On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:49:03 -0500, Jim wrote:

wrote:
On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:03:51 GMT, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:53:34 -0800, "Calif Bill"
wrote:

"Tom Francis - SWSports" wrote in
message ...
Stumbled across this:

http://home.comcast.net/~ddenhardt20...esulfparts.htm

Pretty cool.
My chargers got one built in.
So do mine, but I thought it was pretty interesting.

Many smart chargers that have a "desulfanator" feature really just
charge at an unusually high voltage for a period to "cook" the battery
a bit. Not the same as pulsing, and not nearly as effective.

I wonder if either method has the potential to destroy electrical or
electronic devices attached to the battery.

That's a good question. The main problem I have with lead/acid
batteries are my trolling motor batteries - they tend to sulpher up
very quickly - probably because of the long/short cycle times. I go
through a set every three years or so before I tried to desulpher them
which really increased their overall life in one sense. The problem
was that the discharge cycle became shorter.

If I were to do it with batteries that run the command guages, radios
and sonar, I'd be sure to disconnect them from the system first
because of that concern.

I had a camper that had the high voltage type and it boiled the water
out of the batteries quickly. I didn't have the problems that you might
expect like burned out lamps. Progressive Dynamics was the brand.

I have an older Schumacher (sp?) that does it and I get the same
results. When I do it, I keep a close watch on the water and keep a
few bottles of distilled water on hand to replenish during the
process.

I do know that I've taken a really old lead/acid battery from zero to
full charge when I restored my International Super MTA. I had to move
the tractor from the barn it was in - we couldn't get the flat bed
into the barn because it was partially collapsed and we decided to
drive it out. I had brought the charger with me just in case and we
went through the process while getting the way cleared. Damn tractor
started (with a little help from our friend ether), I drove it out and
just said to hell with it - drove it home.

Battery lasted the entire restoration process which took two years.