Coca-Cola will not rejuvenate a dead battery!

This is another Internet hoax to get your views…

Everyone,

I just found a video purporting to show how to use Coca-Cola to rejuvenate a dead Flooded Lead Acid battery. Of course this is a bunch of baloney, but notice that it's already had 2.7 million views (and counting). Click the screenshot below to watch the video, but be aware that it’s a complete hoax…

I sent this video to U.S. Battery and asked them to comment on it. Below is their response.

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I have heard of using Coca-Cola to clean corroded battery terminals but never to add to lead acid battery cells.

First, using Coke to clean battery terminals may appear to work since there would be a lot of fizzing, etc. but the objective is to neutralize the acidic terminal corrosion.

Coke contains carbonic, citric and tartaric acids and would not neutralize the corrosion.  A better method is to use baking soda which is basic and would neutralize the corrosion. Then wash off the residue with clean water.

I watched the youtube video and have one comment:  What an exercise in futility! I suppose the premise is that since Coke is acidic, it could replace the sulfuric acid in the battery electrolyte. 

Again, Coke containers carbonic, citric and tartaric acids; not sulfuric acid.  It also contains a lot of sugar. 

All of this will poison the battery and cause it to fail in short order even if it does partially recover.

At the start of the video the battery has zero volts and won’t light a 12 volt bulb.  After dumping and filling with Coke and distilled water [plus refilling with a mystery electrolyte] and then charging, it lights the bulb.

Does that mean to suggest it would actually start  a car?  Not likely!

Why not charge the battery first? Granted, some automatic chargers won’t start charging if the battery voltage is too low. In this case, the best corrective action is to connect the dead battery in parallel with a good 12 volt battery and charge until the dead battery comes up to 12 volts or higher.

Then finish charging the battery until the specific gravity in all cells stops increasing; hopefully they all come up to 1.265 but if they are at least 1.250 the battery has recovered enough to start a car.You would need a good automotive battery hydrometer to check specific gravity; available at any auto parts store.

Once fully recovered, the battery will continue to charge properly on the vehicle’s charging system and start the car. 

A battery rinsed out with Coke and distilled water [then refilled with a mystery electrolyte] will do neither.

Watch out for hoaxes - Mike