what happened to my electrolyte??

[solarengineer]

I have been experimenting with edta in a small 12v 220ah battery.

before the edta the hydrometer was in the white range(weak) regardless of how much i charged.

So i added a teaspoon of edta directly into each cells electrolyte and charged for 24hours. the edta bubbled furiously. I then drained the electrolyte into a bucket.

I mixed another 2 teasoons of edta in hot distilled water and filled the battery and again fizzing. Charged another 24hrs.

Now I checked the specific gravity of the electrolyte in the bucket and it showed in the white range(weak) between green and red.

So I added sulfuric acid until the sg of the electrolyte was just in the green.

I added this electrolyte back into the battery after a final washing.

The battery now reads 9.8v(shorted cell perhaps)

the electrolyte after a final 24hour charge will not even float the hydrometer!!!

where did the acid go???

with sulphates off the plates even with a shorted cell after the edta still doesn't explain why my hydrometer shows full red. as i said the hydrometer wont even float at all.

Can someone shed some light on this so i don't re offend.

thanks

jamie

[wpowokal]

Jamie, in my experience if the battery is stuffed it's stuffed, putting correct SG electrolite in it does not necessarly mean it will be a good batery. Bit like not being able to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear.

I'm not a chemist but I know from experience that SG is what the battery determins once inside. Hope others can give a technical explination, but I suspect it won't change the fact that the battery is stuffed.

allan down under

[Nando]

Jamie:

Why did you do such procedure ?.

EDTA takes times to produce good results.

The procedure, I know, is to saturate with EDTA a volume of water ( heat the water and add EDTA to dissolve well ) then add about 4 to 8 cubic centimeters to each cell, then charge the battery normally and load cycle it, then with time the battery if is salvageable show the results.

Another way is to charge the battery at 0.1 % to float charge only, then continue charging at about 0.05 % current for about 48 hours ( may need water replenish) to do deep action and at the same time to equalize the cells well.

What have been the results with the other battery experiments ?.

DID YOU report anything on the results.

EDTA works best if it is not "whip" to do the job fast.

Too much EDTA may affect the electrolyte behavior, I am not a Chemist so I can not examine or do analysis of such effects and the changes in the chemistry in the battery.

Nando

[whatsnext]

I've been using it for a while now also and I'm curious as to why you attempted that precedure.

John..

[solarengineer]

Hey John, what procedure do you use?

do you add it to the electrolyte? if so how much?

i added the edta then in a few hours it stopped bubbling. so i added a bit more ect.

i figured while i was at it, i may as well refresh the electrolyte.

jamie

[whatsnext]

All I've ever done was to dissolve a small quantity in hot distilled water and add a little to each cell. Almost all batteries I've seen that had heavy sulfation needed added fluid levels anyway. You can tell right away when it's working because when you start charging the battery the bubbles will get smaller right away. Just add it to the weak electrolyte because it appears to act as a starting aid to the charging process.

[spacejunk]

Hello, I'm about to purchase some ETDA and notice theres a few Salts as well as the straight acid (Disodium or Tetrasodium  etc) The pure acid is said not to be soluble in water. What type of EDTA should be used for desulfation?

Cheers