Salting a Battery--Ruined It?

[BFL13]

A camping buddy got hold of me (afterwards, natch! 😞 ) and said two 6s had some low cells when he went to check them after way too long, but I gather one low in one and two low in the other, so he was reading the Internet (oh no!) and he read that Epsom salts was the answer. So he did it.

I am working with him by email to see what if anything can be done about what is really going on with his batteries. What I would like to know in the meantime, is if there is any way to undo whatever the Epsom salts might have done (it did improve his hydrometer reading he says)

I told him that salt water is more dense than fresh, same as acid is more dense than fresh water, so the bobber will float higher, so he won't do that again. But if the batteries just need equalizing or whatever and might be ok, what about that salt in there?

Thanks.

[SidecarFlip]

Blended monkey pickles (leave the skins on) will make your slush box shift like new (for a while) and make your car smell like a Dairy Queen when the tranny gets hot too.

Egg whites in the radiator seals leaks and sawdust in the differentials cure bad gears too.... For a while at least.

His batteries are toast, burnt toast. Time to replace and put the epsom salts back in the medicine cabinet.

A spud in the tailpipe works wonders. It seals the exhaust and your motor won't start (gasoline engine). Pulled that trick a few times when I was a kid, on people I didn't like. Shoved the spud way up the tailpipe with a broom handle.

[2112]

Epsom salts is magnesium sulfate, table salt or sea salt is sodium chloride. Completely two different compounds. They share nothing in common but the word salt.

I thought the saw dust was for manual transmissions and differentials. It helps mesh worn out gears, as the folk lore goes. I remember an Andy Griffith episode when Barney bought a old car that had saw dust in the rear end.

[Ralph_Cramden]

Salt in the battery? How about sawdust in your automatic transmission if it's slipping? Hardwood sawdust works better than pine or cedar, but the natural oils in the pine or cedar go a long way regarding corrosion prevention. Three friends and I pissed in a radiator one night after taping up a lower hose and made it home. Urine has salt in it. Maybe try taking a whiz in the battery?

[2112]

I tried the Epsom salts trick many years ago. My immediate response was "WOW, it worked." It started my car like a brand new battery. What I didn't know was every minute I left it in the battery it was eating away my plates. Within about month that battery was no longer a battery.

Maybe he can take it to a battery shop to get it flushed and properly filled but it's probably not worth it.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

The Hucksters added magnesium sulfate to a perfectly new discharged battery. It would strip excellent but sulfated loaded plate material and prstidigitate a phony CCA increase at the cost of battery lifespan.

Lattice linked aged sulfation is another beast altogether,

Godzilla in a rubber suit merchandising. But the gullible took it hook, line, sinker, rod & reel. Maybe the boat and lake to boot.

[jake2250]

I fell for the "Salting" of the battery, but I tried it on a "Core Charge".. Didn't work,, knew in my mind it wouldn't work.
Good thing I didn't try the "Potato in the exhaust" trick to prevent moisture from rotting my muffler!
Duh,,

But I gotta say,, the Banana's and saw dust in the rear differential sure did quiet it down allot!

[MEXICOWANDERER]

You forgot PLATFORMATE from Shell oil Co.

But the PLATFORMER was real. Another type of distillate reformer. No one else had a platinum catalyst reformer. Was abandoned when I got there in the late sixties. The platformer went offline just as soon as the Alkylate plant went online in the LOP complex in 1966. The alkylate product was light-years better and Shell sold the seven million dollars worth of platinum at a tidy profit. Fleur Corporation refinery design documents were housed there until the Tank Farm Boiler House crew stole them.

Those were "The Days"...

[Lwiddis]

I’d use VORNADO and/or STP if they’d sponsor me.

[BFL13]

time2roll wrote:
Batteries were already burnt toast. No amount of butter and jam will make it taste good again.

Probably, but we have to go through the drill to prove it before he gives up.

He has one of those trays that pull out that holds his four 6s, but the tray only comes out far enough to expose the first two. So the back two got neglected and ran dry or something--not entirely clear from what he said. Anyway, we will sort it all out using his money, not mine! 🙂

[time2roll]

Batteries were already burnt toast. No amount of butter and jam will make it taste good again.

[BFL13]

Thanks Mex (glad to have you back!) His batts might be toast anyway, but at least it won't be from however much salt he dumped in the low cells. 😞

You forgot "F-310" in was it Chevron? And the Tiger in your Tank ESSO had/has. 🙂

https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/30/archives/ftc-says-chevrons-claims-for-a-gas-additive-are-false.ht...

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Then switch off your headlights, step on the starter and your car will start with amazing new vitality"

Dual prong electrodes will double the energy of your spark plugs

The VORNADO spins the air going through your carburetor giving it immense velocity

The pellets you dropped into your has tank actually plates new metal onto the cylinder walls.

STP The Racer's Edge.


The usual alchemy chant had a person adding around one teaspoon of magnesium sulfate per cell. ******* on a forest fire. In theory it strips sulfates off of plates -- in reality it has the magnesium stripping off 1000% more healthy active material than sulfated material.

Probably did no harm but it's better to stop giving an enema for a headache.

[agesilaus]

OK first I have ever heard of this, but there are many webpages supporting this Scheme Including one from Rutgers Univ which has a PDF up for this process.

The page above claims that it works but you need to dump the MgSO4 solution and replace it with fresh battery acid. Which is 30% H2SO4 IIRC. Not sure where you'd buy that but maybe someplace like a Interstate Battery shop. Be cautious handling the acid since it will burn you or blind you. Wear gloves, kitchen gloves would work, and eye protection.

You can buy more or less 90% or so sulfuric acid for drain cleaning at hardware stores but if you don't know how to dilute strong acid LOOK it up and PREVENT Disaster. I'm not going to tell you how because if it goes wrong I don't want to be responsible. Also that acid is 'technical grade' which is the least pure form sold, not sure if that will work in a battery.

Looking up battery acid it looks like auto parts stores still carry it, about $10. So don't try to dilute it.

[GordonThree]

Seems like a legitimate treatment but only offering a short term boost. On Battery-U there's no mention of removing the Epsom. Top off the cells as you would but using an Epsom mixture instead of distilled water and then do a full charge.