# Is this a hoax??



## Mr. Sharkey (Jul 26, 2007)

I think you should keep your money in your wallet.

Pulse charging is purported to "revive" cells that have been abused in various ways, but there is still a succinct lack of scientific proof that it works at all, much less on "dead" batteries.

The principle behind pulse charging is that high frequency, high voltage pulses of current help "break up" sulfur crystals that have formed on lead acid battery plates. While this actually may be helpful when the crystals are small and still fairly soft, there is no cure -none- for a badly sulfated lead acid battery other than replacement.

Having said that, I do have a desulfator, and throw it on batteries from time to time with the attitude that "it can't hurt". Since it was given to me, it costs nothing. I can tell you for sure that it did nothing to revive a set of Trojan T105 batteries that spent many years powering my car, and then found their way into one of my electric tractors.

Better to invest your time, interest and money into some decent digital metering (particularly ampere-hour meters), a high quality hydrometer, and a multi-stage battery charger with adjustable setpoints.

"Dead" batteries that have used out their useful life and/or been abused are best sent to be recycled. Nothing is more defeating than whipping a dead horse. In the case of EV's you will end up hauling around 50 miles worth of battery weight to go 10 miles or less (if that).


----------



## rankhornjp (Nov 26, 2007)

Like i said "someone with more knowledge than me"....

Thanks for the heads up.

James


----------



## Coley (Jul 26, 2007)

I bought a Vector VEC1088A at a sale for about $50.00, because it had a "battery reconditioner" cycle to it.
Well, it is a good straight charger as far as charging and shutting off.
The "reconditioning" part is worthless, as it has done nothing for any of my batteries that test weak.
Save your money...


----------



## KiwiEV (Jul 26, 2007)

Agreed. I bought a de-sulphator a few months ago and tried it on 5 batteries I found near the exchange rubbish bin. It did nothing for 4 of the 5 batteries no matter how many times I run the device. 
As for the 5th battery, I'm still unsure if it restored it or if it wasn't _that_ bad to begin with. It's still only got about half it's original capacity too so it's not exactly "restored".
Bottom line, I'd recommend keeping your money in your pocket mate!


----------



## Mr. Sharkey (Jul 26, 2007)

Jeezuz Gav, where the hell have you been for the last month? We thought maybe you got picked up driving that un-rego'd EV contraption of yours and were serving out some hard time in a NZ hoosegow!


----------



## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Gav, just so you know, Mr. Sharky started a thread about you to find out what happened. I guess you really are famous now.

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/wheres-kiwiev-6737.html


----------



## KiwiEV (Jul 26, 2007)

LOL
I guess I'd better go and report in then!


----------



## dataman19 (Oct 7, 2009)

Battery saving devicesare like cardiacdifibulators - they are for protecting against sulfate build-up.
..
They don't eliminate years of neglect. That build up can only be removed by taking the plates out of the battery and cleaning them.
..
Dataman19


----------

