So looking into this a bit further the explanation becomes clearer.
Batteries do suffer from 2 sorts of sulfation being simplistic. One type is reversible under certain
conditions and the other is not and is terminal.
Matt's battery of expensive kit (excuse the pun) is quite capable of reversing the reversible.
Most el cheap battery charges that us mere mortals possess are not quite so good at it and leave some
reversible sulfation.
The pulsed oscillator type of desulphator that I bought from ebay helps my el cheapo trickle charger get close
to the level of desulfation that Matt's kit achieves.
Hence I think they work, and he doesnt....
I suspect Dave's experience will be similar to mine if he has the patience to pursue it, but I also get that some folks
dont have the luxury of having a battery sitting to slow charge for a week, so buy new.
Simples....
Jonners
Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.
I've also recovered badly sulphated batteries with a trickle charger and patience. My best success was a BMW 740 battery that I swapped out for a new one in 2007 cos it wouldn't hold a charge overnight. After a week or so on the trickle charger it stayed up and I'm still using it as a booster battery to start cars in the yard and to run a 12v leadlight which keeps it cycling from charge to discharge. Still working all these years later!
Steve
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
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The Astra's old battery was on charge with the desulphator attached for 4 days solid. I only switched it off last night and tonight it was still holding charge. I tried it to jump start the Dolomite and after several unsuccessful attempts, I gave up. I left it an hour and the battery was reading 12.9 volts so I think I might've got some more life out of it. I'll see if I can get it tested to determine the true health of the battery. I did the current drain test with my multimeter and I was getting a reading of 0.02 amps which equates to 20 milliamps so there's no parasitic current drain. I got the engine running and took a voltage reading with various electrical loads and I was getting just shy of 14 volts so the alternator's in perfect health and it proves that the in-car voltmeter can't be taken as gospel (I knew not to trust it anyway).
Toledo Man
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