is 1 year enough time for a battery to go bad/sulfate? what to do to revive?

A

apollo18

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May 27, 2023
Messages
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hey all my 15 rav 4 has a battery with 09/22 date code on it and the other day i fixed a dirty connection issue. I have only had vehicle for few months so the batt replacement was from last owner. I am pretty certian he did short trips only and i am not sure if the bad connection/corroded connections resulted in the battery not full charging or if the batt is just sulfated. It seems to be about a year old and its a costco interstate group 35. I got it tested at a few auto stores, some say pass, some say fail, some say charge and retest. Without a cca tester, it shows about 12.5v when sitting after a day. My trips are about 15-20 mins at highway speed with some city driving so unless mistaken i should be able to recharge whatever it uses to start up

So today is first day I hooked up charger and the charger showed it was at about 80% charge, my goal is to just charge it to 100 with the charger and then monitor for some time, but i wanted to ask. Is it possible for it to be sulfated if it was low charge for 1 year ish? it was never dead enough that it didn't start the vehicle however. Also, if it did sulfate and since its a year old, what would you do to revive it if you were in my shoes? I am second owner so i wont be able to get the costco warranty on it anyways + i dont got a memb anywyas

thx
 
Batteries will slowly sulfate as soon as they’re not at 100% SOC. Its very slow, and in some cases, reversible, at least to a point. Beyond some point it isn’t.

Some if the floating and pulsation schemes can reverse certain conditions, but it’s not a one size fits all, and you’re not going to replace shed plate material or fix other physical conditions.

Sure a battery could go bad in a year of mistreatment.

What you need to do is load test it to determine impedance, and capacity test it to verify active material. The first is easier than the second. And likely good enough for car starting duties.
 
In addition to what John said above, I will add that if you want to desulfate and restore it, this is a great tool and does a lot more, also:

https://www.amazon.com/DXAEC100-Pro...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584482474790926&psc=1

This is the new 100a start version, I have the few year older 80a start model. It is the only desulfator I fave found to be worth it’s salt (see what I did there?). I have bought three or four others, but this works. It also is a powerful start/charge/diagnostic tool also. Street price on the 80a version when I got mine was ~$85 these run $100 to $110 now. I have saved a lot in battery replacements because of it so it has much more than paid for itself.
 
For those nerdy enough who have a DC power supply that has a constant current capability (most do), here is the way to actually "fix" a salvageable battery:

Discharge the battery to about 9 volts. The depletes each "cell" to a nominal level.

TURN ON THE POWER SUPPLY FIRST, THEN HOOK IT UP. Charge the battery for 16 hours, using Constant Current, at 1/10th the 1 hour C rate. So if your battery is 40AH at the 20 hour rate (C/20), it is likely 33AH at 1C.

Sooooo, charge at 3.3A for 16 hours. "IF" it gets hot, stop at 8 hours and restart the next day for 8 hours.

 
Cujet said:
For those nerdy enough who have a DC power supply that has a constant current capability (most do), here is the way to actually "fix" a salvageable battery:

Discharge the battery to about 9 volts. The depletes each "cell" to a nominal level.

TURN ON THE POWER SUPPLY FIRST, THEN HOOK IT UP. Charge the battery for 16 hours, using Constant Current, at 1/10th the 1 hour C rate. So if your battery is 40AH at the 20 hour rate (C/20), it is likely 33AH at 1C.

Sooooo, charge at 3.3A for 16 hours. "IF" it gets hot, stop at 8 hours and restart the next day for 8 hours.

Click to expand...
Not sure I agree about discharging to 9v.

You didn't mention a voltage level... probably about 14.6v?
 
wanted to add, i did a full charge last night, amazon charger said it got to 100 and said full. voltage around that time was 12.8 ish, cant remember exact but prob tons of surface charge. woke up in morning, drove to work 20 mins, then other errands for another 30 min drive, then back home for 20 min drive.
Let the vehicle sit locked and off for a few hours and just opened the hood to test the voltage. Got 12.70V with my multimeter
not sure how acc my multi is, its just a new one i got from amazon

i assume 12.7 is a decent sign so far? is there any way to guess sulfation based on this #?
 
If you live where it goes below freezing, be aware that discharged batteries are more likely to freeze and if that happens it usually damages the plates, rendering the battery unrecoverable.

Bring 'em inside and/or charge them before the cold weather....
 
In my experience anything above 12.4v on a lead acid battery is good. Depending on your charger, you can get anything between 12.8~13 after a full charge.
In terms of charging while driving, if your engine speed is low (town driving) and the electrics (e.g light, A/c) are on, depending on your charging system, you may not put any charge in the battery! In my case 3000rpm provides the full charging voltage on my car & bikes.
 
Cujet said:
For those nerdy enough who have a DC power supply that has a constant current capability (most do), here is the way to actually "fix" a salvageable battery:

Discharge the battery to about 9 volts. The depletes each "cell" to a nominal level.

TURN ON THE POWER SUPPLY FIRST, THEN HOOK IT UP. Charge the battery for 16 hours, using Constant Current, at 1/10th the 1 hour C rate. So if your battery is 40AH at the 20 hour rate (C/20), it is likely 33AH at 1C.

Sooooo, charge at 3.3A for 16 hours. "IF" it gets hot, stop at 8 hours and restart the next day for 8 hours.

Click to expand...
How
Oro_O said:
In addition to what John said above, I will add that if you want to desulfate and restore it, this is a great tool and does a lot more, also:

https://www.amazon.com/DXAEC100-Pro...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584482474790926&psc=1

This is the new 100a start version, I have the few year older 80a start model. It is the only desulfator I fave found to be worth it’s salt (see what I did there?). I have bought three or four others, but this works. It also is a powerful start/charge/diagnostic tool also. Street price on the 80a version when I got mine was ~$85 these run $100 to $110 now. I have saved a lot in battery replacements because of it so it has much more than paid for itself.
Click to expand...
How did you determine this battery desulfator actually works vs the rest that don't? I have several Battery Minder brand ones. I am of the opinion that batteries lightly sulfated might be helped by a battery desulfator. But in most cases it does not bring back bad batteries.
 
Donald said:
How
How did you determine this battery desulfator actually works vs the rest that don't? I have several Battery Minder brand ones. I am of the opinion that batteries lightly sulfated might be helped by a battery desulfator. But in most cases it does not bring back bad batteries.
Click to expand...

I have had it bring back batteries that cheaper desulfators would not. Why, I don’t know. The trick is to run it many cycles. Just running it once (e.g. 24 hour cycle). I’ll set it up in the corner of the garage and reset it each evening and after a couple days the battery will recover a significant amount of its capacity. It’s not a “magic bullet” one time fix.
 
Oro_O said:
I have had it bring back batteries that cheaper desulfators would not. Why, I don’t know. The trick is to run it many cycles. Just running it once (e.g. 24 hour cycle). I’ll set it up in the corner of the garage and reset it each evening and after a couple days the battery will recover a significant amount of its capacity. It’s not a “magic bullet” one time fix.
Click to expand...
Have you tried a BatteryMinder?
 
Donald said:
Have you tried a BatteryMinder?
Click to expand...
No, not those. Noco and then some other cheaper ones, also Husky. I know that is a more premium brand and may yield better results, but I don’t know anything about that one.
 
ripcord said:
Not sure I agree about discharging to 9v.

You didn't mention a voltage level... probably about 14.6v?
Click to expand...
1) The depletion is required, as there may be a cell that has a significant charge. Failure to draw the battery down will result in overheating, and/or a poor result. Whether it is down to 10V or 9V matters not, as the voltage drops fast when properly depleted.

2) The peak voltage varies, but is generally around 16-17V by the end of the Constant Current charge cycle.

Remember, the CC charge is at a comparatively low amperage.
 
That kungber power supply is a nice tool for a low price. Mine seems to be a little quirky to learn its controls. NOTE- disconnect the battery from the car if there’s any chance you’ll be going over 16V. The kungber is 24v capable and can overpower a battery as it begins to top off, or if the V knob is bumped, I could see it capable of damaging vehicle electronics.
 
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