Now about 40 baterries of various size ranging from 17 a/h to 150 a/h litter one wall of my 'workshop.' Unfortunately a lot of them have only been pulsed slightly and then stored as I wanted to sift-out the ones with shorted cells/disintegrated plates so that I would be able to just hook them up to the pulsers methodically without worrying if they were beyond hope.
The ones I rejected are outside. The 40 or-so remaining batts inside range from virtually un-done, to done, but some have been left for a couple of months or more and I've allowed myself to get a bit confused about the condition of the ones I've finished - and would like to sell/give away so they can be doing some good.
Anyway. I finished the pulser I mentioned I was planning. It's pretty powerful and on the highest setting it will be pushing 20 - 30 Amps. I have been testing it on perhaps half its maximum on a fairly large 95a/h starter battery. (Ya gets 'small' 95 a/h batts 'n all ya see). So far I am not disappointed.
The sg was in the red after a preliminary charge, and the electrolyte was low in the cells. The cells are virtually all at the maximum level or perhaps a tad over, and the sg on all but one cell is at or over 1260, and the last is hovering at 1250 - a bit higher perhaps as it settles in the green. That's about three days pulsing.
I used two FK10sm MOSFETS for the final negative output. They are driven by a flasher-circuit going through a relay. The relay's n/o position is wired to ground. The transformer will charge the caps (about 40,000 mFd) to 36 Volts, and I can set the current/pulse count and to a degree I can alter the pulse width. At the moment it is pulsing at about 15 ppS. It'll go up to about 40, and the slowest I can set it apart from DC is about 5 ppS.
So ... That's a largish 95 a/h batt virtually 'done' in three days. I'm hoping to take that batt off and store it so I can begin to sort the batts out into 'done' and not-done. I imagine this will merely mean they are moved from one wall to another via the pulser.
I'm actually quite pleased with this one. I am always worried about the others, but though they might get hot if I push them, none of them have overheated to the point of being dangerous . - The most dangerous situation I can envisage at the moment is if the leads aren't properly secured on the battery terminals and a spark setting a cell off. But (touch wood) I've managed to avoid an explosion despite there having been a few occasions where it might have been possible.
I've taken to using clamps if the clips I use do not grip the terminals tightly. I'm still using old clips I picked-up on a couple of the pulsers and will change them to new ones as I am able.
Of those six batteries I have being done by four pulsers, all but two of the (total of) 36 cells are clearly within the green with the electrolyte at max - level. Three days ago after a preliminary charge none of the cells were in the green and perhaps half were in the red, and a quarter were almost water.
* I'll be happy to post pics of all my family of pulsers. Actually all but one of the five I've got are all lined up on a table all working at the same time doing a total of 6 batts. I've got two pulsers doing two batteries each.
AS got me thinking about pulse-discharging, and I'm ready to have a go at making a pulse-charger/ pulse-discharger this time. I will be using my somewhat primative relay/mosfet/transistor circuits. I imagine I will use a double-pole with n/on + n/off sets of contacts.
I'll probably discharge through a load (like an auto bulb) and charge through caps through the semiconductors. I haven't really thought about it yet, but I would like to make a pulser which alternately charges and discharges.
* I had an idea about using a piezo 'tweeter' as a pick-up to input feedback through a rectified amp which is wired to the terminals. I was wondering if I might be able to resonate the battery and if this would clear the plates of sulphation?
As I imagined it, the plates were all cleared of sulphation and the battery fully charged in 5 minutes - I get these ideas as I try to make myself sleep, y'see.
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What has been won by the brave at great cost can be lost cheaply by fools and once gone can rarely be regained and only then at great cost.