Megapulse battery "restorer"

johnb2

johnb2

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Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

Does anyone have experience of the Megapulse for getting batteries back into / maintaining good condition. Reviewed in Sailing Today and the website description looks impressive.

John B
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone have experience of the Megapulse for getting batteries back into / maintaining good condition. Reviewed in Sailing Today and the website description looks impressive.

John B

[/ QUOTE ]

Surely all website adverts look impressive ? I tend to be of the once it's knackered - its knackered school ! But still keep trying to get charge in ....

Remember the days of the Magic liquid ... pour a few drops into a dead battery ... voila - like new !! Funny how it didn't last too long on market ...

Most batterys die as I'm told because of plates buckling as they get old and depleted .. the build up of sulphates is regular occurrence - and does reduce capacity - but can usually be reduced by vigorous charge / discharge .. that's what I was told gby a battery guy anyway ... seems to make sense !!
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

[ QUOTE ]
. the build up of sulphates is regular occurrence - and does reduce capacity - but can usually be reduced by vigorous charge / discharge .. that's what I was told gby a battery guy anyway ... seems to make sense !!

[/ QUOTE ]
That's about it, the unit generates a high voltage pusle, this breaks down the sulphation, restoring capacity.
We introduced a pulse charge phase to our mains chargers back in the mid 90's, got rid of sulphation, minmised gassing, and charged the batteries upto 98% capacity

Bottom line is if you charge correctly it does nothing, if you do not charge properly it may be helpfull.

Brian
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

I've got one and its helped with my batteries (left discharged over the winter by previous owner) - had it on since May and they now hold around 80% charge - better than the 20% I started with!

Some have reported RF interferance when using an SSB?

Jonny
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

I have one on my domestic battery bank, with a 50a/24v victron battery charger, don t know how good it is, probably never know, but I have it just incase it prolongs the life of what is a very expensive battery bank! Also dont know if the megapulse type technology, is included in my charger, doesnt mention it anyway.
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

Its included in the Sterling chargers. However, important to note that if it is included with your charger it will only work when the charger is turned on! A Megapulse will work 24/7 regardless of whats happening to the batteries.

Jonny
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

But once you do not have a sulphation problem, all that running 24/7 is doing, is running the batteries down. As it is powered from the battery, and you cannot charge a battery from it's self, you will end up with a flat battery.

Brian
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

Agreed, this was my question to the guy at Megapulse (very helpful BTW and good advice re installation etc) - his response was along the lines "the current draw is very low, (20 milliamps) - on a 200ah battery bank this would take 10,000 hours to discharge - 20 milliamps is less than a normal battery discharge anyway and the argument goes that the Megapulse is helping your battery life and therefore in the long run your battery will last longer just running a Megapulse but in good condition than it would in average condition without running a Megapulse" - seems a fair argument to me

Jonny

p.s. - No tie to the company - just a satisfied customer - lots of info on the web page
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

It does appear to work, no need to leave it on all the time, just re-connect every few months. It did interfere with my AM radio (but not FM or VHF), hence the re-connection every few months.
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

I bought one last winter and proved it by resurrecting a completely dead, unusable, gel lead acid from a large torch. Now I have my Megapulse on my generator battery and seems to have made a noticeable improvement. I wouldn't leave it unattended without some kind of charging but it would be safe to do on a car or boat used a few times a week as the current flow is low.

This is proper 'science' not some kind of loony spoon-bending confidence trickery. Plenty of info on the internet, including designs you can use for DIY. From my tests, Megapulse is very, very similar to the main circuit doing the rounds on the internet. Winding coils is not easy for everyone, and it needs a box and other bits so the price is not unfair given that it is made in low volume (compared with high-street electronics).

It was I who reported problems with SSB. Yes, it wipes out SSB across the band. I have installed a remote switch but to avoid the volts drop down a long pair of wires and to reduce the radiation that would have resulted from that, I have glued a small dc relay onto the Megapulse and brought back the coil (switched to negative) to a place near my engine room door, for convenience.

I notice comments about this technology being in Sterling chargers. I believe that not to be the case - it certainly wasn't a few months ago. I think Sterling's position is that if you use his chargers you won't need the Megapulse - which is an entirely different thing. It is also incorrect. Pulsed systems have been proven to dramatically reverse the effects of 'bad' sulphation.
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

On the back of this answer, what is the most cost effective way of getting the batteries to about 95% charge? I have a standard automotive charger running at boost and automatically dropping to a float charge, but I think that doesn't take the batteries to above about 80%? Or does the float charge squeeze the rest in?
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

Pretty sure an automotive charger is not going to get the job done properly, you really need a proper 3-4 stage charger.
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

I've used a desulphator to bring a pretty defunct lead acid leisure battery back up to snuff, in combination with using EDTA and it certainly worked in my experience- used thereafter for my main engine start battery for all this season.

I got a desulphator kit from a link derived from a previous posting on this site- cost about £25 inc postage.

http://www.courtiestown.co.uk/

No connection except satisfied customer.
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

[ QUOTE ]
Or does the float charge squeeze the rest in?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. As long as the charger has a current limited output with a high enough voltage to maintain a charge of about 500mA (half an Amp) across a typical 100AH battery. Typically I see the battery terminal voltage sit at about 15v once fully charged. I then leave it like this for several days.


Vic
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

[ QUOTE ]

This is proper 'science' not some kind of loony spoon-bending confidence trickery. Plenty of info on the internet, including designs you can use for DIY.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, you've convinced me .... have followed the arguements for years but always concluded they must be quackery. Time to dig out the veroboard I guess! Have several batteries to try it out on /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Vic
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

Thanks for the contributions. I'm now happy that it is at least worth a look in depth - another winter job!

John B
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

Hi,

I have one of this things but with a 'car spec' (blue housing).
This thing was connected to my old car all the time and what it does it 'pulses' the battery until the voltage dops under a spec limit (~12.x volts) and it shuts off then.
So far so good but the result was having always a not fully charged battery which made starting in winter sometimes ... interesting /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Beware: there is a marine version (orange housing) around which has a higher voltage shutoff to keep boat gel batteries in their optimum range.

I am not 100% convinced that this device improved the life of my old battery or at least I couldn't spot any difference after using it for a year because my voltage was always very low and starting relatively hard.

I might give it a go over winter on my boat batteries though.

jow
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

I'm a skeptic - have to admit ... why ? If it's a high voltage but very low ampage ... then surely the nett result is a weak pulse fighting a high resistance ?

I know that average alternators / chargers do not reach peak battery voltage ... and same guy told me that reason is to stop over charge - pushing battery to its limits ... that kept charged at 80+% is better than hitting 100% all the time ... but I read others that say he's wrong.

I have one old battery on my boat that is about 7 - 8 yrs old ... it's a HD diesel van starter battery ... it's been flattened more times than I care to admit ... and it still comes up with a bog standard car charger ...
Couple years back - a friend gave me his leisure battery - he had problems on his boat and reckoned it was half dead ... I fitted it instead of my near dead truck battery of many years age !! I mean it was ancient !! It came up ... charge indicator cell shows healthy green ...

No trouble. I'm thinking of swapping them out for larger truck batterys (my company truck has batterys that were a temp fit after repairs ... they are a touch on the small side for hydraulic tail lifts etc. and starting a 6ltr engine...... so if I vchange those for suitable size - they will be available for my boat ...) The batterys on the boat now will be moved to my weekender ...

I reckon I should have on average over 5yrs from any battery ... more likely 8 - 9 yrs with my regime - with no fancy additional charge bits and bobs ...

IMHO /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Re: Megapulse battery \"restorer\"

All the pulse is doing is breaking down any sulphation, it's not charging the battery, thus you do not need a lot of amperage. The pulse is a simple way of generating the high voltage from a 12 volt source.
Equally a small unregulated mains charger normally has enough volts to do the same, as long as you do not leave it on 27 / 7. Also remember that a lead acid battery top end charge voltage is around mid 15 volt.

Brian
 
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