TOPIC: Maybe not fuel efficient, but this spun my head around

...a kinder, gentler, greener automotive battery: converting the Sulphuric acid electrolyte in your battery to alum.
Forgive my sharing this, but in the recent cold, my battery has given up the ghost; rather than paying over $100 for a new one, I've stumbled onto this. Luckily I have the time (and some warmer weather) to try it out.
I believe Mr Hatton would approve, given the economy and eco-friendliness of this alternative energy solution.

Well I just learned something! Very interesting...

I do have a couple comments. First, I wonder about the freeze/boil point characteristics of the water/alum electrolyte. Didja see the alum electrolyte he poured out that froze? Based on that alone, I'd be cautious of doing this trick in cold weather. I wonder what one would do w/ the spend acid electrolyte? This might be OK in moderate temps, though.

The real test would be to hook up a load tester and see. It did recover voltage nicely, even w/ the first baking solution fill to neutralize the remaining acid, he had over 7 volts, that says something in itself. Think I would try this on something non-critical, like a short range drive test etc. or a golf cart or similar.

He musta had two blue buckets- No Way would I pour the alum. solution in w/ the old acid!

couple things I learned on batteries over the yrs-- first NEVER try to charge a frozen battery! The acid solution electrolyte shifts in a dead batt. to where the water in it will freeze. Trying to charge a frozen battery is asking for an explosion!! The conditions this guy was working in reminded me of that fact.

Basics are to keep terminals/cable ends clean. The grunge that builds up on a battery top is conductive! If it bridges the terminals on a batt., it results in a low-order dead short and will discharge a batt. over time. You can test this on a grungy batt., w/a voltmeter, put neg. lead on neg. terminal, and probe around the top w/ pos. lead, you will see voltage present. W/ modern vehicles, the computer pulls a bit of current even w/ engine off. Combine this w/ grungy terminals and grungy batt/ top, added to an old batt., topped off w/ neglect or charging system issues, and you get a no-start dead battery! Cold just makes it worse!

Having said all that, thanks, Heysoundude, this is good to know! This could use further verification, but if proved effective, well it saves dollars, and could save a bad battery, If it's proven over time! Could at least work as a temporary fix in a bucks-down emergency.

Tracy G

My vehicle's block heater system includes a battery warmer blanket. This IS Canada, after all. I just wish in addition to warming the oil and battery, it also warned the coolant so the cabin warmed up faster.

Given the salts in the electrolyte, I'm guessing the freezing point is pretty low. I would also guess the stronger the solution, the lower that point is. That's one to research...stay tuned.

Wikipedia is a wonderful place/thing:

Potassium alum - Wikipedia

When preparing an electrolyte of common alum, you do want to dissolve more into the water using heat; check the sidebar for solubility. The "cup of alum per gallon of water" would yield a solution of less than 10%...You'd need a pound and a half (which corresponds conveniently to a cup and a half) of alum in a gallon of water, so you definitely need to heat the water to tepid as you prepare it.

As far as freezing point of the alum electrolyte solution, wiki doesn't say; nor does a Google search. The solid has a melting point of just under 200 degrees. If I have any left over after filling my battery, I'll leave it in the garage overnight to see if it freezes (we've had a change in weather fortune: back down to single digits on the farenheit scale, before windchill).

As far as neutralizing the acid that this alkaline solution replaces:


Since you have to buy baking soda to neutralize what's in the battery cells before replacing with Alum, you might as well get a pile of it and prepare to use a bunch of water in a well ventilated area. Which brings up a safety point: add acids to bases rather than the other way around (you want to have that baking soda solution prepared BEFORE you dump the battery acid into it)...the bubbles in the beginning of the video are the baking soda solution neutralizing the remaining drops of acid in the battery cells. it could get somewhat messily explosive if you tried to add the neutralizer to the small containers of strong acid.