Should You Learn To Rebuild Batteries?

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Why would you want to know how to rebuild a battery?  Well, you can save quite a bit of money if you’re thinking of going off the grid.  When you set up your battery bank initially, you won’t have to pay even close to full retail, because you can purchase used or “out of date” batteries and refurbish them yourself for a fraction of what a new battery would cost.  Then, when it comes time to replace all those batteries, you can either start the whole process over again, or you can rebuild the ones you already have and get a few more years service out of them.  The numbers we have seen are approximately a 50-80% estimated savings over buying new retail batteries.

Granted, not everyone is suited to rebuild batteries.  You need to have that “safety first” attitude when doing something like this.  Batteries are far from benign – they carry with them rather large health risks for people who may approach the job with inadequate respect for the destruction that batteries are capable of.  We’re not trying to scare you off, rather we’re just trying to remind you that if you are going to rebuild batteries, please take time to research and follow all the appropriate safety precautions.

Of course, once you master this skill and accumulate the few tools needed, you’ll find the skills transfer easily to other batteries.  You could also save quite a bit by being able to rebuild the battery packs in your power tools!

Find a great YouTube detailing a temporary Reconditioning of a 12-Volt Battery here.  You can find a good explanation of why this method works in the comments after the video.

Find a detailed battery about How To Recover and Recondition a Sulfated Battery.  (Sulfation is the gunk that builds up on the lead plates of a battery as a result of a seldom used battery. )