Sunday, June 13, 2010

[Electric Boats] Re: Batteries

 



The short answer is none, as I have no experience with desulfators others have designed or have copied from my designs.

In June, 2000 a fellow by the name of Alastair Couper published the first desulfator designed for home use in Home Power magazine. He created a BBS, which still exists today for home experimenters. I am a moderator of that board (desulfator2). I have uploaded the original Home Power article to the files section.

http://leadacidbatterydesulfation.yuku.com/

Since then, 95% of the desulfators on the market are copies or derivatives of that original design. They use a modified buck and boost (inductive flyback) circuit that pulses the battery. They tend to have a recovery rate of about 1-2 pounds of battery per day.

Since 2000, I have continued to research faster methods of desulfation. I had a breakthrough in 2005 when I was contracted to design a fast desulfator for a US Air Force communications facility. I provided 3 prototypes. The last one was the charm and desulfated a 400 pound battery in record time (3 weeks). Since then I have doubled the desulfation rate. This summer or fall I plan on prototyping a more powerful design.

Sooooooooooo, I've had no interest in other designs, preferring to continue research ever faster pulser designs. Some years ago I managed to accidently desulfate a pair of L-16's in about 10 seconds. The results were poor as the sulfates were literaly blown off of the plates and the batteries were ruined in the process. But, it taught me some important lessons about the path to take. :)

It is one of the reasons I have an interest in electric boats. I know that lead acid batteries can last longer than 30 years if properly maintained. The trick is to keep them from getting sulfated. Permanent damage only occurs from cycling a sulfated battery or too heavy charge/discharge currents. Since batteries can be cheaply recharged they seem an ideal marine drive power source for weekend boating.

Don, what commercially available desulfators would you recommend?

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