How To Rejuvenate Car Battery With Vinegar?

/ Automotive Batteries / By
Did you know that reconditioning a battery can extend its life and save you a hefty amount of money? While reconditioning a car battery sounds fun and all until you realize the amount of financial stability you must have before getting a battery reconditioning charger. Here, you not only require technical knowledge but a great deal of time as well. Because let us be honest, you wouldn’t want to damage a battery for life in an attempt to rejuvenate and recondition it now, would you? But reconditioning using a battery charger isn’t the only way to rejuvenate a car battery. Several DIY home techniques have been proven to be effective. One such technique is to rejuvenate your car battery using vinegar.

Why Do Car Batteries Fail?

There are so many different factors that go into the science of failing car batteries. The most obvious one is carelessness in its use.

Car batteries do not store charge for long periods. They’re not like the normal toy batteries that you expect to keep running for a specific length of time. Instead, car batteries require constant recharging. That recharging comes from the running motor. The alternator converts the mechanical energy of the running engine into electrical energy, and that is how your car batteries keep working.

Now imagine if you say, keep your headlights or tail lights on for a long time without the engine running. Since there isn’t a power source to recharge the batteries and the only thing that is happening to batteries are their charges being sucked by headlights, the only possible and reasonable outcome is them failing!

However, that is not the only cause. Corrosion to the batteries is another crucial factor you should look out for. If the terminals corrode, the battery will not give an optimal output, and it will result in a gradual deterioration of the batteries.
Also Read: Using Vaseline on Battery Terminals
Finally, electrolyte health is a major cause of battery failure. You need to have a proper electrolyte at the appropriate pH bathing the electrodes because the electrolyte is one of the major components to complete the electrical circuit inside the battery. A bad electrolyte can destroy your battery almost as easily as corrosion.

When Should You Rejuvenate a Car Battery?

The normal frequency to rejuvenate a car battery is around once every 3 to 4 years. But the number is highly variable and largely depends on how frequently you drive the car, in what environment you use the car, and under what conditions is your battery currently?

Typically, the more humid the environment is, the more you should consider rejuvenating the car batteries, as humidity increases the chances of corrosion on the car battery terminals.

If you live in an industrial area, you should also rejuvenate the car batteries more frequently since Industrial areas have airborne chemicals that cause damage to battery terminals.

That all being said, you must always be mindful of the health of your battery terminals, as bad terminals are one of the leading reasons people decide to change their batteries. An excellent way to check your terminals for corrosion is by keeping a battery terminal cleaning spray close by. Especially the kind that comes with an acid-Indicator. Use it to spray your terminals now and then and look for red discoloration of the foam that forms. If the redness is too intense, maybe it’s time to rejuvenate your batteries.

What is Vinegar?

Chemically Vinegar is 5 to 8% acetic acid. It means nothing but that Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid and distilled water. More precisely, a 5% acetic acid solution (aka Vinegar) means 5ml of acetic acid every 95 to 100ml of distilled water. The same principle applies to 8% acetic acid solution.

Here’s a small chemistry lesson for you:

Vinegar is classified as a weak organic acid. There are two major types of acids: Mineral acids and Organic acids (details for each here; mineral acids tend to be stronger than organic ones), and each type of acid will have either a strong type or a weak type.

So overall, there should be four types of acids; weak/strong mineral acids and weak/strong organic acids. Vinegar is a weak organic one. This means that it will not give you first or second-degree burns, but it will help with the catalysis of many chemical reactions inside and outside of your body. And it is the latter that we use to rejuvenate a car battery with Vinegar.

Can You Rejuvenate a Car Battery With Vinegar?

Yes, you can. Here’s the idea behind how you can rejuvenate a car battery with Vinegar.

Before we proceed on to talking about specifics, let it be clear that by rejuvenating the car battery, we mean reconditioning it using its terminals and not manipulating its electrolyte or otherwise.

The substance that deposits on the battery terminals due to years of corrosion is considered a basic substance (a substance can either be acidic, basic, or neutral). The crystals cause a deterioration in the functionality of the battery, and it is something we must get rid of during reconditioning.

Now you could scrub them off with a metal brush, but that wouldn’t work since corrosion is essentially a chemical process and must be reversed chemically. Also, using a metal brush is too physical.

The idea goes something like this:

The substance of corrosion is basic. In chemistry, there’s a Neutralization reaction that combines an acid with a base to neutralize both of them and produce water and some salt as a result.

Reconditioning a battery is one of the practical applications of the Neutralization reaction. We use a weak acid such as vinegar to help dissolve the basic corrode and not damage the terminal metals. The basic substance dissolves into water and salt, which we can scrub off easily.

How To Rejuvenate a Car Battery With Vinegar?

Step#1 - Disconnect and Take out the battery

Make sure to disconnect it properly. The negative terminal goes off first and comes on last. Remember this. Work in a well-ventilated environment, wear an apron and goggles as well. You don’t want the acid from the battery to spill on your clothes accidentally. It’s a strong mineral acid which means it can give you third-degree burns in less than a second. You don’t want the fumes to get to your eyes as well for obvious reasons.

Step#2 - Clean the battery terminals

Use a paper towel or a soft cloth of some sort to clean the batteries of any apparent dust and dirt. Feel free to use water here. But make sure you do not spill the water inside the battery cells, as that can be devastating.

Also, use brushes or metal brushes to clean the battery terminals as much as you can physically.

Step#3 - Pour over the vinegar

Use the vinegar preferably with a spray gently and generously over the terminals. However, using a spray is not compulsory; you can pour the vinegar directly over the terminals if that’s what you’re into.

Wait for around 20 minutes for a reaction between the acid and the base. Then, look for the bubbling of the vinegar; that’s how you know things are in motion.

Wipe the terminals as thoroughly as you can after 20 minutes, making sure you get all of the residues of the reaction. Feel free to use brushes to get into the tight corners and make sure you’re as thorough as possible.

What Can I Use to Replace Battery Electrolyte?

If you’re thinking of Vinegar, you’re wrong. You cannot use vinegar to replace the battery electrolyte in a thousand words.

Why? Re-read the thing we talked about vinegar chemistry. It’s a weak, organic acid. The battery’s electrolyte has sulfuric acid, aka a strong mineral acid. You cannot just expect to use a weak organic acid instead of a strong mineral acid and expect your battery to run. It will destroy your batter instantly!

Instead, you can use sulfuric acid dissolved in distilled water to replace the electrolyte. While you can make this at home, we recommend not to since sulfuric acid can be hazardous to work within its pure or even diluted form. CDC classifies it as a corrosive substance. A single drop can give you third-degree burns, and its fumes can destroy your lung tissues. Long exposure to it can even be lethal.

That is why it is not recommended to DIY sulfuric acid battery solution at home. Instead, go to a store and buy a ready-made one. It’s worth it.

Another alternative to battery electrolyte is Epsom salt. Just dissolve 7-8 ounces of Epsom salt in ½ quart of distilled water, and it should do the trick temporarily. Be sure to observe all the safety procedures when doing so.

FAQs

What happens if you put vinegar in a car battery?

The vinegar will corrode the battery’s electrodes to the extent the battery will be beyond reconditioning and will need to be replaced.

Can vinegar be used as an electrolyte in a battery?

Vinegar cannot be, under any circumstance, used as an electrolyte in a battery.

Can you clean car battery corrosion with vinegar?

Yes, you can clean car battery corrosion with Vinegar; just pour the vinegar over the disconnected terminals of the battery. Wait 20 minutes, wipe, and you should be good to go.

Does Epsom salt rejuvenate the car batteries?

Epsom salt can be used as an alternative for the battery’s electrolyte, so in a way, Epsom salt can rejuvenate a car battery.

How do you make an electrolyte solution for a battery?

For Epsom salt, dissolve 7-8 ounces of Epsom salt in ½ quart of warm distilled water. For sulfuric acid, it is recommended you buy a ready-made one from a store as sulfuric acid is not something to play with in your garage.

How do you revive a dead car battery with Epsom salt?

Epsom salt can be used as an alternative for the electrolyte of a lead-acid battery. Hence, if the problem is the electrolyte with your car battery, you can revive it with a solution of Epsom salt.

What does baking soda do in a battery?

Baking soda is essential and can help dissolve the sulfate crystals that deposit over the battery’s electrodes. It can also be used to neutralize the acidity of the battery when readying it for disposal. Finally, it can be used to clean the terminals of the battery.

Where to buy battery electrolytes?

You can buy them from any auto parts store, such as O’Reilly, AutoZone, Walmart, etc.

The Takeaway

Rejuvenating a car battery is easy if you have a reconditioning battery charger. Still, you can just as easily use some white vinegar from your kitchen to rejuvenate the car battery. It works wonders, it’s safe, and doesn’t require a lot of technical knowledge. Win-Win.

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