managed to revive my old battery

[OrganicFoxes]

My car battery is almost 5 years old at this point and I have somewhat abused it by running it so low, very frequently. Not really a surprise that it's starting to go out. After sitting overnight it can be around 11.9 to 12.2Volts. Today it was 9.6V and somehow still started (super slowly).

Looked up how much batteries were at Walmart and I was shocked how much some can be. One was around 70 bucks which I WAS going to get, until my grandmother said "back in the day we used to have to top them off with water and they would just keep going, they don't make them how they used to" something along the lines of that.

I always thought they were "sealed for life" and never thought about it. Even in my automotive electrical class we were told you don't need to top them off anymore and that you will need a new one every 3 to 5 years. I did a little research and actually you CAN top them off.

I followed one of these videos on youtube of how to do it. The battery actually does have removable caps, not sure why they are marketed as sealed. The battery was really low on fluid, in one of the little holes the plates were just starting to stick out of the liquid. Took 15oz of distilled water to top it off.

I drove around a few miles to make sure it is charged fully and then shut the car off while in accessory mode. Usually the voltage will rapidly drop, this time IT DIDNT. It was acting like it was a brand new battery. This is wild to me, I have been around cars and mechanics my whole life and never knew this. Not sure how much more life I have added to it but it seemed to just magickly fix it.

Really shocked that worked and just wanted to share my experience. No clue if this is common knowledge and I am just dumb but maybe this can be helpful to someone else.

[Eggman]

Good job! I think you might be the first to report topping off your battery.

Your grandmother sure knows her stuff.

[7milesout]

OF - The problem *could* be, that adding the water will have thrown of the battery's specific gravity. OK, I'm not going to go look all this up in detail and try so sound like some damn expert. I'm not. And what I'm saying here might only be applicable to deep cycle batteries. So 2 things. If you added a good amount of water, it might rejuvenate it, but it might be short term due to throwing off the specific gravity. 2nd, you're really only posa add water when the battery is fully charged. Again, might be only applicable to deep cycle batteries.

In any event, what you did was WAY COOL, and I applaud your effort. Keep us posted. What it means to me is that I might have to go pry the top off my battery, and just check it. Adding little bits of water at a time when fully charged is not supposed to be too bad ... or maybe even a good thing.

Keep us posted on your battery's life. I'm very interested in this. You never know ... the battery industry may not want us messing with the batteries in order for them to sell more batteries.

Could you post a link to the video(s) you watched in regards to this?

Thanks!

[Mark]

Adding distilled water is what I would try first. Keep us posted on it. If it gives you a couple years more service, it's a worthwhile tip. We did it for tractor batteries all the time when I was a kid.

I carry cheap jumper cables in my car. I sometimes need them for our driver's education cars. The three I have parked at my school are 2014, 2015, 2016 vintage cars.

I bought a small $50 lithium pack, and that has been so useful. My riding lawnmower battery was low from sitting all winter, and it took right off with the pack that's not much bigger than my cell phone. I've started a Ford Focus & Mercury Sable with it. My Kawasaki Mule a few times, too. It's good insurance if you're living life on the edge with an old battery!

[OrganicFoxes]

OF - The problem *could* be, that adding the water will have thrown of the battery's specific gravity. OK, I'm not going to go look all this up in detail and try so sound like some damn expert. I'm not. And what I'm saying here might only be applicable to deep cycle batteries. So 2 things. If you added a good amount of water, it might rejuvenate it, but it might be short term due to throwing off the specific gravity. 2nd, you're really only posa add water when the battery is fully charged. Again, might be only applicable to deep cycle batteries.

In any event, what you did was WAY COOL, and I applaud your effort. Keep us posted. What it means to me is that I might have to go pry the top off my battery, and just check it. Adding little bits of water at a time when fully charged is not supposed to be too bad ... or maybe even a good thing.

Keep us posted on your battery's life. I'm very interested in this. You never know ... the battery industry may not want us messing with the batteries in order for them to sell more batteries.

Could you post a link to the video(s) you watched in regards to this?

Thanks!

I did in fact fill it up when the battery was full. I do not own a charger so I just drove around, shut off the car and filled it up. Was at 12.9V so hopefully that was fine.

I can not provide a video since I watched many of them hahaha and just went with the most commonly used method I saw. For me I just made sure the battery was charged up and with distilled water I filled the cells up to the bottom of the hole, or tube or whatever you want to call it. Most of the videos said half an inch air gap to the top of the battery which was about right.

I attached a masterpiece of a picture I made in ms paint for a visual.

[OrganicFoxes]

Adding distilled water is what I would try first. Keep us posted on it. If it gives you a couple years more service, it's a worthwhile tip. We did it for tractor batteries all the time when I was a kid.

I carry cheap jumper cables in my car. I sometimes need them for our driver's education cars. The three I have parked at my school are 2014, 2015, 2016 vintage cars.

I bought a small $50 lithium pack, and that has been so useful. My riding lawnmower battery was low from sitting all winter, and it took right off with the pack that's not much bigger than my cell phone. I've started a Ford Focus & Mercury Sable with it. My Kawasaki Mule a few times, too. It's good insurance if you're living life on the edge with an old battery!

I also bought a little jumper pack, one of the best purchases I have ever made for sure. I have used it to help people 3 times just me out in public. I have used it many times in my automotive classes since no one plugs the damn jumper packs back in and they are always dead. Used it onetime to start my mirage because I had my laptop plugged in and lost track of time. Many other times because a classmates alternator was just dead.

I added another 12v cig outlet thing hidden in the dashboard for accessories and have the jumper pack in the glove box always charging when the car is running. Always ready to use.

[Eggman]

Hey OrganicFoxes, be sure to have your alternator & voltage regulator checked. It sounds like your battery electrolyte boiled away, which is usually caused by overcharging (overvoltage.)

[Wallythacker]

I have done the same and batteries became usable again.
I have also flushed out batteries with distilled water and refilled them with sulphuric acid and they charged up fine and were OK for a long time.

[OrganicFoxes]

Hey OrganicFoxes, be sure to have your alternator & voltage regulator checked. It sounds like your battery electrolyte boiled away, which is usually caused by overcharging (overvoltage.)

It does not seem like it's overcharging. I see the voltage every time I drive, it stays around 13.9v.

[OrganicFoxes]

I have done the same and batteries became usable again.
I have also flushed out batteries with distilled water and refilled them with sulphuric acid and they charged up fine and were OK for a long time.

I saw that on YouTube too, as well using a welder to to restore batteries. Seems pretty interesting, this one dude had a lawn mower battery he was using for over 10 years and kept it going by using the welder method.