# Epson Salt



## Sunking (Aug 10, 2009)

Ok guys I know this is a tabu subject, and I know better, but I am getting pounded on another forum (Golf Cart Mod) busting people chops for using Epsom Salt to restore Sulphated FLA batteries.

But here is the conclusion I have drawn and would like your feedback, good or bad 

If you cannot get access to a Equalize Charger or PWM charger and the battery will not take a charge. go ahead and try the Epson Salt trick. At worst you end up right where you started with a worthless dead sulphated battery.


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

Sunking said:


> Ok guys I know this is a tabu subject, and I know better, but I am getting pounded on another forum (Golf Cart Mod) busting people chops for using Epsom Salt to restore Sulphated FLA batteries.
> 
> But here is the conclusion I have drawn and would like your feedback, good or bad
> 
> If you cannot get access to a Equalize Charger or PWM charger and the battery will not take a charge. go ahead and try the Epson Salt trick. At worst you end up right where you started with a worthless dead sulphated battery.


Well, the chelating agent, EDTA, does a much better job of de-sulfating batteries, but both methods increase the porosity of the plate and leave a deposit of lead "silt" on the bottom of the battery that will eventually kill it, but I guess if your alternative is a dead battery AND the battery is worth "saving" then sure, why not? I mean, I wouldn't bother with a 100-200Ah 12V battery, but a 900Ah 36V forklift battery? Sure, I'd even try actual snake oil before scrapping that puppy.


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## gss99 (Dec 31, 2009)

my 12v black and decker says "equalize " on it. What does that mean?


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## rmay635703 (Oct 23, 2008)

My Black and Decker says PX-7 on it not sure what that means either erm, actually Equalize can mean two things, on a battery it means you are supposed to do that often on a charger you hit it when you want to perform a controlled overcharge to equalize every cell in the battery to the same capacity.

As to Sunking's summation I believe what he is saying is pretty accurate, except epsom salts aren't all that great, he should remind the folks its just as cheap but more labor intensive to drain the acid into a plastic container overnight then fill with distilled water and trickle charge for several days to a week with distilled water, better yet add a little EDTA. Then dump and save the weak acid water for topping off batteries (unless you added edta) and replace the old acid and perform a series of short discharge and recharge cycles, the batteries should work like new if you cleared the shorts.

That works better than EPSOM salts (even better since you might clear a short) except without the self discharge side effect. epsom salts provide.


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