IF I have learnt one thing, its that Uncle Bumblefeck is not a chemist

Been in industry since I was a kid and no one has ever been able to explain to me why a deep cycle was "better", always just chirped that "Buy a deep cycle, they last longer!" Suppose I could have googled it at some point in the last 10 years but waiting for you to explain it was easier. Thank you sir, always a pleasure.

I wish I could work around this dude for a few months. The playful banter and the fantastic information would benefit any one of us why guys.

I love the Don't Panic mnemonic, I'll never forget that now. Good old Douglas Adams. This vijayo has also had the highest number of pauses to look up technical words, especially relating to granular structure of materials.

getting a catheter is a negative experience

It's funny how chemistry and metallurgy can be so much more interesting when it's *relevant*. Good job AvE, always learning something

ive been cheating on you with this old tony .. there i said it, let it be known.. we can still be friends

It finally dawned on me, This is the red greeen show but if all the physics worked. Love it

DAMN, son! Last time I heard such a rambling, fragmented explanation was when I returned from an overseas deployment to find my wife had bought a huge TV on a payment plan that amounted to around twice the cost of buying it for cash out the door. This video caused a flare-up of my PTSD and I'm now on a gurney in the ER with wires hooked to my man teats. Thanks alot.

tell the truth, it was Dewclaws fault

This battery reconditioning program exceeded my presumptions. It worked on any drill battery, several AA and AAA batteries batery.repair and any camera battery. The steps are simple and the act itself is exciting to do. No matter what type of battery you`ve got, it is sure to function again!

AVE! You Had It right the fit time. (IN A BATTERY ONLY!) THE POSITIVE (+) IS THE CATHODE AND THE (-) IS THE ANODE. (IN A BATTERY ONLY!) LOVE YOUR VIDS BRO!

I live in Epsom. We simply rinse batteries under the tap.

Way back batteries were housed in wood boxes with a thick tar painted inside. The wood dampened with acid would drain if left on the floor. They used to rebuild them reusing the dampened box. As a kid I watched this a couple times in my uncles shop.

Hey, I learned something! Finally, a clear explanation of the reasoning behind the order of operations when junk (an auto-correct from "jump" but Imma leave it) starting a vehicle!

@AvE I have shared this with some of our coworkers to use as training. It is a good informative video, and it lacks the "we know best" feel that you usually get in seminars or info dumps by battery salesmen. I work in the automotive industry, and I think this is the first time someone has explained internal current draw/internal short.

You know what fixes an abnormally sulphated battery better than Epsom salt? Just giving it a charge until it's specific gravity stops improving, which could take a few days to 2 weeks. If the specific gravity never came back to it's rating you can give each cell a shot of 1.400 gravity sulfuric acid (50% acid) to break up the remaining sulphate on the plates. If you over watered the battery at any point and lost acid to an overflow you will have to acid correct more to get the best capacity possible back. Never ever go above nameplate gravity, you will destroy your plates with that kind of acid concentration. The majority of batteries specific gravity rating at a full charge is going to be between 1.280 and 1.295. In case the battery doesn't have a data plate with that information, aim for 1.285. My job is refurbishing industrial lead acid batteries, along with swapping batteries in lifts, repairing and configuring chargers. For us we load test a battery before giving it a pass. If a cell goes below 1.7v in our 6 hour rate test it's a fail, if the battery as a whole does not hit 80% capacity it's a fail. Though if it's just 1-3 cells that failed we'll probably just replace the cells, if it's more, we'll save it's good cells for a different battery. It's fun stuff, and I love the chemistry behind it

Shed a tear for Jimmy Brown, for Jimmy is no more, 'cause what he thought was H2O was H2SO4.

Love all the vids. Stumbled on yours from watching the essential craftsman. Plumber and electronic engineer me loves them all. My father and 3 sons and I talk about them all the time. Well done each. Skookem start to finish. Keep on choochin.

My mom laughed 20 years ago when I told her I didn't need to go to college. I told here I would get a much more valuable education from the internet. Although my grammar still sucks, I have learned tons from you guys on KZfaq, duckduckgo, and online forums. Thank you for all of your hard work, and quality content sir

The ta-da actually made me LOL. Well played sir.

Uncle AvE, your words, bigger words, and element abbreviations gave me a headache, a small but painful cerebral hemorrhage I'm afraid. I am throwing away my battery chargers and my collection of 8 yo batteries and replacing them all. I may never be able to look upon my swollen power storage devices with child like innocence as I used to. I hope you are happy now.

You sir are one of the greatest public speakers i have ever had the pleasure of listening to.

After working with batteries for 7 + years. Please douse your work station in baking soda (medium grit if possible). Don't let that invisible beast live on on all of your stuff. You'll have itchy wrists for weeks until you completely neutralize the acid on all of ypur stuff. My 2¢. Love your channel brother!

Ease of discharging has never been an issue however lasting power...

Sadly from my years of experimenting with lead acid batteries on my channel, the epsom salt doesnt really help desulfate it but instead acts as a stronger acid which makes the remaining working portion of the battery work harder. 1:21 actually this is becoming incorrect as technology has advanced. lithium batteries can be smaller and jump start a car, for instance look at those lithium jumper packs they sell. they are strong enough to weld with. Furthermore regarding cost. a 115ah 12v battery only has about 35 useable Amp-Hours since peukert's law effects lead acid far worse when charging and discharging. so that 115ah battery has like 450 watt-hours of energy available at a reasonable discharge rate. meanwhile only twenty of Tesla's new 2170 cells could replace that, costing about 3$ each to produce now, means that would be a 60$ battery if lithium instead of 90$ for lead acid. just FYI, thats why i've given up ever working with lead acid again. lithium has it beat in every metric now. just as long as you get the charging right. ^^b

had a crazy Canadian move in next door when I was five. The next ten years where magic. Keep up the good work my Canadian friend. l love the show.

AvE, you remind me of my father's close friend Dennis he has the gift like you do to take something highly technical and make it understandable to even the layman. What a skill! 👍

Had me at “never second guess yourself” and re re scratch’s out the plus minus

Also, the H2/O2 offgasing only happens during charging, during discharge the H2 from the H2SO4 combines with the Os coming off the PbO2 and you get H2O. Reverse while charging.

Thank you for this video, as an Interstate dealer I have to explain these points daily. Most people just don't understand.

Im glad to see the universal bench storage is working well in your shop. Mines very similar indeed.

14:45 BTW, -40 dungarees Science is exactly -40 dungarees Freedom. The universe is weird like that sometimes.

The anode/cathode depends if you have a battery or an electrolysis cell (i.e. recharging a battery). The anode is whichever electrode oxidation happens on. So in a battery the anode is the negative, in an electrolysis cell the anode is the positive.

Great videos AvE - thanks loads. I just wish you had a compilation of quotes some where - you have me in stitches!

Heard about you from the comments on one of the videos from "Tech Ingredients " channel, and i am liking your style so i am going to stick some more in here. Cheers

Totally misread the the NEG terminal label as “NFG”.

When applying a battery charger to a battery in a car, or jump starting a car, connect the positive lead to the battery terminal first, then connect the negative lead to a good ground connection on the engine as far as possible from the battery. There are two reasons for this. As the spark is farther from any hydrogen gas it will not be as likely to cause an explosion. Also, while it is rare, it is possible for a fault to exist inside the battery or its battery terminals which could lead to an explosion. Being farther from the explosion is better than being directly in front of it. This is also a very good reason to use eye protection when connecting battery chargers or jump starting cars. Battery acid in one's eyes is no joking mater.

I was just researching lead-acid batteries for my car camping setup, and you go post a video. Thanks.

This vid arrived on time. There was no damage and this video was packaged quite well. Great customer service. Will buy from this seller again. Lol super fun this one. Love your vijaos.

I think I'm only slightly confused but not sure.

I'm citing this for a college paper I'm writing. Hopefully, my engineering professor has a good laugh if he even checks my work.

I happen to be running into this issue right now with a battery in an electronic pallet jack. Thanks for the info. Still getting a new one. However, the timing on this was about perfect.

@16.31. life gets in the way... I have learned more wisdom here than all my metallurgy professors. thanks Ave!

Pro tip: Make sure you hook up the *negative* to the chassis ground and not the positive, or your battery turns into a welder. I speak from experience.......

My head hurts, I'll just buy a new battery.

Cool, definitely know more than I knew about lead acid batteries than I did 5 minutes ago lol. Thanks AvE! 👍😁👍

Best description of lead acid batteries I have heard..Regards.

"it has a ortho............ A different fucking thing" best description ever

Holy Balls, this felt like a drunk Cody'sLab...minus the ringmail.

Coffee a bit strong this fine evening? Aha, interesting stuff as always man, I hope the holidays went well for you and yours.

Excellent. I learnt a lot. Many thanks.....all the way from London !

Can I use the Epson salt from my old printer?

The "don't store batteries on concrete" old wive's tale is one example what really annoys me about people. They don't care to ask why you should or shouldn't do something. It is OK to follow something you are told to, if you think the person knows what they are talking about. But if you don't know WHY you do something, please don't spread that non-knowledge to other people. What I find even worse is when people who in my opinion should know (electrician, plumber,... pretty much all trades) don't know why they are doing something. I like to ask about why certain things are done or must not be done. Half the time the answer is "because that's how we always do it".

I always learn something new from your videos.

Thanks for this video. I had a car battery that had been sitting dead for a full year. Wouldn't take any kind of charge. Gave it a teaspoon of Epsom salt per cell and in 20 minutes the internal resistance had plummeted. Now it holds 10 amp-hours of charge again. That's a pretty cheap fix for an expensive item.

You seem a little more drunk than usual in this vijeo

I did this for a science fair project at school several years ago and the battery still chooches to this day.

Worked in a zinc plant in Timmins. We used cutting torches to dismantle catwalks. Found out the consequence of hydrogen gas generated from the zinc baths and hot sparks. Sounded like a chinese new year festival. Very informative AVE.

I was told in school that the reason we don't put batteries on a concrete floor (especially if it's cold) is that the concrete is colder than say, the greasy, grimy, wooden work bench. Since it's colder, it's gonna pull heat out of the battery, thereby making the battery colder. At best, this could cause the battery to be less efficient at starting the vehicle when we install it, at worst the battery electrolyte could freeze. Made sense to me at the time... Oh yeah, the itty-bitty-titty-committee way to jump-start a vehicle (at least according to Haynes, for what that's worth.) 1. Place positive cable on dead battery positive. 2. Place other positive on good battery positive 3. Place negative cable on good battery negative 4. Place other negative cable on dead battery vehicle GROUND POINT. Every source I can find says GROUND POINT (not battery) on dead vehicle. If you've got a vehicle with the battery in the trunk, under the rear seat, in the fender (seent it, replaced it), you're golden, just hook the cables up to your jumper points. However, if you're trying to find a good ground point for a vehicle with the battery under the hood I've found that exhaust manifolds or exhaust manifold fasteners, despite their rusty, crusty appearance are usually a good choice- typically clear of things that go boom, electronicals, and easy to reach. The oxygen sensor heater circuits on some older cars actually grounded out through the exhaust system. If you've got a front-wheel drive car, the studs for the struts are another good choice. Something else I like to do when jumping a vehicle is to shut off every electrical circuit I can, especially if I'm giving somebody a jump. Radio, A/C, headlights, flashers, whatever. Just makes life easier for both parties. I also like to bring the speed of the booster vehicle up to typical highway cruising speed/noise, say 2,000 to 3,000 RPM depending on what sort of vehicle/engine you have to ensure that the alternator is putting out plenty of current.

I had a battery failure several years ago that was probably one not recoverable with epsom salts. Most car batteries that I've had would just gradually get weaker, until they got too weak to start the engine. Not this one. I had no trouble with it, until one evening, after leaving the rent check at the landlord's office, I turned the key to start, and all the lights went out, and this battery would not produce enough pixies to light an instrument panel bulb. My guess is that an internal connector melted in two somewhere; it had probably been cracked or corroded. I managed to find someone to give me a jump, and drove home, with warning lights like a Christmas tree, and the tranny went into limp mode. Everything was fine after I replaced the battery the next day, but all the confusers in the car were very unhappy running on the alternator only, with no working battery in the circuit.

A few questions: 1) Do you drain the acid before adding Epsom Salts? 2) After treatment, do you add more acid or just water? 3) What if after treatment, you drain everything and get as much “schmoo” out, won’t that extend the battery life? As usual, excellent video.

Awesome information...thanks. Always like your wit/humor...

Greetings from Denmark! :D Discovered your vids, started wishing I had picked up a degree and combined it with a trade when I was younger :D

Ave, just to clarify as I think locking up the sulphate in the dump tray is not helpful. During charging the SO4 stored on the plates during discharge is recombined with H2 to make H2SO4 (sulphuric acid). In other words the SO4 is needed as part of the charging process and this is why a hydrometer is used to check the state of charge, it's checking the strength of the acid to the point where it does not rise anymore and so the plates are clean and all the sulphate is used up. Cheers, Andy. PS, hot glue can repair battery cases, how do I know? I've done it several times so this is not armchair theorist untried info.

I used to work at a car parts store and you wouldn't believe how many "licensed" "mechanics" still believe the myth about leaving batteries on the floor. I even had a customer yell at me for setting his battery on the floor while I cashed him out.

Wish you made this video 6 months ago...Now I switched to 18650s for my solar setup Nobody on KZfaq explains properly like you

AvE.... Your my kind of people. Half the video I was nodding my head in agreement and the other half I was laughing my balls off at your commentary. Love it! Im a marine propulsion and power generation engineer. I go to sleep with boring commentary. You are not boring at all. Well done.

ur wife's been putting out too much ur slacking off... still a thumbs up. thanks for the laugh.

The CAThode CAT is pawsitive. ~Mr. Snyder(a good HS chem teacher)

you just made my day even better , finished my last back shift for the week got home at 1 am , looked earlier nowt on so fannied about on face arse insulting people with some beers , ran out of people to insult , looked back and da da , the perfect day , gonna chug some cold ones and enjoy , thanks

My dad's trick to fixing dead batteries was very reliable . Usually only one of the cells fail in a battery. We would drain out the dead cell and donate the acid from the other cells. Then top off all with distilled water and charge. This method has recovered all batteries with the exception of a few.

I like me those absorbed glass mat batteries after having killed several smaller Motorsports flooded acid batteries. Lower cranking amps but survives my stupidity.

Wait a second... is this really AvE? Or is it an imposter? It could be anyone in those gloves!

OMG! I *always* mix up anode and cathode! Thank you for the trick to remember!

Thanks for explaining sulfation so well

That's quite interesting. I wouldn't guess it would work based on solubility alone, since MgSO4 is several times more soluble than PbSO4. How long does it take to work, though? And do you have a guesstimate as to what capacity is restored, compared to a new battery? (For those wondering) The mechanism is basically that the solid PbSO4 isn't actually always solid (if it's in contact with the solution), it's in a kinetic equilibrium so that there's a constant quantity of aqueous PbSO4 being solidified, and a constant quantity of solid PbSO4 being solubilized. Of course, PbSO4 being highly insoluble, these quantities are heavily biased towards solid PbSO4. When you add the Epson salt (MgSO4), this is quite soluble, but some solid is always being formed. When the solid is formed, it disturbs the kinect equilibrium (makes it more difficult for the solid PbSO4 to form), and the type of the MgSO4 crystals displaces the PbSO4 crystals, as AvE explained. There's also the ionic effect, by which the ions Pb2+ and SO4(2-), when in a solution with a bunch more ions added (like Mg2+) find it more difficult to attract each other, thus keeping them in solution, increasing the solubility of PbSO4. This is, however, not that significant in this case, because you are also adding more SO4(2-) with MgSO4, which subtracts from that effect. Fun fact: NaCl (table salt) would also help the battery, concerning the disturbance of the kinect equilibrium, by ionic force alone - which would make PbSO4 more soluble. However, because it's so soluble the effect would be even less noticeable.

OIL RIG: Oxidation Is Loss of electrons, reduction is gain

I used to make those lead plates in a battery factory. Hated the job, but the battery building process was interesting at least. And, that place had a pretty kick ass shop that I could play in on my lunch breaks.

i was a mechanic for 30 years and it that time i have seen a number of batteries go off. not to mention the damage to the vehicle and flying acid and lead and plastic projectiles,it makes one god damn hell of a bang.

The reason why you don't put your battery on concrete is because concrete is cold! Batteries do not like cold! Internal processes, electrons etc. Move slower! Same deal as a cold battery in winter time, its harder to crank! Its just good practice to keep it off the cold floor, maybe on a pallet or pieces of 2x4's.

The reason to connect to chassis is not quite as explained. The chance that the spark at the terminal will blow up the battery is almost nonexistent. However if something inside the battery is bad and sparks then you get boom. At least on chassis you are a a short perhaps life saving distance away when it goes. Also a good reason to connect to the dead battery vehicle first and the jumping vehicle second.

You would make the most entertaining high school teacher in the history of entertaining high school teachers. Say'n.

The absolute best lead-acid battery video I've watched !!! You are either a Genius or a great BS'r. I'm going with Genius :) . thank you for sharing.

Easy way (for chemists) to remember anodes and cathodes: anode - oxidation, cathode - reduction. Unlike positive and negative signs, this is always the same for both batteries and electrolysis cells.

I've had one of those buggers explode. Holy shits, it was horrible! Couldn't feel my right hand for days. "Stranger" week

Thank you for this video. You answered a shit ton of questions of why we do and wth we do that for.

i had no idea what you were talking about after a minute in. still liked it anyway

Little AVE took a drink but he'll drink no more . For what he thought was H2o was H2So4.

The anode is the negative pole in a battery.

Great video and informative and Interstate batteries has a really great warranty policy.

🤣😂😂 I love this guy! My edit is, I have never heard this guy before Jan. 2 2024. He appears to be extremely intelligent when it comes to the science of batteries (lead acid in this case) I have been looking for someone who seems to really "get it" because I do not. I have forklift batteries that need addressed (trying to help a friend). This guy seems to be worth a serious investigation of his other videos.

Your chemistry sucks! :) Believe it, or not, some people actually think you know what you're talking about, so you should get it right (just for them). Loving the videos, keep them coming.

Someone should make jumper cables with a big hefty knife switch in the middle.

I love the way you bring up silly terms from our childhood 105 yrs. ago that no milliniums would have a clue to you and of.course more importantly the technical instruction and.knowledge you impart as when we stop learning is how we know were.dying. Another way to determine if were dying is whether or not weve follow Fearless Leaders advice on recovery from Covid 19 and taken our daily injection of Clorox. Rich/ San Jose

Thanks uncle bumblefeck. Was thinking of trying something similar. Will try the same and post.

I'm gonna need some fact checking from NileRed or NerdRage, some of that didn't sound very scienticious.

Hey AvE, Rinoa Super-Genius is dising you again.

I used to do a sales route, and one fine day I left the customers shop and when I cranked the car, the batteria blew the fock up. Big Badda Bang. Walked into the convenience store and bought a box of Arm&Hammer, carefully placed all the shards back on top of the batt, and slowly and cranked it (It started!), carefully drove a mile to the next customer and bought one from him, then liberally dumped the soda around the engine compartment and then hosed it out. The old Sam's Club sold Medallion batteries were stout items. Had one back in the very late 80's into mid-late 90's that was used several times like a deep cycle (no charging system in a racecar) pulled and sat on the ground, poked by something and the hole sealed with that grand fixer, Liquid Nails, then regular tap water added, and it was used again in the racecar as a spare when the race deep cell was damaged in a wreck, then pulled and sat on the concrete for months, then used in the tow vehicle as a spare when its batt went badd. Then I had a car that needed a bit extra to start, so I used it as a second battery to get enough cranking, and again it was pulled, set on the concrete and some months, maybe a year, later, it was again used as a temporary for a work truck, then I again used it for my sales car, where it blew up. Old rear drive Dodge Colts had the coil right next to the batt.

Way back in the 20s and 30s they sold 32volt power systems for rural use .The batteries were glass with a removable top so you could lift out the plates and clean it