We have a car that we drive infrequently. Lately it has been sluggish in starting up, even though we replaced the battery just last year. Our mechanic explained that newer model cars have so many systems running even when the car is turned off the battery gets drained. He recommended we buy a battery desulfator such as the Pulse Extreme Charge to maintain the battery. Costs about $100. Are desulfators a good idea? Any drawbacks? Any other product suggestions?
Jim
I have no idea what a “desulfator” is, but you can buy a Battery Tender Jr. for about $40, and it will maintain your battery at the correct charge level even if the car is driven infrequently. I use one of these over the winter and it works very well.
DO NOT use a trickle charger, which will over-charge the battery. A Battery Tender is electronically controlled to bring the battery to peak charge and keep it there without over-charging.
MC gave you the advice your mechanic should have. It will only add this. It would not be worth $100 even if it would de-sulfur the battery, it would be better just to purchase a new battery.
As for will it work, will it may de-sulfur the battery or it may not. In either case it would not be the best choice. Follow Paradise’s advice.
There are special chargers that can get the sulfate deposits off the plates of poorly-maintained batteries. I bet they cost lots more than $100 if they work well. Go with a maintainer, as others have suggested, and you won’t need a desulfator or a defibrillator, whatever.
I have a moderately-nice craftsman battery charger that has the desulfate button. I’ve tried to use it on a few borderline batteries but it never seems to make a difference. One of them was just old, but the other two were the classic relatively-new battery left discharged for too long situation that’s supposedly what the desulfate process can fix.