[AT] Batteries charged backwards.

szabelski at wildblue.net szabelski at wildblue.net
Thu Feb 13 07:19:21 PST 2020


Cecil,

After discharging your battery, by any method, the battery will build up a small charge after the discharge (the chemical reaction between the plates continues). That’s why you should let the battery sit for a while after discharging and discharge it again. You may have to do this several times. Using a larger load to discharge will cause a faster discharge, but won’t stop the chemical process totally.

Consider a simple flashlight that goes dead while you’re using it. If you tun it off for a while, and then turn it back on, it will light up for a short time, and maybe not as bright, until it dies again. Keep tuning it off and on again and eventually you won’t get anything. The battery is now completely dead.

Carl


----- Original Message -----
From: Cecil Bearden <crbearden at copper.net>
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Sent: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 09:37:18 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: [AT] Batteries charged backwards.

The problem I cannot understand is why,  when I connected 2 incandescent 
headlights in parallel to the battery it would not discharge the battery 
completely.   My battery supplier told me to then use a 6 volt light.  I 
have seriously thought about just hooking both in series and then using 
them as power for arc welding.  A welding rod would discharge them 
quickly and completely.  Welding can be done using batteries as power...
I charge my batteries outside for safety.  These are sealed batteries.
Cecil

On 2/13/2020 8:28 AM, Stephen Offiler wrote:
> I do not have ADD, although I am starting to wonder what personal 
> issues you might have, Thomas.  And no, the point of this exercise is 
> not to reverse the polarity, The point is to make the best possible 
> attempt to recover two batteries that have been accidentally 
> reverse-charged.  That involves much more than reversing the 
> polarity.  There's a right way and a lot of wrong ways to tackle each 
> of the steps.  Discharge.  Repolarize.  Recharge.
>
> SO
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 13, 2020 at 9:08 AM Thomas Martin <tmartin at xtra.co.nz 
> <mailto:tmartin at xtra.co.nz>> wrote:
>
>     Do you have ADD? The point of this exercise is to reverse the
>     polarity of a battery.
>
>>     On 13 February 2020 at 23:15 Stephen Offiler <soffiler at gmail.com
>>     <mailto:soffiler at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     For some actual information on lead-acid charging, try this:
>>
>>     https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_the_lead_acid_battery
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     On Thu, Feb 13, 2020 at 3:49 AM Thomas Martin <
>>     tmartin at xtra.co.nz <mailto:tmartin at xtra.co.nz>> wrote:
>>
>>         Hi Dean
>>
>>         After the dead battery is connected to the charged 12v
>>         battery in parallel, a battery charger is connected, (the
>>         charged battery
>>
>>         is there only to dictate the polarity), and charging can
>>         commence.
>>
>>         Tom
>>
>>>         On 13 February 2020 at 20:41 deanvp at att.net
>>>         <mailto:deanvp at att.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>         Tom,
>>>
>>>         Could you explain this a little further. If the current from
>>>         the jumper battery does not have any effect(affect) on the
>>>         dead battery how does it charge it up?
>>>
>>>         Dean VP
>>>
>>>         Apache Junction, AZ
>>>
>>>         *From:* AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
>>>         <mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com>> *On Behalf Of
>>>         *Thomas Martin
>>>         *Sent:* Wednesday, February 12, 2020 12:47 PM
>>>         *To:* Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group
>>>         <at at lists.antique-tractor.com
>>>         <mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com>>
>>>         *Subject:* Re: [AT] Batteries charged backwards.
>>>
>>>         Stephen
>>>
>>>         Well it appears you do not understand the difference between
>>>         connecting in series and parallel.
>>>
>>>         When you jump start a vehicle, one connects in parallel, the
>>>         current from the jumper battery does
>>>
>>>         not have any affect  on the the dead battery.
>>>
>>>         Tom.
>>>
>>>             On 13 February 2020 at 07:52 Stephen Offiler
>>>             <soffiler at gmail.com <mailto:soffiler at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>             I wouldn't purposely put 50 amps into a totally dead
>>>             battery if I didn't have to, but then we have the
>>>             example cited by others, the jump-start. Who-knows how
>>>             many amps will flow; limited only by the internal
>>>             resistance of the batteries and the cables &
>>>             connections.  I don't think many people appreciate that
>>>             a jump-start is actually sort of a hail-Mary maneuver. 
>>>             If you didn't need to get the car/truck/tractor started
>>>             ASAP, the smart move is to charge the battery slowly and
>>>             correctly.  People are going to chime in and say "I've
>>>             been jump-starting my entire life and never had a
>>>             problem!" OK.  Me too.  But the issue here is that it's
>>>             impossible to know how much you might have shortened the
>>>             life of that battery by hitting it with that big
>>>             uncontrolled amperage surge.  In Cecil Bearden's case,
>>>             he's not stuck in a field or a parking lot or whatever.
>>>             He has the opportunity to do it right.  And that
>>>             definitely does NOT include hitting it with a giant surge.
>>>
>>>             SO
>>>
>>>             On Wed, Feb 12, 2020 at 1:08 PM Thomas Martin <
>>>             tmartin at xtra.co.nz <mailto:tmartin at xtra.co.nz>> wrote:
>>>
>>>                 Surely US battery chargers have adjustable amperage?
>>>
>>>                 I thought it was a given that you wouldn't put 50
>>>                 amps into a dead battery...
>>>
>>>                 Tom
>>>
>>>                     On 13 February 2020 at 03:14 Stephen Offiler <
>>>                     soffiler at gmail.com <mailto:soffiler at gmail.com>>
>>>                     wrote:
>>>
>>>                     Hold on.  A completely dead 12V battery
>>>                     connected to a good 12V battery is going to
>>>                     cause very large current to flow into the dead
>>>                     one. This is not a good idea.
>>>
>>>                     SO
>>>
>>>                     On Wed, Feb 12, 2020 at 9:08 AM <
>>>                     szabelski at wildblue.net
>>>                     <mailto:szabelski at wildblue.net>> wrote:
>>>
>>>                         Cecil,
>>>
>>>                         I agree with completely discharging the
>>>                         batteries and then putting the batteries in
>>>                         parallel one at a time with a good 12V
>>>                         battery. The batteries will try to equalize
>>>                         when in parallel.  When you drain the
>>>                         battery, take the load off and let the
>>>                         battery sit for a while, then put the load
>>>                         back on and drain some more.
>>>
>>>                         You should use a battery charger that has a
>>>                         trickle charge feature. This puts a full
>>>                         charge into the battery at first, then drops
>>>                         down to a small charge to top the battery
>>>                         off. You may have to do this several times
>>>                         and should leave the charger on for at least
>>>                         one full day. Don’t rush the job.
>>>
>>>                         You can also check that each cell is good by
>>>                         taking a reading between each cell. A bad
>>>                         cell will indicate a lower charge then the
>>>                         others. Do this with every recharge attempt
>>>                         and note if you’re making any progress.
>>>
>>>                         Don’t know if you’ve ever gone on-line to
>>>                         look for videos on bringing dead batteries
>>>                         back to life, but their are some that show
>>>                         how to drain a battery, rinse it out, then
>>>                         refill and recharge. They appear to work out
>>>                         quite well, but I can’t swear by them since
>>>                         I’ve never done anything like this myself.
>>>
>>>                         Good luck!
>>>
>>>                         Carl
>>>                         ----- Original Message -----
>>>                         From: Thomas Martin < tmartin at xtra.co.nz
>>>                         <mailto:tmartin at xtra.co.nz>>
>>>                         To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group <
>>>                         at at lists.antique-tractor.com
>>>                         <mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com>>
>>>                         Sent: Wed, 12 Feb 2020 00:24:36 -0500 (EST)
>>>                         Subject: Re: [AT] Batteries charged backwards.
>>>
>>>                         Hi Cecil
>>>                         I  consulted a very good friend on the
>>>                         other-side of the isle.
>>>                         Tony is auto-electrician, of vast car, truck
>>>                         & tractor experience.
>>>                         He says you MUST discharge the batteries,
>>>                         separately with a bulb.
>>>                         They need to completely discharged. No
>>>                         measurable voltage.
>>>                         Then one battery at a time needs to be
>>>                         placed in parallel with another
>>>                         fully charged 12v battery, they then need to
>>>                         be connected to a 12v
>>>                         charger...
>>>
>>>                         Tom
>>>
>>>                         > On 12 February 2020 at 15:31 Cecil Bearden
>>>                         < crbearden at copper.net
>>>                         <mailto:crbearden at copper.net>> wrote:
>>>                         >
>>>                         >
>>>                         >
>>>                         > > I had 2 group 31 batteries out of the
>>>                         tractor that were completely
>>>                         > > dead.  I hooked them up in series and
>>>                         connected my 24Vcharger to them
>>>                         > > as It was handy and I wanted to charge
>>>                         both.  After a couple of days I
>>>                         > > checked them and found that I had hooked
>>>                         the charger backwards.  I
>>>                         > > hooked a couple of incandescent
>>>                         headlights to drain the battery, but
>>>                         > > after 3 days they won't light up the
>>>                         headlights, but they still have a
>>>                         > > lot of spark when shorted with cables.. 
>>>                         A guy at my battery shop said
>>>                         > > I should hook up a 6volt light to them
>>>                         and use that to run them
>>>                         > > down....  At $100/ea, I need to try to
>>>                         save these...
>>>                         > > Cecil
>>>                         >
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