Battery Extender (X14?) ever hear of it?

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Ok, Ken, put this in whatever catagory you want--Hubby had seen an advertisement recently for a product which is supposed to extend auto battery life, and revive old batteries. The ad stated something like "never buy another battery, etc." (he thinks it was a name similar to X14, but that's another product, I think) Can't find the ad now, and his old brain can't remember where he saw it. Did he dream it, or has anyone else seen or used this? What pros/cons are there to it? Thanks, Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), February 02, 2001

Answers

Not sure of the name but I have seen it in the autoparts store. First its only usable if you have a non sealed battery. Second, its basicly just an acid that is put into the battery to restore what was lost due to boil off.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), February 02, 2001.

J.C. Whitney catalog carries it. Haven't tried it. As posted above its probably nothing more than acid replacement.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), February 02, 2001.

I tried it or something very like it way back when. It gave me a few more days on an already unuseably weak battery. Then left me high and dry needing a new battery. Not worth the money unless you need to extend life of your battery just a tiny bit.

-- Hermit John (hermit@hilltop_homestead.zzn.com), February 02, 2001.

I never heard about that particular product but I do remember one from awhile back, VX6 I think it was called. I guess that stuff worked but that was when batteries had thicker plates and more space between them. I recall reading an article about some stuff called EDTA, an abbreviation for some chemical whose name I don't recall. The article was in Home Power magazine along with a report on it. They did some pretty thorough tests and it did work. You can find the article if you're interested at www.homepower.com

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), February 03, 2001.

Depends on what is ailing the battery!

Among the things that change over time is that H2So4 in a hardened form builds up on some of the plates, you can see this as white specks if you take the cap off and look into a cell. Maybe strengthening the electrolyte by adding acid might delay things a bit. I heard that something called 'Glovers' Salts', (or something similar sounding) can be used to extend battery life, perhaps it softens the H2So4.

A battery will quickly die if bits fall off the plates, drop to the bottom and short out the plates. Tipping out, and saving, the electrolyte followed by lengthy hosing out each cell might give some relief. This is a filthy and seldom rewarding chore.

I have been told that the only practical way to extend the life of a car battery is to take care of it when it is new. Try not to buy a 'new' battery that has been sitting around for weeks or months partially charged as H2So4 will have already begun to shorten it's life.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), February 03, 2001.



Hey John Hill, you're right. The major cause of battery failure is sulphation. Thats when stuff builds up on the plates and either shorts out across the plates or falls off and builds up on the bottom till it touches the plates. I guess what this EDTA does is put the sulphation product back into solution.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), February 03, 2001.

i have tried x14 bought it from jc whitney did not work well in dead battery must of done some thing wrong asked a battery rebuilder what he would do but he would not say so I went out and bought a new battery Now I do not leave any batteries in equipment over winter thay now last longer

-- nick (raymondetdesrosier@smpatico.ca), February 05, 2001.

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