Car Battery Restoration At Home Safely [Step-by-Step Guide]

Hey there! Are you looking to restore your old batteries? Or DIY battery reconditioning process? Battery restoration at home is quite an easy affair and it doesn’t need any kind of technical skills or knowledge. However, you must take enough protection, as the battery solution is acidic and it can cause burn injury if you are not careful enough.

Now you may ask us ‘is it worth the effort?’ The answer is “Yes!” A typical car battery lasts for around 5 years, and after that, it starts to lose its power. Result? You buy a new battery and the old one goes to the landfill. On the other hand, reconditioning batteries can save you quite a few bucks and it also lowers the number of old batteries thrown into the environment.

Additionally, if you are looking to start a secondary income route, then you can even start a business of refurbished car batteries. These refurbished batteries are seeing quite a bit of demand nowadays, just Google ‘refurbished batteries for sale near me and see the result.

So, enough of all these Gyan! Now let’s just start our journey to reconditioning a battery.

Why Car Battery Recondition is Needed?

Reconditioning batteries basically refer to the process of rejuvenating old batteries, which increases the capacity of the old worn-out batteries and helps them to hold a charge for longer. So, never throw old batteries into landfills, when you can still recondition them up to three times.

And not only for cars, if we look around us most of the electronic devices are operated by battery. Starting right from the alarm clocks, cellphones, laptops, headphones, remote controls, cars, motorcycles, etc. Now you may ask ‘are all the batteries the same?’ the answer would be, ‘No! not all the batteries are the same.’ Currently, we have NiCad, Lithium-ion, NiMH, and lead-acid batteries.

However, for all these kinds of batteries, reconditioning is a great way to save some bucks and to reuse them. So, let’s dig deeper in order to know how to do a battery restoration at home.

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Benefits of Battery Restoration at Home

With time each and every battery loses its juice, and after a certain period of time, your old battery will no longer be efficient enough to start your car or doing your daily work. Once your battery is damaged, you have two options, one is to buy a new battery or the second one is to recondition a battery.  Reconditioning batteries can be a very good option to save some money if your battery is not severely damaged.

So, the advantages of battery restoration at home are;

i)  By reconditioning batteries, you can save a decent amount of money. Refurbished batteries can save you around 25-50% of the retail cost of a new car battery. The average cost of a new battery is around $75-$100.

ii) Battery restoration at home is also good for our mother nature. As battery restoring can reduce the number of pollutants thrown into landfills. Batteries often consist of acidic solutions, which damages the environment massively.  

iii) Lastly, by reconditioning batteries you can gain the most important knowledge to start a car battery reconditioning business. This business needs very less capital and you can expect decent returns from it.

How to Do a Car Battery Restoration at Home

After all the discussions about DIY battery reconditioning, now we will discuss the step-by-step guide to car battery restoration at home. Just keep a thing in mind, reconditioning batteries is not a big task, but you need to take some extra precautions as batteries consist of acidic solutions, which also contain lead and can cause burn injuries.

Things you need to recondition a battery

1) Mask

2) Disposable rubber gloves

3) Goggles

4) A battery charger

5) Flathead screwdriver

6) Distilled water (3.7 liters)

7) Baking powder

8) Bucket

9) Toothbrush

10)  A battery terminal cleaner

11) One Apron

The Procedure of Reconditioning Batteries

i) Firstly, use a wrench to remove the battery from the car. Before starting to recondition a battery, wear all the protective gear to protect yourself from any accidental acid spill. Always try to work in a well-ventilated area and keep any open flames away from that area.

ii) In the second step of car battery restoration at home, prepare a paste-like solution of baking soda and water with the ratio of 2:1 in order to remove the corrosion on the battery terminal. Now get a toothbrush and dip it into the solution and rub it against the corroded terminal. Slowly you’ll see the reduction of corrosion. You can also use sandpaper grit or steel wool in case of hard corrosion.

iii) After removing the corrosion, use your voltmeter to measure the volt reading of the weak battery. If the reading is anywhere between 10V-12.6V then your battery needs to be reconditioned. Remember, to connect the red wire to the positive terminal and the black wire to the negative terminal.

iv) In the fourth step of car battery restoration at home, you need to remove the battery caps using a screwdriver. And then pour all the old electrocyte solution of the battery into a non-metallic container.

v) In the fifth step of car battery restoration at home, you need to prepare a solution based on Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) and distilled water. Mix 120gms of Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) in 1 liter of distilled water, and mix well until the entire Epsom salt gets dissolved. Now refill each cell with the newly made solution and close the caps. Don’t use tap water, as it may contain harmful chemicals for the batteries.

vi) In order to do a car battery restoration at home, now you have to recharge the newly reconditioned battery with a 3-phase smart charger which is set to 12 volts. Now charge the refurbished battery overnight.

vii) Turn off the charger in the morning and connect the battery to the car and make sure that all the cables are securely fastened.

Now complete the entire process by disconnecting the battery and charging it to the brim using the smart charger once a week for two to three weeks for better results.

So, this was the step-by-step guide to restore car batteries at home. We hope, that we have shared much-needed details when it comes to reconditioning batteries and their advantages.

If you want to know more about reconditioning old batteries you can visit EZ Battery Reconditioning for more info. You can opt for various flexible courses, which will help you know the process of reconditioning different kinds of batteries.

We understand that you might have some questions related to car battery restoration at home. So, we have created some FAQs for you;

Frequently Asked Questions About Battery Restoration at Home

Q1. Is Overcharging a car battery bad?

Certainly! Overcharging is very bad for your battery. Overcharging can kill a battery.

Q2. What should be the typical reading of a fully charged 12V battery?

A fully charged 12V battery should show at least 12.6V or higher.

Q3. How long a reconditioned battery works?

Normally a reconditioned battery lasts for 1-3 years. However, it’s a bit difficult to guess the exact time.