Refilling SLAs Sealed Lead Acid Battery

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Refilling SLA's (Sealed Lead Acid battery), Like Refilling a Car Battery
by thermoelectric on December 5, 2008
Table of Contents
Refilling SLA's (Sealed Lead Acid battery), Like Refilling a Car Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Intro: Refilling SLA's (Sealed Lead Acid battery), Like Refilling a Car Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Step 1: Materials/Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Step 2: Pry off the cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 3: Take the cell vents off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 4: Add water to the cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Step 5: Put the rubber caps back on and charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Step 6: Put the cover back on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
http://www.instructables.com/id/Refilling-SLAs-Sealed-Lead-Acid-battery/
Author:thermoelectric author's website
I am a high school student in Cairns, Queensland. Most of the time I am either at school, sleeping, doing stuff on my computer, making circuits of some kind
or messing with 240v
Intro: Refilling SLA's (Sealed Lead Acid battery), Like Refilling a Car Battery
Have any of your SLA's dried up?
Are they low on water?
Well if you answered yes to either of those questions, This Instructable is for you
DISCLAIMER
I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY SPILLAGE OF BATTERY ACID, INJURY, STUFFING UP A GOOD SLA ETC.
Step 1:Materials/Tools
Tools
Safety Glasses (So you don't get mild battery acid in your eyes (like I did))
Funnel or something to put water into the cells
Very small flat-head screwdriver
Needle-nosed pliers
Battery Charger (optional)
Materials
De-ionized water (you can use tap water but it's not reccommended)
rimar2000 says:
You can also use rain water without problem. But it must be very clean. You can collect it whit a clean plastic sheet as funnel, and a clean plastic barrel as container. IT
IS FREE!!!
Dry or nearly empty SLA
Image Notes
1. Safety glasses
2. Battery charger
3. Small flat-head screwdriver
4. Needle nosed pliers
5. Dry SLA
6. Thing to fill the cells (i used a hydrometer)
Step 2:Pry off the cover
Use the small flat head screwdriver to pry off the cover, There are usually some slots that it will fit in.
This will not work on the SLA's with a single cover for each of the valves unless they have pry holes .
Image Notes
1. Pry it open
Image Notes
1. ''Pry hole''
Image Notes
1. What it should look like after cover removal
2. Vent
3. Vent
4. Vent
5. Vent
6. Vent
7. Vent
8. Caps on/Cover off
Step 3:Take the cell vents off
For this step use your safety glasses
Using your needle nosed pliers, Pull off the rubber vent covers.
Be careful because this could spit battery acid at you (NOT GOOD! )
Image Notes
1. Removal of the rubber vent
Image Notes
1. Done (Keep the rubber covers!)
Step 4:Add water to the cells
Add De-ionized water/water to the cells by using your funnel or similar.
Warning, You have to estimate how much water to add, Adding too much will cause it to leak/spit when being charged .
Image Notes
1. Filling the cells
Step 5:Put the rubber caps back on and charge
You should probably charge it before putting the caps on so the water can boil off......
Put all the caps back on the cells.
Connect to a battery charger and put a towel or rag over the SLA in case it was filled to much and needs to vent, If it vents it will probably pop off the rubber caps, Just
put them back on.
Image Notes
1. What it should look like after cover removal
2. Vent
3. Vent
4. Vent
5. Vent
6. Vent
7. Vent
8. Caps on/Cover off
Image Notes
1. Battery charger connected
Image Notes
1. Rag over battery
Step 6:Put the cover back on
Once you have checked the battery is good, Put the cover back on.
Use any type of mild to strong adhesive to stick the cover to the battery, remember not to fully seal the top so that the gases can escape.
Now you're done!
Report how good/bad your refilled battery has performed.
Remember to comment I like comments
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Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 189 comments
ScubaSteve says: Feb 28, 2011. 2:12 PM REPLY
I dont see how this would do anything but throw off the chemistry of your battery, since most SLA batteries either have a gellified electrolyte, or glass mats.
no water.
thermoelectric says: Mar 2, 2011. 1:20 PM REPLY
Pretty much what it did, though it did bring some of the batteries back to life.
sandesh_sk1 says: Jan 29, 2011. 10:27 PM REPLY
Just wanted to know, during this whole process is there any chances of battery exploding?
jackdullboy says: Jun 30, 2010. 5:38 AM REPLY
Thanks for the great instructions. I have four sla for my e bike. I let it set for over a year and of course the batts. would only charge to about 25v instead of
48. My very old 12 volt charger is not working. I wanted to do them 1 at a time. Should I buy a new 12v charger or would you service them all and reconnect
the 48v charger? I just got my first top off, it was quite a job :) Thanks again,
tammasus says: Nov 27, 2009. 10:06 PM REPLY
Great tut!.You say the battery won't be 100% reconditioned, would a desulfator work to get much better results??i also read elsewhere that they used
epsom salts and removed all the water. Does anybody know something about this?
Lead acid reconditioning
http://www.ehow.com/how_4853344_recondition-lead-acid-battery.html
desulfator
http://www.instructables.com/id/Desulfator_for_12V_Car_Batteries_in_an_Altoids_Ti/
thermoelectric says: Nov 27, 2009. 10:26 PM REPLY
Thanks.
I am pretty sure a desuplphator would help a lot, because this doesn't promote the acid to mix with the water very well.
grenadier says: Nov 18, 2009. 3:08 PM REPLY
Well im going to try this. I just gassed my 12v 100Ah ups battery. Right now it is making a "gurgling" sound when i put my ear up to it. I just put a 12v
lightbulb on it to lower the charge and settle down the cells. For a $250 battery... i dont wanna lose it.
thermoelectric says: Nov 18, 2009. 8:40 PM REPLY
Good luck! Tell us how it goes...
BruceLyn says: Sep 14, 2009. 9:04 AM REPLY
Hi, I added some filter water, not distilled water, into my dried out battery and charged. After charging couple hours, the battery went up to 12~13v, but once I
connected it to a 12v battery tester or my scooter, the battery went down to 7v after 30 seconds. What was wrong? Do I need a Desilfator? thankyou
thermoelectric says: Sep 14, 2009. 2:42 PM REPLY
Maybe try a small desulphator, there is probably acid buildup on the plates.
czarmatra says: Jun 22, 2009. 4:21 PM REPLY
Is it not acid like in the 12v car battery? with a 1275 SG. Or just plain old clean water?
thermoelectric says: Jun 22, 2009. 10:53 PM REPLY
Well, You can add acid, That's probably better, But you can use distilled water, i'm pretty sure...
BruceLyn says: Sep 9, 2009. 1:50 PM REPLY
Hi, can I add the swimming pool acid instead of water? thx
thermoelectric says: Sep 9, 2009. 2:10 PM REPLY
Hydrochloric acid? Yes, But not too much.
BruceLyn says: Sep 10, 2009. 9:53 AM REPLY
Thank you.
czarmatra says: Jun 23, 2009. 9:06 AM REPLY
i am starting to recycle. so far mostly car batteries, now i have a bunch of these, all dry, wasnt sure if they were a gell sealed, or just ad acid. There
was nothing to take out of the thing, so i assumed acid, but i hate to assume. And thanks for the instructable
Okay.
vdanvung says: Mar 3, 2009. 4:15 PM REPLY
hi there, good hack. just wandering i got one which when i charge my charger say its full charge, but when connected there only 5v. the battery is 6v 12ah.
do i need to refill.
12V says: Jun 7, 2009. 1:16 PM REPLY
i had exactly the same problem with my 12v 7.2ah and my 6v 4ah.
i connected the 12v one in series with 1 12v Christmas bulb and connected it to a 30v power supply for 3 minutes and immediately** connected it to the
charger, it worked though it did not hold as much power as new.
exactly the same with 6v bu you MUST USE 2 bulbs otherwise they will blow.
**less than 2 minutes.
I don't really know, but if you want to "bite the bullet" you can
Well, I don't think so but if you want to risk the battery you can try it....
vdanvung says: Mar 6, 2009. 3:25 AM REPLY
thx
thermoelectric says: Mar 6, 2009. 3:33 AM REPLY
You're welcome
12V says: Jun 4, 2009. 10:11 AM REPLY
why don't you dip a non-reactive clean non-conductive stick in the cell (don't force it as it will only go down so far and the touch the plates ) the level should
be about 5mm above the plate. if stick is dry the plates will sulfate.
I guess I could
oscaryu1 says: Feb 12, 2009. 8:40 AM REPLY
His battery will be impossible to revive. It most likely has sulfated to the point of no return. Any way it could "work" would to be use EDTA to desulfate the
batteries, then refill the glass mat with distilled water (or sulfuric acid solution correctly distilled with water - use a hydrometer to get the right mix). Adding
distilled water will NOT do anything to these "batteries". They are (to my knowlodge, and looking at the pictures) absorbed glass mat batteries. They do NOT
have any "free floating" acid - they use a glass "mat" that's inbetween them to absorb any of the acid. These batteries reuse anything they make - that's right,
including hydrogen, unlike NON-sealed lead acid batteries, which use the gassing vents to gas the excess gas out. SLA's are NOT vented (unless the vents
blow out under extreme pressure). This method won't work in a lead acid battery either (car battery), if you did refill the batteries (ASAP, the moment the
water goes down), then you may have hope. Otherwise, the plates will have deteoriated beyond repair (due to contact with the air - starts immidiately).
mdjil says: Apr 25, 2009. 2:33 PM REPLY
hi i came to know about desulphater but i am unable to know that this process can be done by adding EDTA what is that?
animes25 says: Feb 23, 2009. 6:31 PM REPLY
I went to a car battery shop, and I ask for "liquid for acid-lead batteries" they sold me a sulfuric acid, can I use it?
thermoelectric says: Feb 23, 2009. 9:37 PM REPLY
Yeah, You should actually fill them up with sulphuric acid (not like this guide on filling it up with water), Because that is the acid they use
Derin says: Mar 7, 2009. 10:44 PM REPLY
But that's if there is too much water.
And that happens a lot because you don't know where the level is...
oscaryu1 says: Feb 12, 2009. 8:44 AM
(removed by author or community request)
Yeah, Oh, Cool.
oscaryu1 says: Feb 14, 2009. 7:37 PM REPLY
Oops me just removed my comment on accident :( Anyways, I wanna say HAIZ~ :D I'm 13, I see you're one year away. So... on these "dried up" SLA
batteries ... what did they measure (V) before you applied water to them? I'm curious to know - this doesn't usually work on REAL "dead" batteries of
mine. I just today actually REVIVED (:D) a 4.5aH 12V that measured 6V (wouldn't turn a 300W motor over), and I got it to spin nicely (mehh... still
sitting with the desulfator). Then a 12V that I bought in a lot of 5 batteries (4 deeply discharged - got them to work OK to nicely) And the other one
was... dead :( 10V, wouldn't turn the motor over either. Then I placed my speaker on it - that moved the speaker nicely, so it had SOME hope. I put a
nice piece of EDTA and water in, let it set, and desulfated it with the desulfator, and right now it's... I'd say passable. The first cell was gassing
uncontrollably at first... like this: 10 seconds - From an OK (I'm using a 12V 55W light, it sucks ALOT of power) - OK lighting - dim (virtually dead)
Then out of nowhere, BOOM 14V, dims again, (all this happened in like 1 second), then it settles at a nice good glow (much better than the first 10
seconds) and lasts for a couple minutes. Weird eh?
I didn't actually record the voltages sorry to say.
I think I am going to make a desulphator soon to help my reviving efforts...
Then out of nowhere, BOOM 14V, dims again, (all this happened in like 1 second), then it settles at a nice good glow (much better than the first
10 seconds) and lasts for a couple minutes. Weird eh?
Was it on charge when it done that? Yes it is weird.
oscaryu1 says: Feb 15, 2009. 5:25 AM REPLY
No, it was about 30 seconds after charge. After that it started gassing like crazy...
As in *dim dim dim* *takes first cell's (gassing) cap off* *BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT*
Weird.
OBTW - RESPECT for your knowledge on electrics. Me has no idea how to... make things :(
Anywho, I'm happy. I refilled abit more water from the fridge into it, charged it up overnight on a nice slow 1.5A charger, and right now it
measured 13.07V!
However, after a 5 second do with my 55W light, it dropped to 12.5xV. So as they say, once it's dead and has been dead, you get less and
less of the original power... but hey, it works!
You should try to make a desulphator, that pulses a higher voltage into the battery in an attempt to dissolve the sulphation off the plates....
oscaryu1 says: Feb 17, 2009. 6:53 PM REPLY
How do I start though? I know NOTHING about it :(
Here's a link that will guide you through the process.
ReCreate says: Jan 29, 2009. 1:41 PM REPLY
how do i open the one with little caps in the top?
thermoelectric says: Jan 29, 2009. 10:01 PM REPLY
Can you be more descriptive about that?
ReCreate says: Jan 30, 2009. 10:21 AM REPLY
there are 6 caps on the top of the battery they are in the same position as the ones in the instructable except you cant pop them out with the same
tool hes using
See my other reply
ReCreate says: Jan 30, 2009. 10:25 AM REPLY
Like this one That's the exact same one i have its a Panasonic LC-R129CH1
Oh, With that one, you need to use a flat-headed screwdriver and wedge the caps out.
have you tried it it appears that there is just barely enough space to to jam a small pin in there,much less the smallest flat-screwdriver but
ill give it a shot
Well I don't have any of those batteries to try but usually you canh get something wedged in there, On some of my batteries I needed
to hit the screwdriver with a hammer to get it wedged in there.....
yeah im opening mine with some sort of hair clip its the only thing thin enough and strong enough to fit in there i already got 1 cap
opened!
Great, Keep persisting and you might be able to open them all...
i only got 1 cap opened could i pour the water through that one or do i need to open everything?
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