled water.... You don't even have to charge the battery after this is done because it ends up that usually close to 12.5 all by itself.

I see you have a Superman color scheme, sir!

Thanks for sharing this technique I did not know this was possible I,ll try it some day 😁🇺🇸.

Good video ! The brownish appearance I think is from sulfation (dissolving plates? ) which if not corrected (by recharging asap) can lead to shorts between plates (like growing stalagtites that create a short circuit), i have heard that putting 200 amps at 24+_ volts for 30 seconds **USE FAN & lots of ventilation and keep battery caps off for this) can burn thru these shorts and restore the operation of the battery. Won't work for open circuit problems ... ? but I would say don't do it. Seems too risky. I was surprised that so much crud was in the battery; a better test might be to disconnect the spark ignition coil wire and see if it can crank that starter for a few minutes straight ; like when your car won't start and you have to try it anyway having no real other options in a blizzard. In any case a pba batt won't last more than 5 years * average since the plates disintegrate, but I have seen video's where the plates can be replaced at home "carefully" with another material and simple nylon screen like from a screen for a window as the "matt" to insure plate separation (approximately). 5. Also for the temporary use of just cleaning clean tap water could be used in a pinch since any mineral deposits would not have much chance to accumulate, but yes distilled in best for adding to acid when finished, but again; in a pinch considering how much crud was already there from disintegrating plates it would work for short term until the best new acid could be found. * I think they go bad even just sitting on the shelf unused unless acid is drained and only put back in when ready to use them (wet cells). AGM's are NOT as good as they say because when used they lose what I call "stamina" which means while they still test at good voltage and pass the 100 amp load test, they may only go as far as 40% of what they were new, this in some cases can happen in just a few days depending on how heavy the use is... we did the load test at the dealer (passed fine), but then when he ran it out on the actual demonstrator it only went 40% of the new distance and that battery had just been bought a few days earlier??? Buyer beware. I think NImh is best all around but is finicky to charge and manage as it will overheat and even catch fire if charge is not cut off via a "how fast the temp is changing per minute) paradym , so you can NOT use the normal pba charger on them (1 guy caught his car and garage on fire using a pba charger). *** pba = lead acid

very useful trick, thanks

Good video ! I have had the same battery in my truck for 9 years by doing this very thing. Do the same for the lawnmower . TRICK is to service the battery on a regular basis doing this before the battery gets in bad shape . Don t wait till it's causing problems .Many times the money that would have been spent for a new one has put food on the table .

Damm - 12.9 volts - impressive

My father would also mix Epsom Salt into distilled water and add to cells...(it takes the sulfation off the plates) one of his tractor batteries was 17 years old...

Thats great, rinsing it out with distilled water, but when you refill it for use. Go buy new battery acid at the parts store for $7-$15 , as long as the lead cells in the battery don't show deterioration. Otherwise it'll be like a new battery.

Wonderful job, thank you Boss! 👍🏿