I've read a lot of conflicting things about battery desulfators. Has anyone here actually used one, and if so, does it actually work?

I put one on my halfway decrepit Absolyte battery bank and it did absolutely nothing. The battery continued it's decline even though I was trying to recover it. By the end they were badly suphated with severe grid growth and finally had no capacity. After about 1/2 year the desulphator died also. Don't take this as a reflection on these batteries, I was trying for seasonal storage, not the right thing to do with lead acid batteries of any type.

Perhaps on a new battery they might help? But taking care of the battery will help more I'm sure. I've also heard that some PWM controllers will give a similar effect.

Brad

I have read all the information, never found anybody that has had success with them. I think they must be like oil additives a waste of money.

I put one on a set of new batteries and never had any troubles what so ever. I swear by them. Putting them on almost dead batteries, no idea. But for maintenance of start from new battery, I think it is great. I have been using it for almost 4 years now.

I think the best thing is to ensure you keep the battery charged. Unless you have totally off grid situation, invest in a 13.3 vdc (for 6 cell 12 v battery) trickle charger instead of desulfator.

When battery sits below full charge, the lead sulfate crystalizes which is good insulator and nearly impossible to breakup.

The theory behind desulfator is to high current "buzz" the plates with low duty cycle, but high current pulses of between 1 to 10 KHz pulse rate.

The snake oil is every manufacturer claims they have the magic buzz and peak current rate that 'resonates with the crystals' causing them to break up. The other part of theory is the AC nature of the buzz allows current to flow through the crystal as if it is the insulator of a capacitor.

I think in reality, the best that can be done is to undermine the lead plate below the point where a crystal has attached causing crystal to break off and drop to bottom of battery. This still ties up lead and sulfuric acid that should be recharged back on plate and into electrolyte, respectively, but at least removes the insulating block on the remain lead plate.

On lightly sulfated batteries, the crystals have not grown too big. I have been pretty successful by first fully charge the battery then do a half to one hour discharge at about 20% A-H ampereage range followed by a 20% rate recharge. Equalization, (overcharging to 15-15.5 vdc) causes the creation of a lot of gasing which can also break the crystals loose. It also mixes up the electrolyte that might have stratified to higher concentration of acid at bottom of battery.