The world of battery reconditioning is undeniably an odd one. You’ll hear lots of crackpot theories about all manner of methods you can use to bring them back to life, and also a wide variety that actually have a little science behind them like in this video:
How Does Epsom Salt Stack Up?
You’ll have to take a look in more detail at Tom’s methods to see what he has to say about the most reliable methods, but one that hundreds of people ask about is the use of Epsom Salt (not Epson salt as a few have said – it’s nothing to do with the printer company!).
Epson Salt is a common product to see on the shelf of grocery stores and pharmacies – but its also known as magnesium sulphate. this is where you’re more likely to find information in the web about how the product can be used with dead batteries.
However, it’s not something we generally recommend to the average person on the street – not because we don’t believe it works, but because messing with chemistry isn’t something you want to be doing unless you have a good understanding already, or have a good teacher to hand. That’s why we point people towards Tom’s video above.
Is Battery Reconditioning Epsom Salt Worth Searching For?
Fundamentally, batteries use a form of chemistry to provide the electrical current that we all expect from them, and over their lifetime slowly that reaction dies away, eventually resulting in a flat battery. Techniques like those involving Epsom Salts effectively reverse that decay by refilling the battery. It doesn’t necessarily result in the cell becoming ‘as good as new’ but aims to give it the new lease of life that the battery’s owner is looking for. A good analogy is a rechargeable battery. Typically they don’t get the same level of performance as a single use version, but they have a much longer lifespan, even though the performance degrades slightly with each charge cycle.
