How to convert a Lead Acid Battery into an Alkaline Battery

Piett · 03-22-2008

Battery technology is one of the stumbling blocks on the way to introduction of more efficient electric cars and trucks, not to talk about storage of home-produced electricity from sun, wind or other intermittent renewable sources. While there are new kinds of batteries being developed (see the Battery Directory on PES Wiki), no cheap and easy solutions have entered the mainstream yet. Most cars are still using the type of battery developed by Frenchman Raymond Gaston Plante' about one-and-a-half centuries ago.

Leadacid.jpg

Plante's lead-acid battery (circa 1860) Image source: USA Today

There seems to be a way to convert an old, almost exhausted lead-acid battery into a functioning alkaline battery that is not widely known. The information was posted to the watercar yahoo group and through an unlikely chain of forwards reached me by email. Since this information is not widely known, I would like to make it available here.

If you decide to experiment with this, know that you alone are responsible for what you are doing. Don't do it unless you are technically savvy. Should you find it works and want to share your results, you can always comment at the end of this article, and if you feel like thanking the guy who put the information together, you can email him at tshell - at - mcdranch - dot - com.

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How to convert a Lead Acid Battery into an Alkaline Battery

Here is a free gift to all of you and all the world. Read carefully and follow up on all the links and you'll know as much as I do. Then go fool around with the stuff and see what happens. As a favor, please let me know what you discover.

As far as the lead acid batteries go, they can be a pain. But I am researching the possibility of converting lead acid batteries to alkaline batteries. I had a semi-genius friend once give me this information but have yet to see it anywhere else in public domain.

My friend claimed that you could take a weak lead acid battery, one that was still able to be charged but whose lifecycle was nearly finished and convert it to an alkaline battery by dumping out the battery fluid and replacing it with a mix of water and alum. Alum is sold in the super market spice section for making homemade pickles, it makes them crisp. It is sooooooooo cheap. And soooooooo safe, you can eat this stuff, okay? I don't recommend eating it because of the aluminum connection to Alzheimer's disease.

It is sodium aluminum silicate, chemically speaking. Also goes by sodium aluminosilicate, aluminium sodium silicate; sodium silicoaluminate; silicic acid, etc. For accuracy use the proper catalog numbers. CAS # 1344-00-9, GB 12493-90(02.002); INS 554; GRAS (GRAS means Generally Recognized As Safe) FDA 182.2727, (1994) If you want more complete chemical info, everything possible to know about this substance, you can download it here:

PDF: www.chem.unep.ch/irptc/sids/oecdsids/Silicates.pdf

I experimented with old batteries and had two successes and two failures. The successes were total successes and the failures total failures. I used 4oz of alum to 1/2gal of water. You just replace the fluid, recharge the battery and off you go. The successful batteries seemed to be more powerful than the original, however I have no data. The best one was destroyed in a vehicle fire. It has been over 10 years since I did those experiments and I am getting ready to try again.

The advantages of the alum battery are many.

- the battery fluid is non corrosive - the battery gas is not explosive - the battery can be discharged more deeply - the battery can be charged faster - the battery will last longer - there is not corrosion of the terminals - it is extremely cheap - more power in cold weather

I will be trying this experiment with some better measuring tools. I want to go to a battery shop and try this on numerous old junk batteries. My feeling is at this point, if the battery is too dead to take any charge at all, it is too far gone to recover with this method.

This process has never been commercialized that I know of except by one company in China. From what I can read, I think that their battery is pretty much the same as this homemade solution, but all worked out scientifically. It is extremely simple. I'd love to have some assistance from more knowledgeable folks on how and why it works to be able to perfect it.

When you realize how cheap this is to do, you'll really be doing some head scratching. You can have a renewed battery for the price of a few bottles of alum.

Another related bit of information is this. There was a company set up in China called Guineng who was manufacturing and selling a new type of battery. They indicated on their web site that it was a silicate salt battery. I'm pretty convinced it was of this type I am experimenting with. Well, they had a good site with lots of info. But there has been no success on my part in contacting them in any way. I've tried like the dickens to get ahold of this company but have never had an email response, cannot get through by phone, just impossible so far. They were reported to be selling their battery to E-Max scooters in Germany. The bikes are being sold down under and the first reports on performance are coming in. But here it is, take it and see what you can do with it.

I am going to try to be working out the correct ratio of alum to water myself in the future for my new used battery bank.

Let me know what you find out.

Check this all out yourself at the following:

http://www.texaserider.com/escooters_emax.php

http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Battery/index.html

http://www.zpenergy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1677

http://www.guineng.com/index0.htm

http://www.emax-ltd.com/

http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/16278/

http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=1563

http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/16278/page2/

This one is about the FireFly battery technology

http://www.subcpower.com/

http://www.subcpower.com/batcompare_chart.html

This is the best comparison chart to see it all at a glance

http://www.texaserider.com/escooters_emax.php

The proven, tough and rugged New e-Max with its 8 x 12V/20A Silicon battery system is unique in e-scooters. Silicone Battery Comparison. No more old style lead acid batteries to bog down performance and create havoc in the environment with its destructive pollutants during production, use and disposal. The new GUINENG Silicone power batteries in the e-Max break away from the old and embrace a breakthrough in an enviro-friendly tough and rugged package. An extremely long-life energy supply specifically designed for the e-Max, the new Silicone system offers a never-before seen performance standard... shelf life and power! You can store the batteries, unused for up to 1 1/2 years with voltage going down less than 1 volt! No memory loss! Constantly worrying about losing battery memory and battery damage is no longer wishful thinking! And power!

Jianmen Yu Yang Special Storage Battery Co.
Submitted by David Herron on August 4, 2006 - 3:20pm. Silicon Battery

This is a Chinese company who has developed a Silicon based battery chemistry that shows great promise. Completely breaking away from the technological limit of lead-acid batteries,GUINENG silicone power batteries embrace a breakthrough, where silicate salt is used as electrolyte. GUINENG batteries have enormous and durable power and are pollution free. GUINENG has a universally recognized edge over commonly used lead-acid batteries nowadays in the world, due to its high capacity, high current output, rapid recharge time, low temperature performance, long life span, and environment-friendliness.

Features include:

 Storage copacity as high as 1.75 times of international standards
 Recharge acceptance capacity as high as 2.68 times of international standards
 High current recharge. (0.8C---1.0C)
 High current discharge. The battery will not be damaged when discharging within 8 seconds at the temperature of 30°C. Deep discharge is allowed.
 Low self-discharge. After fully charged, the battery can be used within one year at a normal temperature.
 No memory effect for charging or discharging
 Functions normally between - 50°C--+70°C
 Sealed with a release valve. Maintenance free.
 No acid mist emission when charging or discharging. No pollution from the electrolyte.
 Long life span. Under normal circumstances, the cycling life is as long as 10 years for the GYM Series.
 Over 400 times of recharging.
 Functions normally under 6000 meters of the deep sea

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See also related:

Nickel Iron battery in Home Power Systems
No battery has outlasted the Nickel Iron battery in daily use for Home Power Systems. This environmentally friendly battery has been in use for over 100 years. In many cases we have documentation that there are batteries still is use and still producing 100% of their battery capacity after 60 years in service.

Piett · 03-22-2008

I used to rebuild automotive batteries for a living. Back then, you just heated up the tar seal and pulled the cells. I can tell you that most battery failures are due to vibration, where the plate or a cell connection breaks.
Life expectancy is mostly affected by high current draws that actually flex the plates. This leads to loosening of the powdered lead on the plates. The powder builds up in the bottom of the battery and eventually reaches the level of the bottom of the plates. At that point, the cell plates short and it's finished.
After plastic batteries were introduced, we couldn't take them apart anymore. So we simply invert the battery and drained the acid into a Poly plastic container. The acid won't eat poly or styrofoam. Use poly gloves, not latex. A lot of the crud comes out with the acid.
Fill the cells with water, agitate and invert into another plastic container. A small trash can works well. Repeat this process until the battery rinses clean.
Wait a few days. The heavy lead products in the acid and the rinse water will settle to the bottom fairly quickly. The container with rinse water you can neutralize with baking soda. An electrolytic process can probably remove the remaining dissolved lead products, but most of it settles. Pour off the clear liquid until the crud is left at the bottom. Leave it in a plastic bucket until it dries. Or, if you do this regularly, save this rinse water for other batteries.
Filter the acid and reuse in the battery. You will need to top off the cells with more. Pour the leftover crud into the drying bucket.
About 50% of batteries will get a useful life again.
As far as replacing the sulfuric acid with Alum, I would be concerned about the aluminum precipitating out of solution and causing shorts. But the biggest problem with lead/acid batteries is the lead, not the acid. I think I'll try it though.

Piett · 03-22-2008

since i didn't want to waste a good battery i started this experiment by using my oldest junk battery.it was literally covered in the weeds, had been open for years and was half empty. i topped it off with distilled water and charged it up. but when i tested it @100amps it showed as three cells dead. i looked inside it and saw that three of the cells were caked up in that white crystaline SULPHATION that shorts out the cells. i knew there was no chance that it would work in that condition so i resolved to clean it up first. i did this by making a gallon of solution of distilled water with as much baking soda as it would dissolve mixed into it. i dumped out the battery and filled it with this solution. WARNING: wear EYE protection and old clothes and shoes. even a small drop of battery acid will eat a hole in them. WARNING: fill slowly because the chemical reaction is violent and will boil over and shoot out if done too fast.

i noticed that when full it continued to bubble about like it does when charging. i let it set overnight until the was no sign of chemical reaction. upon inspection i was pleased to find the battery plates AS CLEAN AS NEW. no sign of the white crystaline SULPHATION.

i dumped this solution out and replaced it with distilled water. i reasoned that this would absorb any residual baking soda. i let it stand overnight. i dumped it out and filled with the ALUM electrolyte solution of 1oz. ALUM per 10oz.'s distilled water. and hooked up the charger. at first it didn't want to take any charge. after i BUMPED it a few times by hitting the quick charge switch on the charger ( i figured it needed to be RE-POLARIZED) it started to take a charge. but only around 5 amps. over a few hours this increased to 15amps. when the charger showed the battery was full i tested it with a 100 AMP LOAD TESTER type meter. it showed as marginal weak. i knew this battery had previously shown three cells dead. it still showed three cells dead but also showed the other three as GOOD.

this indicated to me that the principle was valid so i decided to repeat the experiment with a good battery. i followed the same procedure wityh a DIEHARD group 65 700cca battery that was several years old but still tested as good after one test @100 amps but marginal weak after two tests. after filling with the alkaline i tested it and it immediately checked as OK but on the low side. i charged it 4 hours @15 amps.it tested as high as a new battery. even after four tests @100 amps it still showed as good.

CONCLUSION: usually when somethings too good to be true it ain't. but this is contrary. THIS WORKS!

www.greensaver.cn/en

Piett · 03-23-2008

Alum is found in the 'spices' section of the grocery store. With a bit of time and effort, you can grow a big alum crystal.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Days to Weeks
Here's How:

Pour 1/2 cup of hot tap water into a clean jar.
Slowly stir in alum, a little at a time, until it stops dissolving. Don't add the whole amount - just enough to saturate the water.
Loosely cover the jar with a coffee filter or paper towel (to keep dust out) and allow the jar to sit undisturbed overnight.
The next day, pour the alum solution from the first jar into the clean jar. You will see small alum crystals at the bottom of the jar. These are 'seed' crystals that you will use to grow a big crystal.
Tie nylon fishing line around the largest, best-shaped crystal. Tie the other end to a flat object (e.g., popsicle stick, ruler, pencil, butter knife). You will hang the seed crystal by this flat object into the jar far enough so that it will be covered in liquid, but won't touch the bottom or sides of the jar. It may take a few tries to get the length just right.
When you have the right string length, hang the seed crystal in the jar with the alum solution. Cover it with the coffee filter and grow a crystal!
Grow your crystal until you are satisfied with it. If you see crystals starting to grow on the sides or bottom of your jar, carefully remove your crystal, pour the liquid into the clean jar, and put the crystal in the new jar. Other crystals in the jar will compete with your crystal for alum, so it won't be able to get as big if you let these crystals grow.

Tips:

You can use sewing thread or other string instead of nylon fishing line, but crystals will grow on the entire length of the submerged string. Crystals don't adhere to nylon, so if you use it, you can get bigger, better crystals.
Alum is an ingredient used to make pickles. It makes them crispy.

What You Need:

1/2 c hot tap water
2-1/2 T alum
nylon fishing line
pencil, ruler, or knife
2 clean jars
spoon
coffee filter/paper towel

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</q>This is a large crystal of alum, or aluminium potassium sulfate.
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