[COLVERT]

Originally Posted by SD1too

Hello Jon,

I've noticed that you've made this point before and I'm wondering if the smart chargers with a "desulphation" stage are different to "ALL" chargers. This is what my C-Tek user's manual says:

"Step 1 Desulphation. Detects sulphated batteries. Pulsing current and voltage removes sulphate from the lead plates of the battery restoring the battery capacity."

Here are the waveforms:



Is the C-tek refreshing the parts other chargers cannot reach?

Simon

Hi there Simon.

Desulphation is a GENERIC expression. To understand what is going on you need to be more specific.

All chargers attempt to de-sulphate the battery they are attached to.
In a discharged battery both negative and positive plates become lead sulphate.--( PbSO4. )

That bit you quoted in the advertising.--( Detects sulphated batteries.--If a battery is not fully charged then it IS sulphated.-- )
EVERY battery that's not fully charged IS sulphated.---


It's the kind of sulphation that makes ALL the difference between a good battery and a dud.

Fresh sulphation is chrystaline with loosely bonded atoms. Passing 14 volts through it breaks it up and allows it to take part in a chemical action.--ie. The battery will start to charge.

Old sulphation slowly becomes compacted and the molecular bonding becomes stronger and stronger. 14 volts will no longer break this bonding and so it becomes impossible to charge the battery.

High voltage pulse charging has been tried to break this bonding. Not very successfully as it's like trying to cut a pane of glass in half by using dynamite.---