First Mini-D assembled
Originally uploaded by mikeysklar
Say hello to Mini-D. This is my first printed circuit board battery desulfator. The unit is pretty small about 2.5" x 2" in size. I laid out the circuit last week and the printed boards arrived today. It took me about two hours to assemble and test the first unit. Oddly enough everything worked perfect. The pulsing sounds good (you can hear it whistle), the components are not over heating, I am able to pulse at 180mA while the other desulfators are only doing 60mA. At this point I'm just going to confirm a few more short tests then start selling these units. They will go for $50 each (assembled) and I'll post them up for sale next week. You can write a comment to this post if you think you want one. These units should do a good job of restoring neglected lead acid and Ni-CD battery chemistries.
17 comments:
So what you're telling me is... all the money I spent buying parts to build 5 of those 555 style units are worthless... cause this is such a clean yet powerful package?
Not that I've found time to finish assembling even my first unit.
I think I need to get hold of you to see how much shipping to Canada would cost. (Sudbury, Ontario)
Those 555 units built on perf boards can sure be difficult. I really struggled building my first two units with that technique.
We can price out shipping. I suspect it is something like $10-$15 to Ontario. I might be able to use your components and make a trade for something like all your components for one of my assembled units. Might be worth it on your end to have a running unit.
sklarm __at__ screwdecaf . cx
I'm in. Send me one as soon as it's ready.
I will be testing the unit on the miscellaneous deep-discharge batteries that I have sitting around ... and on the 8 in-service batteries in my 5th wheel RV. Eight 225 A-H (6 volt batteries series'ed for 12 volts).
Let me know when to send you the PayPal payment.
Cheers,
Tom
count me in Mike. i'm in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
I've been reading your blog for a while now and am interested in your battery maintenence. I live on a golf course and think I might be able to earn some money reviving golf cart batteries. How long does it take to revive a standard cart deep charge battery and how long do you think a revived battery will hold up if maintained correctly?
Your blog is really interesting, I really enjoy reading it.
Doug - Send me a e-mail.
sklarm __at__ screwdecaf . cx
I need to confirm some things with you.
Sharron -
I think you have a good idea about desulfating batteries at a golf course for $$$.
Desulfation is pretty slow. A 30lb battery takes about 10 days. I usually desulfate golf cart batteries (6V) in pairs to get 12V. A typical golf cart has six batteries and when paired up that gives you three sets. Using three desulfators you could desulfate all the batteries in about 20 days. It is not as bad as it sounds.
I like to collect batteries around town, drag them home, and desulfate them. Then I sell the desulfated batteries for $50 each. If someone has a weak battery to trade in they can have it for $25.
Mikey,
What kind of ventlation is needed while the batteries while they desulate?
Do you sell the 6V battery pairs for $50 or each battery for $50?
I appreciate you letting me pick your brain, but I think this might be a good enterprise. I have son starting college this fall and so the sound of dollars sucking out of my bank account grows near!
Thanks,
Sharron
Sharon -
The batteries are will be trickle charged during sulfation and need adequate ventilation. I usually leave the batteries in the shade or in my battery room.
I only sell a 12V desulfator so you will need two golf cart batteries (6V) wired in series for 12V and one desulfator. That means $50 covers you for two batteries.
Hey Mikey,
I was trying to send an email to order one of your desulfators and I can't get to send to address you have listed for Doug.
Please repost your address as I want to buy one of your little Mini-Ds'.
Thanks.
Sharron
Sharron -
I dropped a paypal link into the sidebar of the Holy Scrap blog. Just below the worms.
You can email me with any questions.
sklarm@screwdecaf.cx
Mikey,
Desulphating "scrap" batteries is a great idea.
The place where I bought my RV had a pile of 50 or more that had been removed from other RV's. They would be more than happy to have me remove as many as I wanted ... saves them the trouble of hauling them off for disposal.
Sharon should probably check the RV sales companies in her area for "scrap" batteries in addition to golf courses.
Cheers,
Tom
Tom -
Good tip about RV retailers having excess batteries.
I find that auto shops. marinas, mechanics, and recycle centers can all be excellent for battery collection.
The key for me has been the "cores". Cores are the used old batteries. When you buy a new one they usually give you a $5 - $20 discount based on core trade-in. I've been collecting terrible batteries from peoples yards (10-15 years old) and using those to trade the auto shops for their recently collected cores. Most places will not just give me batteries unless I have something to swap them.
Mikey,
How do you open up the batteries safely to swap out the old cores? I thought that you sometimes rejuvinate a battery by taking out some of the dead cores and replacing them with weak cores and then desulfating and recharging them whick of course requires that you open up the batteries.
You don't have to open the batteries. The only thing I do is add distilled water to them which just involves opening the twist off caps.
The term "core" might be misleading. It just means "old dead battery". Core is not actually any sort of inner component, it is the entire battery. If you were to buy a new battery for your car today at the auto shop they would ask for your old battery. They call that a core.
Thanks for the clarification and all the other good suggestions from everyone.
Sharron
Uh,oh. I did it. I attached the leads with reverse polarity. (I know this is a no-no, but hey, it happens.)
Big spark on the Mini-D, which no longer works.
Can you tell me which part I need to replace? I can do the soldering; I'm just not electronics savvy enough to know what part would have died or how to test for it with my multimeter.
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