Simple question, complicated answer.
I will try to answer as succinctly as possible.
Sulfate crystal buildup has been known since the lead acid battery was invented, and this buildup leads to over 70% of premature lead acid battery failures. However, all batteries wear out over time and no device can prevent that from happening.
Over the past 30 years, battery manufacturers have taken great strides to combat sulfate buildup and improve the life of their batteries by making changes to battery plate construction and, under ideal circumstances, maintaining suitable and the correct charge, sulfation. should not be a problem.
However, we do not live in a perfect world and sulfate build-up is still the number one cause of battery failure.
It has been found that controlled battery overcharging will break glass and, if used correctly, will keep batteries in a clean condition and extend battery life. This method is not recommended for use with sealed lead acid batteries (also known as AGM or VRLA batteries)
About 20 years ago a simple device was developed that created high-voltage pulses sent to the battery, called a pulse generator or desulfator. This, in practice, created the same effect as controlled overcharging, except it was unregulated, so over time these high voltage pulses damaged the battery plates. This nullified the positive effect. Circuit board diagrams for this type of device are freely available on the Internet, and many of the low-cost devices available today are built using these designs. Short term fix, long term damage.
At the same time, alternative solutions were considered and experimentation showed that if a frequency pulse was sent to the battery, the sulphate build-up could be broken down if the correct frequency was achieved; however, different frequencies were required for the different sizes of crystal that were accumulated. on the dishes. Therefore, devices using the single-frequency method were and still are unpredictable, some work, and some are useless.
What was needed was a device that would work over a range of frequencies, voltages, and battery sizes. Until recent years, this type of device was very expensive to build (over $1,000) and large (about the size of an old-style VCR). Since the end user could not be guaranteed that sulfation was the problem with his battery, no company was prepared to develop them.
Dramatic drops in component size and cost have allowed companies to produce small, reasonably priced products capable of cleaning battery plates of various capacities and voltages.
A small number of manufacturers around the world now produce products that can clean old battery plates and stop sulfate build-up in new batteries, so new batteries can be recovered or kept free of buildup. In effect, recovering many old batteries and extending the life of any battery that is not charged or maintained in the correct way. This is ALL they do and it is the only thing responsible manufacturers claim their desulfators can do, they cannot recover batteries with internal damage, shorted cells or AGM batteries that have dried out.
As providers cannot determine the status or failure of batteries, customers who intend to use the device should look for providers that provide clear information on how to test for battery failure or offer phone or email service. to help with any issues you may have with using a desulfator or with your specific battery setup.
In conclusion, modern multi-frequency desulfators are not a magic bullet that will fix all faulty batteries, but they can significantly extend the life of your lead acid batteries and recover a large proportion of batteries that are sulfated and otherwise damaged. , they would be discarded. This would greatly reduce battery replacement costs, which is not insignificant in applications such as solar storage batteries, golf carts, forklifts, large boats, and RVs.
