Battery Equalizer - Experience? Use it?

[BobDye1]

Found this in a farm magazine, "This product can double the life of any lead-acid battery by reversing the built-up sulphation that kills batteries as they get older. Treated batteries will charge faster and hold a charge longer...." The web site is: https://www.batteryequaliser.com/how...ery-equaliser/

Have you any experience with it? Would you recommend it?

-- Bob

[Ray,IN]

Yes, an equalization-charge helps a battery. It works by over-charging for a specified time to get each cell up to the same voltage while reducing plate sulfation.. Some battery mfgrs. do not recommend an equalizing charge, some do; read your battery mfgrs. specs.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

Yes, an equalization-charge helps a battery. It works by over-charging for a specified time to get each cell up to the same voltage while reducing plate sulfation.. Some battery mfgrs. do not recommend an equalizing charge, some do; read your battery mfgrs. specs.

Did you look at the link ?

It's a liquid you pour into the cells.

[Ray,IN]

Good catch twinboat! No, I failed to open the link. Now that I have, IMO it is snake oil designed to remove money from your wallet.
However a true battery equalizer charge does work.

[chuckbear]

Been a marine service tech for decades. Additives are mostly snake oil that only improves the wealth of the seller. Our converter/charger does an equalization charge automatically once a week. We have used this for years in both our RV and our liveaboard boat. Our batteries get used and abused with hard use and many charge/discharge cycles. They typically last us 7 to 8 years before needing replacement. Equalization CHARGING is beneficial to your wet cell batteries. Forget the additives. Chuck

[BobDye1]

If additives are mostly snake oil - how about those which aren't (leastly?)? Are there any additives which are real? Which really work?

[Bobby F]

Lucas Injector Cleaner.

Bar's Leaks.

That's my entire list.

[chuckbear]

Originally Posted by BobDye1

If additives are mostly snake oil - how about those which aren't (leastly?)? Are there any additives which are real? Which really work?

Yes. Distilled water. If anything else is needed to try and rejuvenate your batteries, it's time to replace them. Some battery chargers will do an equalization charge. That will bring your batteries back SOMEWHAT. Equalization charges should be done on a regular basis. Chuck

[chuckbear]

Originally Posted by Bobby F

Lucas Injector Cleaner.

Bar's Leaks.

That's my entire list.

Huh? You use this in your batteries? Chuck

[Bobby F]

Originally Posted by chuckbear

Huh? You use this in your batteries? Chuck

That wasn't in his question. As I read it, at least.

[fusejockey]

Originally Posted by chuckbear

. Our converter/charger does an equalization charge automatically once a week. We have used this for years in both our RV and our liveaboard boat. Our batteries get used and abused with hard use and many charge/discharge cycles. They typically last us 7 to 8 years before needing replacement. Equalization CHARGING is beneficial to your wet cell batteries. Forget the additives. Chuck

My 2012 Itasca 26P maintains the coach batteries when connected to shoreline. It does not maintain the Chassis battery.

I use a Schumacher SC 1299 when we are parked for more than a week. I have this 800 mAh microprocessor controlled maintainer connected to the Chassis (truck) battery.

This unit seems to be well designed and rugged.

I have no financial gain mentioning this $40 unit that I have purchased at O'Reilly Auto.

My question is, do other motorhome units maintain the coach batteries only?

--Stanley

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by fusejockey

My 2012 Itasca 26P maintains the coach batteries when connected to shoreline. It does not maintain the Chassis battery.

I use a Schumacher SC 1299 when we are parked for more than a week. I have this 800 mAh microprocessor controlled maintainer connected to the Chassis (truck) battery.

This unit seems to be well designed and rugged.

I have no financial gain mentioning this $40 unit that I have purchased at O'Reilly Auto.

My question is, do other motorhome units maintain the coach batteries only?

--Stanley

Most since 2010 or so maintain both batteries on shore power.

Many don't due to a failed isolation/boost relay ( solenoid).

[153stars]

There was another recent thread. I did the math based on Costco/Sam's price golf cart batts at 7 yrs life. If you get one extra year to break even. Battery university claims modern LA batts have additive to prevent salvation and reduce corrosion. Could it get diminished at 4yrs??? If you read reviews of older similar products some swear by using it for 30yrs. Others put in a shot battery get a few months or nothing go figure lol.

[Suburbazine]

If you want to "restore" an aging battery, pouring acid or snake oil in it won't do the trick. Most of the time the plates build up a sulfation layer and hinder the chemical reactions that take place during charging. The only way to "fix" this is to literally burn the sulfation layers off- mainly done by overvolting the battery in pulses to chip off the sulfation. A lot of chargers offer desulfation modes these days- but not all of them are up to the task of anything besides light buildup. It takes some serious pop over a long period of time (days) to rejuvenate a battery, something you won't find in a charger which is simply targeting a specific float voltage.



If you want to restore a battery, or pack of batteries that are simply aged and not suffering from extreme overdischarge (very hard to recover from), I recommend a Chinese specialty unit that does a VERY good job. It's not stylish, or particularly user friendly, but it works very well for desulfation (it's an "ok" battery charger, but not very fast).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QV83YX9