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     Date: 04-19*94    Time: 11:25a     Number: 1213  
     From: DON KULHA                     Refer: 0      
       To: ALL                        Board ID: FAMILY          Recvd: No
  Subject: EDTA 2 OF 5                      47: Home Power     Status: Public
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My friend, George Patterson-a battery techie second to none, ran
into an article in an obscure British antique motorcar publication
that described using a chemical called EDTA to remove sulphation
from old lead-acid batteries.  I related to him the story of the
orphaned L-16Ws and to make a very long story short we decided to
give it a try on these virtually new, but severely sulphated batteries.
EDTA, what is it?
It is an organic acid, a chemical cousin of vinegar.  EDTA stands
for the entire name of the compound which is, "ETHYLENEDIAMINE TETRAACETIC"
Acid.  EDTA is used for many chemical jobs, but perhaps the most
amazing is as a food preservative. I noticed it on the list of ingredients
of a can of Slice(r) orange pop I drank.  In chemical techie terms,
EDTA is a "chelating agent." which means it likes to bond to metallic
ions (like lead sulfate).  While EDTA is not the sort of stuff you
want to eat by the teaspoon (the label carries warnings about getting
it in the eyes or nose), it is relatively innocuous chemical to attack
the sulphated nastiness with those L-16Ws.  I admit to being skeptical. 
I thought we were wasting our time.  How could something contained
in orange pop help these severely sick cells?
The Operation
George Patterson located and purchased 500 grams of EDTA from a local
chem lab that specializes in the chemical testing of wine.  The cost
was low, under $15 for the EDTA and another ten bucks for rush shipping. 
George then did an essential duty in this entire process.  He came
up to HP Central in Hornbrook and got me off my butt to actually
perform this experiment.  George could have shipped me the EDTA,
but he knew my faith in this project was so low that I'd get it done
some time next century.  We decided to operate on two of the L-16Ws
and leave the other two untreated as controls for the experiment. 
We had only sketchy information from the British motorcar pub.  It
described a teaspoon in every cell (hold the milk and sugar) and
let sit for several hours.  It neglected to mention the size of the
cell, but George and I assumed that an antique motorcar would have
a fairly small battery- about 70 Amp-hrs.  So we upscaled the amount
of EDTA to 2 Tablespoons to match the larger (350 Ampere-hour) L-16W
cells.  What follows is a step by step description of what we did:
PLEASE NOTE:  These operations involve handling sulfuric acid electrolyte. 
We used acid resistant Norex lab coats, rubber boots, rubber gloves,
and safety glasses.  If you try these operations without this safety
gear, then you are risking injury.  Play it safe.
(continued)
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