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Originally Posted by MetroMPG
Think about who's bringing the floor scrubber batteries to the recycler. You need to cut out the middle man!
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Exactly!
Quote:
Originally Posted by thatguitarguy
And if you spend much time moving all that lead around, you could grow up to be the governor of California (if you have an accent)
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Actually, the thought has crossed my mind about becoming the governor of Oklahoma. I had serious thoughts of a personalized plate: "FUTRGOV".....
I know, has nothing to do about what one looks like after lifting tons of lead...
Quote:
Originally Posted by thatguitarguy
I've never heard of this, and I'm intrigued. I have plenty of batteries that I can play with, and if they can be brought back from the dead, it would be cool to have a heard of zombie batteries.
Does the alum replace the sulfuric acid, or is it added to the acid? Does the solution freeze? How long do they last? Is there a website?  |
Yes, it replaces the sulfuric acid. One of the reasons I did the conversion is that, supposedly, alkaline batteries are much more tolerant of the cold; i.e. it holds voltage better. Also, (again, this is what my research has found, not actual experience yet) they last unused much longer. Here's one of many links:
Sepp Hasslberger: How to convert a Lead Acid Battery into an Alkaline Battery
Now, here's my take on the whole thing. It's a lot of work. You have to deal with lead (dangerous), and sulfuric acid (dangerous). With the sources I have found for batteries, it simply is not worth the effort for the most part. If I have a bad battery, it's much easier to get a good one and sell the bad one (at a tiny profit
). That said, the reason for the experiment is to:
1) use a battery that is small, light, and convenient (I have access to mostly big deep cycle only- not really starting batteries)
2) have a battery that can sit for extended periods without degrading (my ICE has become obsolete because of my daily EV use. Also, I have many project cars that sit for a long time)
3) if this works out well enough, I could have cold and sulfate resistant batteries.
So the idea was to have good batteries that might also work in an EV. As it turns out though, I don't think that alum conversion is so great for an EV because the battery's resultant voltage is lower after conversion.
As I typed this, I went out on the coldest day of the season, to the car that has been sitting for 3 days unused, and it cranked for a good while and started. This was a battery that could not turn over a car before after a full charge. I bought some more alum, and I have a marine group 27 battery to try it on, but as I mentioned, it might not be worth the effort. It IS however a good weapon to have in the battery recycler's arsenal....