[000.0-003.2] Oving slowly, the plates keep clearing.
[003.2-004.7] By the end of three days,
[004.7-006.5] the internal resistance of the battery
[006.5-009.4] has dropped by another 15 to 20%,
[009.4-013.3] according to the measurements in that 1924 manual.
[013.3-016.5] That resting period is the secret nobody talks about.
[016.5-019.0] The modern mechanics who know about Epsom salt
[019.0-022.0] all skip it, they wanna put the battery back in the car
[022.0-024.3] and move on to the next job.
[024.3-027.0] But the Amish, who measure their lives in seasons
[027.0-028.6] and not in service tickets,
[028.6-031.6] always let the battery rest, three days.
[031.6-033.1] That's the difference between a battery
[033.1-034.7] that gives you a few more years
[034.7-037.5] and a battery that gives you the rest of your life.
[037.5-040.0] I tested this myself with two identical batteries
[040.0-042.2] from the same pickup that had two identical
[042.2-043.7] good batteries running it.
[043.7-047.3] I treated both the same way with the same salt solution.
[047.3-049.9] I put one back in service after the overnight charge.
[049.9-051.8] I let the other rest for three full days
[051.8-052.9] before installing it.
[052.9-054.5] That was four years ago.
[054.5-057.3] The first battery is starting to weaken again.
[057.3-059.3] The second one is still cranking the engine
[059.3-062.0] on the coldest mornings like it just came off the shelf.
[062.0-065.0] This is what I mean when I say the knowledge was preserved.
[065.0-067.1] It wasn't preserved in a library.
[067.1-069.4] It wasn't preserved in a university.
[069.4-073.1] It was preserved in the workshop of one quiet man in Ohio
[073.1-075.3] whose grandfather refused to throw away
[075.3-078.8] anything that could be saved and now you have it.
[078.8-080.8] Think about every battery you've replaced
[080.8-082.4] in the last 20 years.
[082.4-084.8] Think about every weekend you spent jumping a car
[084.8-086.2] in a parking lot.
[086.2-088.6] Think about every winter morning you stood in the cold
[088.6-090.6] turning a key on a dead engine.
[090.6-092.0] None of it had to happen.
[092.0-094.4] The chemistry to prevent it has been sitting on the shelf
[094.4-097.2] of every hardware store in America the whole time.
[097.2-098.6] Two dollars a bag.
[098.6-100.2] If you're the kind of person who believes
[100.2-102.7] that real knowledge has been quietly pushed aside
[102.7-104.6] to protect someone else's profit,
[104.6-106.6] you already know what to do next.
[106.6-109.5] You don't have to take my word for any of this.
[109.5-111.7] Go out to your garage this weekend.
[111.7-113.7] Find the oldest battery you've got,
[113.7-115.6] the one you were about to throw out.
[115.6-116.7] Pop the caps.
[116.7-118.8] Mix up a cup of warm distilled water
[118.8-121.8] with one heaping tablespoon of Epsom salt.
[121.8-125.2] Treat all six cells, trickle, charge it overnight.
[125.2-126.5] Let it rest for three days.
[126.5-129.0] Then come back here and tell me in the comments what happened.
[129.0-131.1] I wanna know, did it come back?
[131.1-132.9] How old was the battery when you started?
[132.9-135.4] Leave a comment and tell me the year and make of the vehicle
[135.4-137.2] because I'm building a list of what works
[137.2-139.3] and what doesn't and your data matters.
[139.3-143.7] Subscribe to keep recovering what was taken from you.
[143.7-145.2] Because next time I'm going to show you
[145.2-147.4] the Woodstove Chimney Trick, a blacksmith
[147.4-150.6] in Lancaster County uses to cut his firewood consumption
[150.6-152.9] in half through a Pennsylvania winter
[152.9-154.8] and it involves something you probably already have
[154.8-156.7] sitting in your shed right now.
[156.7-158.0] But before we get to that,
[158.0-159.9] I wanna take you deeper into the story
[159.9-161.2] of this battery powder
[161.2-164.2] because there are details I left out the first time through.
[164.2-168.4] Details that matter, details that explain why this method
[168.4-170.9] works when so many other so-called fixes
[170.9-173.0] turn out to be nonsense.
[173.0-175.3] I want you to understand the chemistry well enough
[175.3-176.9] that you could stand in your driveway
[176.9-179.4] and explain it to your neighbor over the fence
[179.4-181.2] because that's how knowledge used to travel
[181.2-182.9] in this country before it got locked up
[182.9-184.6] behind pay walls and patents
[184.6-187.2] and proprietary additives sold in shiny bottles
[187.2-189.3] for $40 an ounce.
[189.3-192.8] Let me take you back to 1,912.
[192.8-195.5] That's the year a man named Charles F.
[195.5-197.5] Kettering, working out of a converted barn
[197.5-198.3] in Dayton, Ohio,
[198.3-200.0] perfected the electric starter motor
[200.0-202.3] for the Cadillac motor car company.
[202.3-205.9] Before Kettering, you started a car with a hand crank
[205.9-207.7] and if the engine kicked back,
[207.7-211.5] the crank could break your wrist or your arm or your jaw.
[211.5-213.3] A wealthy man named Byron Carter,
[213.3-215.8] a friend of the Cadillac founder, Henry Leland,
[215.8-217.6] died in 1910 from injuries.
[217.6-219.2] He got cranking a stalled car
[219.2-221.4] on the Bell Isle Bridge in Detroit.
[221.4-223.8] Leland was so shaken by the death of his friend
[223.8-225.4] that he ordered Kettering to find a way
[225.4-227.7] to start a car without a crank.
[227.7-230.2] Kettering solution required a battery powerful enough
[230.2-231.5] to spin an engine over
[231.5-234.0] and that battery was a lead acid wet cell,
[234.0-237.5] six cells in series, 12 volts total
[237.5-239.2] with removable caps on top
[239.2-241.8] so the owner could check the electrolyte
[241.8-245.6] and top it off with distilled water as it evaporated.
[245.6-250.1] That design, that exact design is still in your car today.
[250.1-252.0] More than 112 years later,
[252.0-253.5] the chemistry has not changed,
[253.5-255.8] the materials have not changed.
[255.8-257.3] The only thing that has changed
[257.3-258.7] is that somewhere along the line,
[258.7-260.8] the manufacturers sealed the cap shut
[260.8-262.9] and told you the battery was maintenance free,
[262.9-264.9] which was not a technological breakthrough.
[264.9-266.6] It was a marketing decision.
[266.6-268.3] It was the moment they decided
[268.3-269.9] that you would no longer be permitted
[269.9-272.4] to maintain your own property.
[272.4-274.8] Now here's the part that very few people know.
[274.8-277.2] In the 1920s and 1930s,
[277.2-278.9] when batteries cost the equivalent
[278.9-281.6] of three or $400 in today's money,
[281.6-283.0] every garage in America
[283.0-285.4] kept a jar of magnesium sulfate on the shelf
[285.4-288.4] next to the distilled water and the hydrometer.
[288.4-291.9] Mechanics called it sulfate salt or just battery salt
[291.9-293.4] and they added it to the electrolyte
[293.4-296.2] whenever a battery started losing capacity.
[296.2-298.5] There was a man named Harold Sturges,
[298.5-300.6] a mechanic in Akron, Ohio,