I don’t know about everyone else, but speaking from personal experience I can tell you that I’ve easily thrown out hundreds of batteries of the years.
Batteries for television remote controls, kid toys, cars, handy, laptop, video game controllers, etc. have all added to the pile of dead and discarded batteries.
Actually let me clarify that, I recycled the batteries which is the responsible thing to do. The point isn’t what happened to batteries in the end. The point is that these are things I SPEND MONEY ON, and when they are no longer useful I throw them out.
It never once occurred to me over the years that just because a battery had lost it’s charge that it could still be useful and could be charged again for future use. Instead I just kept throwing money away by buying new batteries all the time.
It wasn’t until I had a life changing experience that I began to reexamine the way I was living my life. It’s funny how almost being beaten to a bloody pulp can lead a person to thinking about REUSING BATTERIES, but that’s kind of what happened to me.
Before you dismiss me as some type of crazy guy give me a moment to explain:
I came face to face with a man who was totally out of control and irrational and I was certain he was going to beat me, possibly even beat me to death. I escaped unscathed, but not because of anything I did.
I walked away because my would be attacker had a change of heart and walked away. Maybe he felt sorry for me. Maybe his medication kicked in and calmed him down. There are a number of reasons he could have chosen to walk away, but none of them had anything to do with me. I just stood there frozen in fear, unable to act.
So how did this lead me to wanting to learn about battery reconditioning?
Well that incident led me to start learning self defense. Once I was confident in my ability to protect myself and my family I realized that there was so much more I should be doing.
I realized that the next step to protecting my family was to learn about long term survival. I began to think about storing supplies, growing and storing food, and storing and processing water. I also thought about what types of things we would need during a MAJOR DISASTER where the power grid was a distant memory.
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How would we see in the dark? How would we power radios so we could keep ourselves informed about what was going on around the world. Light and communication were priorities, and with no power grid that meant that we needed BATTERIES.
Now you probably see how a moment of near tragedy led me along the path to learning about long term survival, which in turn got me thinking about batteries.
During a major disaster not only will it likely be unsafe to be traveling, even if you could make it safely to a store there wouldn’t be any batteries to be found. Batteries would be among the FIRST THINGS stripped from store shelves following the inevitable looting and rioting that is common after major disasters.
That got me thinking that there had to be a way to get an old and dead battery to come back to life. Look, I’m not and engineer or a chemist, but common sense told me that there had to be a way to get an old battery to TAKE CHARGE AGAIN, and it turns out that I was right.
WHAT TYPES OF BATTERIES CAN BE RECHARGED?
Before we go any further I want to make it very clear that not all batteries are suitable for recharging.
In fact attempting to recharge several different types of batteries can be very dangerous since it could cause them to explode.
The types of batteries that can be safely charged are Nickel Cadmium batteries. Since Nickel Cadmium RECARGEABLE BATTERIES are the only safe option for charging I would recommend that you start by replacing any batteries that you currently use with this type of battery whenever possible.
The last thing you want is to figure out how to recharge a battery, and then not have a battery that you can safely charge. I would also like to make it very clear that you exercise caution when attempting any of the methods I am going to be going over here.
Charging a battery can be dangerous if not done with care, so you must be careful. I would never attempt any of the methods I am going over here without goggles to protect my eyes, and gloves to protect my Hands.
Well now that I’ve gone over the basics of safety here are some of the more common methods for recharging a Nickel Cadmium battery:
1. Use an arc welder. An arc welder uses very high voltage in order to weld metal together. Since an arc welder produces a lot of voltage you must be very careful when using one. You can end up suffering a severe injury, or could even be electrocuted if you make a mistake using this powerful machine. While using an arc welder to recharge a Nickel Cadmium batter can be effective, there are several DOWNSIDES to attempting to do this. The first is that the machine is fairly expensive and they aren’t that common. So it’s unlikely you have one, and if you don’t have one you probably won’t be able to scavenge and find one during a major emergency. The other downside is that an arc welder uses a lot of electricity to function. During a major disaster you probably won’t be connected to the power grid, so electricity it going to be at a premium.
2. Use a motorcycle battery charger. Using a motorcycle battery charger has several things going for it that should make it a good option for you to use. First, it’s a battery charger. That means that you are going to be using it to do what it was designed to do. Now granted you are going to have to modify it a little bit, but that still beats trying to use an electric arc welder for something it was never intended to do. The next factor in it’s favor is that it’s not that expensive, so you can probably afford to get one now and keep it in your garage for emergencies. Finally, a motorcycle battery charger also uses less electricity than an arc welder, which is important when electricity is at a premium. In order to use the battery charger very quickly touch the positive clamp from the charger to the negative post on the battery. At the same time touch the negative clamp from the charger to the positive post on the battery. It is very IMPORTANT that you only touch the clamps to the battery briefly, and that you wait several seconds between touches. If you try to push too much electricity into a battery too quickly it will get hot, and then it will explode.
3. Did you know that you can actually transfer the charge from some Nickel Cadmium batteries into other batteries? This is especially helpful if you have a piece of equipment or a tool that you need to use, and others that are not as necessary for your survival. This will enable you to prioritize which batteries are charged so you can give yourself the best chance at surviving. To do this you will need a pair of Nickel Cadmium batteries that are fully charged or nearly fully charged. Next you attack a wire from one negative post to the positive post of the other battery, this will essentially turn them into a single battery. You then attach a wire post to the positive post of one battery, and then to the negative post of the other. Next you attach the negative wire from the dual batter you just made to the negative post of the battery you are trying to recharge. Then you take the positive wire from the dual battery and quickly touch and remove it from the positive end of the batter you are charging. You must not ever hold the wire on for a lengthy period of time since then can cause heat to build up, followed by an explosion.
4. You can also build your own battery reconditioning machine using common parts and by following a set of plans showing you what to do. Now this is a method that I would like to try, but it’s one that I’m not that comfortable in doing. The reason for this is that I’m not the an expert in the field, and I’m not that great at building or fixing things. With that being said I realize that being able to make my own battery conditioner can mean the difference between surviving and dying, so it’s something that’s worth learning. I spent some time looking around online for plans that seemed sound, and that I could trust. Unfortunately many of the plans were overly complex, or common sense told me to stay away from them.
FINDING THE SOLUTION
While I was struggling to find a method of building a battery reconditioning device I cam across EZ Battery Reconditioning.
Finally, there was a METHOD that made sense to me, and there were clear instructions showing me exactly how to build it, and what materials I would need to build it with. Look, I’m not an expert here. I’m not that comfortable messing around with small metal containers full of potentially explosive chemicals, better known as batteries.
So obviously I’m more than a little leery when it comes to messing around with them an attempting to charge them using some unconventional methods.
That’s why I would strongly recommend that you purchase EZ Battery Reconditioning. It takes the guesswork out of the equation, and in doing so it makes it much safer and easier for you to recondition your batteries.
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Attempting to recondition a Nickel Cadmium batter can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing.
That’s why I highly recommend that you find an outside source of knowledge on the subject unless of course you are an expert yourself.
You need to study and learn the different methods of battery reconditioning and be very comfortable with them before you even make an attempt at trying it. You also must wear safety equipment at all times. Let’s say you are stuck in a long term survival situation and you are trying to charge a battery that you really need.
What happens if the battery explodes and blinds you? There aren’t any doctors to go to, and then you will be virtually helpless to your family. You won’t be able to provide for them, and you won’t be able to protect them from threats.
With the dangers involved in battery reconditioning you may be wondering if it’s worth it. The simplest answer is a resounding YES. If the power grid goes down the only way we will have to power any type of electronics is through BATTERY POWER.
You won’t be able to go to the store and get more batteries. You won’t be able to borrow more batteries from anyone either because in a long term survival situation batteries will be more precious than gold. No, you will be on your own. So you can either learn how to RECHARGE YOUR OLD BATTERIES, or you can sit alone in the dark.
Thanks
Frank
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Very nice post about batteries. At first, I almost closed the tab until you said you need time to explain. It’s a very good article for those who maybe have not read and gone straight to the comments. Please take you time to read this.
This is a useful post for those who are considering the idea of moving on from non-rechargeable batteries to rechargeable ones. I’m fairly sure, however, that Nickel-Cadmium batteries aren’t really environmentally friendly, and I did read elsewhere that some countries are phasing them out for much safer alternatives.
Maybe you could write a post about the other types of rechargeable batteries, later on.
Wow… I can’t believe such an experience lead you to discover this, and I found this info really useful! Now I think my dad and I will try building our own battery reconditioning machine. Thanks for sharing this!
From the article it seems the effort used to recycle a battery outweighs buying new ones. However, batteries need to be disposed in a manner that does not harm the environment.
Some of these tips are taught to me when I was in high school! Thanks for the tips and making me remind some of them. Looks like I won’t be throwing out batteries!
Hopefully nothing majorly bad will happen but it’s always good to be prepared. I do think rechargeable batteries could be readily bought nowadays but it doesn’t hurt to go back to the basics.
I have bought rechargeable batteries + battery holder cum plug for charging those. But I didn’t know any nickel-cadmium battery can be charged. Will try out the method mentioned in the article and see what happens.
Never knew you could recondition batteries. Just threw out a pair the other day. Nice read and very informative! Thanks for the tips. Will share with my friends.
This is a very helpful article and eco friendly too. I hope my batteries can be recharged using these tips.
I always recharge batteries now. I spend far to much on buying non-rechargeable batteries over the years. Glad I came to my senses!
Such an informative article! Now I have all the reasons to keep the batteries instead of throwing them away.
Batteries can explode if one is not careful and follow instructions when recharging them. So, your piece on resurrecting dead batteries is not for the faint at heart. In an emergency when the grid is out, very few people will be able to implement the suggestions put forth in this blog. Anyway, thank you for teaching us a new thing today.
We use batteries which could be recharged. But there are other batteries as well which are thrown out when they do not work. Some of the recharging methods mentioned here could be tried, though utmost caution has to be taken while doing so.
I know that you should not throw away dead batteries like regular garbage because it contains harmful substances. Thanks for environment-friendly reminder 🙂
I had read another article before, which was also about reviving old batteries. As I was searching through the web, I came to this post. So helping. Thanks for the info.
So I’ve been doing it all wrong! I have since been throwing dead batteries due to my fear of them leaking out hazardous stuff and whatnot. But I guess only nickel-cadmium ones are the exception, eh?
Anyway good read. Definitely not gonna try the arc welding route, but I’m sure that the other means are fine.
If I read this article a few years back it could have saved me lots of cash. I have thrown out very many batteries over the years and if I knew there was a way I could recycle them I would not hesitate even for a minute. Thank you for the article.
I’m wondering about the processes of reviving dead batteries has something to do with which part of the world we live in. Why? Because countries that’s still in the era of backward technology are prone to refurbishing techniques while in the developed countries, proper disposal is the thing.
You’ve shared some really interesting tips but I’m not too confident (and downright scared) doing these on my own 🙁 I guess I’ll have to stick with convention this time but thanks anyway
We have thrown a lot of used batteries. I didn’t know that there is a certain type which you can recharge. Nice article!
Wow close call I almost charged every battery I could find in the house, ha-ha. Thanks for mentioning that there are specific kinds of batteries to be charged not all kinds. But this means that these other kinds should be disposed of in the correct manner.