In my quest to cure the lazy cold start-up on my F250 , I layed down $50.00 for the
Battery Minder
by VDC Electronics and hooked it about for about 2 weeks. If you have ever wondered why the battery you purchased less than 2 years ago has already puked, the reason is likely due to sulfation. The Battery Minder conditions "sulfated" batteries as well as charges any lead acid 12 volt battery without over-charging.
About Sulfation
You may or may not be asking yourself what sulfation is and how does it affect a car battery's performance. The following excerpt from an article in MOA Pilot Magazine explains it best...
During the normal discharge cycle of a lead-acid battery, lead sulfate forms on the battery's plates. When recharged, this soft spongy material is converted back into the battery's electrolyte solution of sulfuric acid. If left unattended long enough and when this material fails to release from the battery's plates, it begins to harden and crystalize onto the surface of the plates. The layer of cystalline lead sulfate acts as an "insulator" preventing the battery from obtaining a full charge.
Read more about sulfation at wikipedia
How the Battery Minder Works
The Battery Minder is different than a normal battery charger or a trickle charger in that it "conditions" lead acid batteries with pulse desulfation to rid the plates of crystalline lead sulfate. VDC Electronics, Inc. created a simple method of generating the required resonant frequency (3.26 megahertz pulse) to breakdown the lead sulfate crystals, allowing the molecules to return to the battery's electrolyte solution. By creating a wave form with the required 3.26 Mhz frequency, coupled with a very fast rise time and a high amplitude pulse, more energy in developed to breakdown sulfation than by any other method believed to exist.
The Battery Minder does not look like your usual car battery charger in that it's small in size. The unit comes with a quick disconnect which I made good use of here.
Easy enough. The red ring terminal on the quick disconnect harness attaches permanently to the positive post on your battery and the black ring terminal to a good chassis ground.
I strung the main unit's power cord through a hole in my garage's foundation vent.
Then I connected the main unit's power cord to the quick disconnect.
Connected power with an extension cord. There is one button on the face of the charger. When the green light begins to flash, that means the battery has reached a full charge. Pressing the button at that point starts the de-sulfation pulse.
This shot shows how the truck looks when it's not running. Parked adjacent to the garage with the Battery Minder hooked up. Very convenient.
This short video will demonstrate the quick start-up after having the Battery Minder "de-sulfating" for a couple weeks.
The
Battery Minder can be purchased through Amazon for about $50.00
