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does draining a battery kill it?

Possibly, yes.

If you 'deep drain' a lead battery it switches from the normal chemical reactions to a reaction which starts to build up a layer of lead-sulfate on the plates.

This unfortunately seals the surface of the lead and after a while it can go completely dead.

If it's still holding a charge and cranking is strong then you're probably OK. Otherwise a car battery shop can probably 'revive' it by hooking it up to a special charger which can charge and discharge in such a way it can reverse (some of) the damage.

It seems though that a little EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid) in every cell (about 2ml) also helps to remove the sulfate buildup. AFAIK it's used in photography, so a shop specialising in that should have it.

Bye, Arno.






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New does draining a battery kill it?
posted by  joe T5M  on Sat Apr 6 02:56 CST 2002 >


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