How a Battery Desulfator Circuit Works

The battery is among the most important parts of your car. In fact, it is an essential part of any electrical system that is regularly used and expected to perform with high efficiency. It is therefore necessary for you to know how to take care of your batteries and extend its life with the use of a battery desulfator circuit. How does such a circuit work? To answer this question, it may be best to look into the inner workings of the battery.

Lead acid batteries normally contain very small spheres that are sintered together in order to form its chemically-reactive lead plates. The battery cells contain sulphuric acid, which acts as the electrolyte. When the battery is discharged, the sulphate ions from the electrolyte tend to combine with the lead content of the plates to form lead sulphate that crystallizes on the surface of the battery's plates. When the battery is charged once again, the chemical reaction is reversed and the lead sulphate crystals are reconverted to its original forms.

Most batteries, however, are very seldom charged to a full capacity and so some of the crystals remain on the lead plates without being reconverted. These crystals accumulate each time a battery is used and begins to clog the battery's lead plates. After about five years of use, you can expect the battery to start failing because of this clogging. Furthermore, the fact that most of the sulphate ions in the electrolyte have gone to the crystals can make the electrolyte's water content freeze, thus adding another reason for the battery to stop functioning.

How, then, do you prevent lead sulphate crystals from clogging up the battery's lead plates too soon? You can do this by subjecting the battery to some short, but high-voltage electrical pulses from time to time. This process is known as desulfation.

Lead acid batteries normally possess something called resonant frequency. It can be compared to a stringed musical instrument, which creates a tonal vibration each time you pluck a string. In the same way, an electrical pulse can create a vibration in the sulphur ions that are contained in the lead sulphate crystals. As these vibrations occur, continuous collisions between the sulphur ions and the lead plates also occur, until the crystals start breaking up.

As you may already have guessed by now, the electrical pulses needed to break up the lead sulphate crystal deposits on the battery's lead plates is delivered by the battery desulfator circuit. The entire process may have sounded very simple, and indeed it is, but you can also expect it to take a bit of time. Desulfation can often take days, or even weeks, to complete, depending on the severity of the crystallization. There are several kinds of desulfators up for sale, but you also have the option of making your own. If you decide to go the DIY route, there are several desulfator circuit models and instructions you can find online.