Battery Restorer/Conditioner

[dale farley]

Has anyone used one of these, and if so, do they actually work as described? They have many positive reviews on Amazon and other sites. This one sells for $61.50 on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/BatteryMINDer-.../dp/B001DZHTD2

There is also a charger/restorer that connects to 110 volts and sells for $42.54 on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/BatteryMINDer-...ger+desulfator



12 Volt OnBoard Battery Restorer Conditioner with Display


OnBoard Desulfators With Battery and Charging System Indicator 12-Volt

Don't just charge your batteries, Condition them, with or without electric power!

OnBoard Desulfators are designed to desulfate* deep-cycle and starter lead-acid storage batteries, without plugging into a 120 Vac power source. Solar powered electrical systems, using deep-cycle batteries for storage, will significantly benefit when their batteries are free of sulfate. Vehicles, particularly multi-battery trucks, RVs and golf cars will also greatly benefit from sulfate-free batteries. The units utilize patented technology to produce a wide range of high frequency pulses known as RFP (Random Frequency Pulsation) designed to dissolve both old long-established, and newly formed sulfate*.

RFP circuitry allows the OnBoard desulfator to sweep the entire frequency range known to cause sulfation crystal molecules to resonate, un-bond, and then safely dissolves them. The sulphuric acid, the main component in the sulfate crystals, is now free and returns to the battery's electrolyte. As a result, the Specific Gravity (S.G.) of the electrolyte is now higher and able to generate more electrical energy-storage capacity, than the previously sulfated batteries. Considerably less charging-source energy (solar panels, generators, alternators, et al) and much faster recharge, to full capacity, can now be expected. This is significant in off the grid solar installations when solar exposure times are short and / or power demands are high.

Golf car and RV owners who do not use their units, for months at a time, will benefit significantly from OnBoard desulfation. When used simultaneously, with the original factory supplied golf-car charger or built-in RV converter-charger, our OnBoard units continuously clean the battery's charge plates. With sulfate-free plates the reduced performance and life shortening affect of long-term storage will be minimized. Although our OnBoard units do not charge or maintain batteries, by enabling the batteries to accept full charges, each time they are recharged, the damaging affect of long-term non-use are significantly reduced. The use of a safe, maintenance charger is always recommended when extended storage is anticipated. (See our BatteryMINDer models 12248 (12-Volt), 24041 (24-Volt), 3603 (36-Volt), 4802 (48-Volt) for safe long-term maintenance) Note: The great majority of golf car factory supplied chargers turn off when batteries are supposedly fully charged. If they are sulfated, they cannot be recharged to 100%, until or unless they are de-sulfated. RV converters with a charger stage are notorious for overcharging batteries, when left on for long non-use periods. They too cannot charge sulfated batteries to 100% of their capacity.

Additional advantages of using sulfation-free batteries include eliminating or greatly reducing the need for equalizing deep-cycle flooded (filler-caps) batteries, reduced recharge time, while demanding less output energy from solar arrays. In fuel powered vehicles extended alternator and belt life can be expected, as the vehicle's charging system no longer needs to work as hard trying to charge batteries that will not accept high alternator output current due to sulfation build-up. Better fuel economy can also be expected, as much lower amperage is now demanded from the alternator to keep clean, sulfate-free batteries fully charged. Lower alternator output current demands, translates to lower engine loads.

* Sulfate is considered to be the single most important cause of early battery life and performance. Battery Council International, January '98, 12 months; Nov. '95 & Oct. '96

Features

For all 12-V battery systems
Effective on all brands / types of batteries, including Maintenance-free, Sealed AGM, Deep-Cycle and Free-electrolyte flooded (filler cap)
Installation is a simple two wire hook-up
A single unit can serve up to a six battery system in most applications.
Does not use any power while when there is no input power such as at night or when there is low solar energy available or when vehicle is turned off.
Auxiliary charger connector allows easy connection to installed batteries when connecting a stand-by or maintenance type charger, if needed. Equipped with replaceable flat type automotive fuse

Not for use with Aviation Specific batteries.

12 Volt OnBoard Battery Restorer Conditioner with Display

[merle&louise]

I have used the product listed in the link below for 7 years. My batteries are still going strong and can easily last all night when I dry camp. The Amana refrigerator/freezer, a fan, & TV can all be on during the night and my Links 2000 still shows 12.35 to 12.40

I am a believer in the Power Pulse desulphation system. It is money well spent.
http://www.impactbattery.com/power-p...FQGEnQod228A9A

[dale farley]

Tuga,

Thanks for the link. I ordered a couple different ones and got the best price and free shipping.

[Liam]

How is this different from the condition cycle one can select the inverters to perform?

[dale farley]

Liam, Good question and one which I don't know the whole answer. The one thing I am sure of is that many owners don't know this function exists on their inverters or once they find out that it does exist, they seldom use it. With the stand-a-lone onBoard Desulfator, you can leave it connected all the time, and the plates should always be relatively clean.

[merle&louise]

I remember at a seminar given by Nick Hessler, Nick said that these devices in fact are good for batteries. He recommended using them in all applications.

For those of you who don't know Nick, he is a very well respected tech who knows his stuff when it comes to Prevost buses.

[Gil_J]

Liam,

There's no way this Power Pulse product can come close to functioning exactly like the equalization mode of most chargers. In equalization mode the chargers are putting out an extremely high voltage for a prolonged period of time. BTW, the voltage is high enough you should isolate your batteries from any DC loads. This product connects between the positive and negative terminals of a battery, limiting it's ability to create and sustain high voltages. If you look at the link below you can find out a bit more on how it works and even build one yourself. In a nutshell, these devices build up a high cuurent spike that's delivered to the battery with a high frequency component. Even if this thing works and there seems to be proof they do work for flooded wet cell batteries, it's unclear to me how it would affected by a multiple battery battery bank.

http://home.comcast.net/~ddenhardt20...tor/desulf.htm

[dale farley]

Great link Gil. Some interesting/informative information. It's been so long since I worked in electronics, I am afraid I have forgotten more than what I need to know to understand everything that is being said. I ordered one of the desulfators from Impact Battery to try to rejuvenate some of the batteries in my farm equipment, so I will know pretty soon if they really work. Thanks for the link.

[Liam]

Nick helped me rewire my battery and inverter setup and taught me to isolate when equalizing. I will ask him about these devices.

[dale farley]

As stated above, I ordered one of the Desulphators and one of the Charger/Desulphators. Just received, so I don't know the results of how well they work, but the instructions for the two units I got state that they work only on lead acid batteries. This is not a problem for me because I am using them on tractors and other farm equipment. The unit that I showed above states that it works with all types of batteries including AGM.