Beyond Unity - The different ways to charge a battery

Inception posted this 04 December 2025 - Last Edited 29 December 2025

I also have purchased the smaller Universal Charger, which refurbishes all types of batteries. I started the large battery project with it, but because it was intended for smaller batteries I thought I should use the industrial types to speed up the process.

The Universal charger has given new life to my collection of automotive batteries, as long as the cells have not swelled too much from winter freezing. I have dozens of 10+ year old refurbished batteries: 26 were 7V Prius "BAD" NiMH modules that I got online, which are ~20 years old.

I accidently revived a Lithium razor battery thinking it was NiMH, which is not recommended, however, the charger was very effective nonetheless.

Every experimenter should have something like this, to keep ALS batteries desulfated and NiMH at full capacity. If you have not made your own radiant energy battery charger, consider getting something like the RC-1AU Universal Battery Charger.

((Inception)) "You do not know anything until you have practiced." - Richard Feynman

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baerndorfer posted this 20 December 2025

i do battery charginge with analoge pulsing circuit. like the famous ReEmf-charger invented by some guy from the netherlands i think.

here is a screenshot from the action..

CH2 is positive pole from battery and on CH4 is minus pole from battery. when the pulse happen (ch1) the polarity of battery changes. the negative pole is more positive, than the positive pole itself. by doing so the battery gets 'refreshed' or can 'repair' itself. CH3 is the current which is highly reactive.

this is my circuit if someone like to replicate.
regards

B

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Jagau posted this 06 February 2026

An interesting site here about battery charging, like John Bedini used to do.

He's an electrical engineer from Vancouver, Canada. So he knows a bit more than average, like all of us who share for free he has detractors but he must have willed it and he holds on.

He operates on an open-source platform. Garage Built Free Energy: No Patents

I've been following his videos for a while now, very interesting.

Jagau

What we consider to be empty space is merely a manifestation of unawakened matter. N.T.

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Inception posted this 28 February 2026

Fork Lift batteries update:

Battery #1 charged almost fully with the large radiant chargers, first using the 2V cell rejuvenator, then the industrial 12V charger, 6 cells at a time. It needed prolonged rejuvenation.

Battery #2 had a negative voltage cell, which indicated it was destroyed, according to experienced specialists. The rest of the cells did not charge much above 2V.

These batteries were abused by the estate caretaker that exposed them to sub-zero F temperatures, failed to charge them, and let them sit dry for long periods. The individual cell casings where swollen and the electrodes raised, indicating frost heave and expansion.

Due to lack of time, I abandoned further rejuvenation and asked a friend to recycle the lead at his discretion.

Inverters/Solar chargers:

I relocated the inverters to our new location. It took 3 large men to remove them from the wall and load them on a truck. They weighed around 150 kg / 350 lb and now are in the barn until I can find a place to remount them.

The inverters can be repurposed with Lithium batteries, and the solar chargers will be updated to mppt. The original chargers had 70% efficiency compared to mppt devices, which are in the 90s.

Future battery maintenance:

When I return home, I will gather components to replicate a series of Baerndorfer's radiant chargers. A couple weeks ago the Renaissance Charge - Universal Charger developed a short somewhere, and trips its circuit breaker. I have over a dozen vehicle batteries in maintenance mode during the winter season, and the radiant charger helped keep them fresh and rejuvenated for many years, especially the 12V deep-cycle hybrid batteries.

Current:

I am away from the estate repair project to take care of matters at home during the winter storms, but have to return in a few days to finish up.

((Inception)) "You do not know anything until you have practiced." - Richard Feynman

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Inception posted this 06 December 2025

Replying To: Vasile

It is likely that you can restore most batteries. It may take a lot of time if very heavily sulfated, or if there is a metalic short from internal rust it may not fully charge.

I am surprised how many I have recovered. It has restored larger batteries beyond the listing on the charger cover.

6V UPS batteries that were dead and given to me from an IT tech:

I plan to make a battery bank for experiments that will have a 6V incremental voltage selector.

I have recovered 12V and 6V UPS batteries, but they must be soluble inside. If the gel gets too hard you may not be able to revive it. Pry open the seal and pop each rubber cap off of the cells. Add distilled water just below the opening.

The setting for those type is #6 on the dial. If the battery acts shorted and pops the circuit breaker, reset it and turn down the dial until cells come up to the right voltages: 2+, 4+, 6+, 8+, 10+, 12+.

I can usually get most to come up to 10 -11 volts and then it takes longer to get the + side cell to desulfate.

One could easily say that this charger has paid for itself may times, especially with the Prius modules and all the AA and AAA NiMh batteries revived besides car, mower, and tractor batteries.

I revived the 12V deep discharge Prius battery as well, when it would only charge to ~11V. That battery has lasted twice its normal lifetime. I have revived it twice.

I have well over a dozen battery chargers. Some are old school brute force and ohers are (stupid) smart chargers. None of them have worked like this one and the majority are in the parts bin from failure. We call them all "battery burners".

((Inception)) "You do not know anything until you have practiced." - Richard Feynman

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Jagau posted this 06 December 2025

Hi Inception and Vasile
We should all know this little secret.
Most standard chargers stop charging at 14.8 V the charge is incomplete according to this table:

John Bedini says:
If the charge process is stopped before point "P" is reached, it means that some sulfate ions are still left in the plates. If, for any reason, the voltage is prevented from rising to the finishing level, the charge will NOT complete.
This is another "little secret" of the battery industry. By limiting the voltage that most battery chargers provide to 14.8 volts, they know that the batteries will only last for a certain number of cycles, because a small amount of the sulfate ions are (purposely) being left in the plates at the end of each charge.

So, repeated incomplete charging is what causes most batteries to fail. A lead-acid battery that is charged to a finishing voltage at the end of each charge cycle can easily operate for 5,000 charge and discharge cycles, which is over 15 years of service. This is how to make your batteries last a very long time.

I have been managing a fully solar-powered radio communication network for several years, and I can confirm that following the Bedini method by reprogramming my industrial-type charge controllers to the values recommended by JB has resulted in my batteries lasting on average between 12 and 14 years. I know it sounds incredible, but I have experienced this for several years. The batteries (lead acide) don't have time to sulfate with this charging principle. For some sites, I use the programmable Morningstar PS30M charge controllers.

PS Information and image taken from the book The Complete Beginner's Handbook page 76, buy it, it's a plus.

Jagau

What we consider to be empty space is merely a manifestation of unawakened matter. N.T.

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Jagau posted this 06 December 2025

Quote Vasile

wonder if the people that make "conventional chargers" actually know about this curve and stop the charging intentionally at 14.8V

As an friend of mine working in the field said: There's too much money to be made with this; if they leave them like this, we'll sell even more batteries.

It's a bit like back when LED flat screens had been out for a while and we'd all been trained to maintain them, but the good old, very expensive CRT TVs were still on the market—still too much money to be made with them.

Excuse my complaints, but I've been there.

Yes, everything about battery charging is very interesting, and I think Chapter 7 should be read and understood by everyone.
Fortunately, Morningstar's Pro series solved the problem. I've only used these models since the 2000s and have never had any sulfation problems.

Quoting Inception:

What set-points are you using for the chargers?

If you look at the specs of the PS30M here:

The L16 series goes up to 16.75V. So, as JB said, he was absolutely right.
You just need to program it in the right place. What is important when charging a battery in order to get the maximum is its equalization time which comes immediately after the absorption time.

Yes, these are high-quality controllers programmable at home or remotely; a host of other options are available with curves, so you get your money's worth. Note that like JB I only use deep cycle batteries of the flooded lead-acid type. We've strayed a bit from the Adams topic, but it's for a good cause!

Jagau

What we consider to be empty space is merely a manifestation of unawakened matter. N.T.

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Inception posted this 06 December 2025

I am reviving these beasts. They weight a ton.

Trace uses "Bulk" for absorption phase.

Would Setting #6 be adequate?

((Inception)) "You do not know anything until you have practiced." - Richard Feynman

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Inception posted this 29 December 2025

Latest development for charging the industrial batteries in my previous post:

I was able to bring back one battery, so it can be charged by the Trace Inverter/Charger.

However, the other battery had more frost-heave damage, and has gone through several refurbish recycles, losing voltage, instead of gaining voltage.

Note: The industrial 2V rejuvenator has been used on several of the cells, but the over-all voltage would not come up.

One half of the 24V battery started at 8V+ and, after cycling, reduced to 4V. I checked each cell and most were around 1.9V to 2V. One cell was MINUS 4 Volts!

This is the first time I have experienced a negative voltage cell, which a battery scientist insists cannot be reversed:

Most likely someone has charged the battery mistakenly in reverse. A lead acid battery has lead materials in both electrodes that can polarize in the opposite direction when charged in reverse. Attempts to correct the situation by charging in the correct direction are fruitless because a key organic ingredient in the normal negative electrode will have been oxidized during the reversal. Furthermore, the chances of a short developing during a reversal is high. The battery cannot be recovered to a well functioning state.

I am determined to test this statement by discharging the cell and applying a positive pulsed charge using my Universal Charger, which is much weaker than the industrial 2V rejuvenator, and intended for smaller batteries. If it can push any current through the cell, it will continue to charge it, otherwise it thinks the cables are either disconnected, or the cell is shorted.

Since I am away from that site for the holidays, to facilitate repairs at home, I will have to wait to try this until next year.

Any suggestions are welcome in the interim.

((Inception)) "You do not know anything until you have practiced." - Richard Feynman