There are essentially two types of batteries: starting batteries and deep cycle batteries. Starting batteries, such as the one in your car, are designed with many thin plates and produce a large amount of power with only a short burst. Deep cycle batteries, such as the one powering your boat's trolling motor, are designed with fewer but thicker plates and give a long, slow discharge. They are also designed to by fully discharged without damage to the cells. These are easy to restore with only one special tool.
Put on the safety glasses. Place a battery post cleaner on each battery post and twist until the posts are clean and shiny. The positive post should be marked with a (+) sign and the negative post will be marked (-). If you see no markings, the positive post is always the larger in diameter.
2
Connect the positive lead from the load tester to the positive battery terminal and then place the negative lead on the negative post. This will prevent sparking.
3
Switch on the load tester and check to see that the load does not drop below 12 volts. If the load meter gauge reads less than 12 volts, the battery is bad and must be replaced. If the gauge reads 12 volts, you can restore it.
4
Place the positive lead from a trickle charger on the positive battery post. Connect the negative cable from the charger to the negative post of the battery.
5
Allow the battery to charge for a minimum of 24 hours. This will cause the cells in the battery to regenerate themselves, and the battery will be restored.
6
Recharge the battery slowly after each use to maintain battery life.
Tips & Warnings
A trickle charger is a very slow charger intended to bring a deep cycle battery back from a complete discharge.
Periodically slow-charge your deep cycle batteries when not in use. This will keep them at peak condition.
Never attempt to quick-charge a deep cycle battery. This will ruin the plates and render the battery useless.
Batteries used to power wheelchairs can die quickly after recharging if they are not occasionally reconditioned. While a wheelchair battery is similar...
