Reverse Charge

I heard Bill Dean on the SW Radio program mention reverse charging batteries to extend their life. He didn't give details and said he would later, but hasn't during the following weeks. But it makes sense to me, so I tried it recently on a battery I was going to send to the junk yard. My battery took the reverse charge, but only took about 6 volts. I think it was too far gone and probably shorted out on a couple of plates. I am going to try again when I find a suitable battery. I think reverse charging works because when you charge your battery it works like it is electro-plating the + pole and thus it gets larger and the - pole gets smaller as material (metal) is moved from the - pole to plate the + pole. Eventually, it can short from the build up and it doesn't hold a charge well because the - pole has lost mass. By reversing the charge, the metal is moved in the opposite direction and restores metal to the - pole.

I remember when my uncle had a dead battery and hooked it up on a battery charger out in the porch where there was poor light coming through the kitchen door, so he hooked the charger up backwards. It took a good charge, but he had problems as the terminals were different sizes and nothing seemed to worked right, so he tried to recharge it in the correct polarity. That didn't work, so he connected it to a 60watt 110volt light bulb overnight to discharge it flat. Then he charged it with the correct polarity and it was OK. But he said it never held a charge very well after that and he had to replace it soon thereafter. Makes a good case for maintenance free batteries, I suppose.

Offered by Darrell.