Hi guys. I tried the baking soda and vinegar hack on my battery, and I'm pretty sure it worked. It's been running strong for over a week now. Here's what I did. Used safety glasses and rubber gloves. Drained the battery in a plastic tub, then transfered to a plastic gallon jug for proper disposal. Poured 1\2 box of baking soda in the holes, then 3\4 cup of vinegar in each hole. Waited a few min, maybe 10. I could see small bits of black stuff foaming out. Then dumped it, it foamed again hard and a bunch of black grit came out. Did this 2x. Then rinsed with water 2x. Lead plates were shiny. Added new acid $20 at Battery Boy.
I though I would need to charge it back up, but to my surprise I heard my radio load a cd so I gave it a shot and it started. Is that normal? I thought it needed to be charged?
The guy at Battery Boy gave it a 50\50 chance at working and explained that what I was doing only worked on batteries that are internally undamaged and suffer extreme sulfurcation or something like that. Basically the black junk that was on the lead plates. Battery is 9yrs old.
I will update this post if it dies. Thanks for reading and have a great day.
That is really cool & need to copy that into a document for myself... but obviously this wouldn't work if battery is swollen & cells separated/damaged.
cool trick, We have a genie lift here that has several serviceable batteries that have gotten sulfated in the past. I wish I knew this before I replaced them.
Charlescrown wrote: Mon Sep 08, 2025 6:25 am
You can do it with sealed batteries but what a PIA getting the top off.
Hi guys. I was going to try this fix on a different battery a few years back. It was a sealed battery. The kind that has 1 cover for all the holes I ended up stopping, The amount of force I was using, was uncontrollable if I slipped. The top was flexing but wouldn't budge. They must be either epoxied or plastic welded on. Pretty sure I would have broken it, so I stoped.
Honestly nearly all my non serviceable batteries lasted that 10 year or so mark, some that were misused by letting them totally drain via headlights being left on lasted less, maybe 7 years. The last serviceable battery I had lasted about 8 years iirc.
If you get one that others have good life out of, they are a good bet. Here in Aus I use both the Delkor ones and if I feel like cheaping out, I get the AC Delco ones which last almost as long, but are far cheaper than the Delkor ones. All my Delkors were misused and all got at least 10 years.
One lasted 12 years with no signs of slowing down but ended when it got cut in half in an accident, so I don't know how long that one could have lasted.
There are a few brands I stay away from that only seem to last 2 years at the most, Century, Supercharge, Born again (this one is a refurb brand), I had all of these fail in short order, more than once so I never use them if I can.
Bond used to be a good brand back in the day, they aren't as good now but fall in the middle with 5 years being typical for them. That was the last serviceable one I had, it was the last full lead acid they made back in the early 00s before going sealed and Ca/Ag chemistry iirc.
Also, when stuffing around with batteries, use PPE and dispose of any waste and liquids properly, lead is nasty af, very bad for your health and nervous system and just chucking it out just contaminates the environment for younger generations and nature suffering the consequences down the track, kids are extremely vulnerable to lead contaminates in the environment and suffer neurological/developmental issues even with parts per million concentrations. I've probably suffered this myself without knowing it given I had played with lead lots of times as a kid but no one tells you this stuff when your young when it matters the most. I don't want to come across as an ass, but if no one tells you, you just don't know what you're dealing with. I sure wish someone told me the dangers of chemicals and common items that contain them when I was young, I am sure my health would be a lot better than it is now if such education existed. It still doesn't really.
vlad01 wrote: Wed Sep 10, 2025 9:57 am
Also, when stuffing around with batteries, use PPE and dispose of any waste and liquids properly, lead is nasty af, very bad for your health and nervous system and just chucking it out just contaminates the environment for younger generations and nature suffering the consequences down the track, kids are extremely vulnerable to lead contaminates in the environment and suffer neurological/developmental issues even with parts per million concentrations. I've probably suffered this myself without knowing it given I had played with lead lots of times as a kid but no one tells you this stuff when your young when it matters the most. I don't want to come across as an ass, but if no one tells you, you just don't know what you're dealing with. I sure wish someone told me the dangers of chemicals and common items that contain them when I was young, I am sure my health would be a lot better than it is now if such education existed. It still doesn't really.
Even today that is still a issue. They warn people to use PPE but don't explain why. People are a lot more inclined to use safety measures when they understand how something can hurt you.
I have sensitivity to certain chemicals from over exposure in early years. my missus skin starts to fall off her hands using basic household cleaners from exposure to industrial cleaners when she worked at a popular food chain in her teenage years. She has to regularly change out the soaps she uses too as using any one too long causes her problems.
