What to do to make the car battery last long
In this article I want to talk about how to make your battery last a long time. You again could not start the engine because the battery died, because it was almost new and most likely you think the battery is to blame, in fact the battery is the last in a chain of faults and several factors have preceded this.
I will give you some tips to help you keep your battery for years to come.
The first thing to do after buying a new battery is to remove the shipping film from the battery, many believe that the film will keep it pristine clean and perhaps even pass it under warranty, here is exactly the same story with the seats in cellophane, remote in cellophane, but in fact the battery in cellophane is even more dirty and faster because of the moisture, dust and acid.
Second, always keep your battery clean. Note that 90% of the dead batteries were dirty, this is what caused them to die, because dirty batteries would discharge on their own, even if they were parked outside the car.
On a dirty battery, if you take a voltmeter and connect one probe to the plus terminal and the other probe to the body of the battery, you will see that the multimeter will show voltage.
You can also do an experiment with a simple LED, it lights up almost everywhere you touch the battery case, which means that we have a leakage current and it discharges itself.
Third, check the charging current of the generator, the value of the voltage below 13.8 volts leads to undercharge, and above 14.4 volts to overcharge, which affects its life as well. In all textbooks and in all service books it is written that it should be 13.8-14.4 volts, but there are always people who manage to argue with this fact. I would even say that for the cold season the charge should be at least 14 volts with all electrical appliances on, and who has less, then the problems begin in winter.
Do not allow frequent full discharges of the battery, it may lead to sulfation of the plates, after 1 discharge you lose 20-30% of its capacity, therefore, 3-4 full discharges and the battery can be passed into waste.
Also in the battery is very dangerous overcharge 14.5 volts or more. If the voltage regulator fails and the battery starts to overcharge intensively, therefore the electrolyte starts to boil and the water boils off, the density may increase or the active mass of the lead plates may crumble, and the battery can be scrapped.
More for the battery need to consider the additional equipment – these are tape recorders, amplifiers, subwoofers, if you like such devices, then you need a battery of higher capacity and the generator, which gives more ampere-current and must necessarily be thick wires.
My advice to you guys run away from all electricians who check the battery charge by removing the terminal from the battery, it is unacceptable, because you can burn the electrical system of the car.
Leakage currents. Be sure to check the electronic system for leakage currents, this is the current loss of the battery on the car with all appliances turned off. Leakage current can be checked, in the gap with a milliammeter or current clamp, should not reach up to 20 milliamps, normal is when 5 milliamps, that is, the car almost consumes nothing, but when the car has 1 amp, 1.5, or 2 amps, even with all devices turned off, it can lead to complete discharge of the battery in just two days, and we already know what leads to complete discharge of the battery.
To illustrate, I want to show you an example of how much an ordinary 21-watt light bulb consumes, it consumes 1.7 amps, that is, the leakage current of 1.5 amps, equivalent to the fact that you have a light bulb constantly on.
5. Killed starter … The best starter in the cold season can consume up to 200 amps, because he needs to pull the frozen oil in the engine, to start in a warm season, the rate is 50-80 amps. And if the starter is faulty, it takes a lot of energy. Another reason can be broken wires or wires with a thin cross section, the cross section decreases and all the energy goes to heat the wire, and not to start the engine. So you should always check how many amps your starter is consuming.
6. Never check the electrolyte density on a discharged battery, all diagnostic work is done on a fully charged battery, this is 12.6-12.8 volts and preferably at ambient temperature + 25 degrees, otherwise all values may not be correct. Here is a table showing all the ratios…
On the discharged battery, respectively, the density of the electrolyte will be small, we put the battery to charge, put the current no more than 4 amps and unscrew the plugs a couple of outlets in the battery, so that the vapors leave the battery and not accumulate after fully charging the battery.
Pure chemistry here, when the battery is discharged there is a reduction reaction of lead oxide on the positive electrode and metallic lead oxide on the positive electrode, the electrolyte turns to water and the plates turn to lead sulfate, hence the sulfation of the plates. When you charge, the reverse reaction occurs, the positive electrode is oxidized and the negative electrode is reduced. So it turns out that at full charge the density of the electrolyte is restored or may not be restored if the battery is already dead.
So, if you want to measure the density of the electrolyte, charge it first.
There are a lot of modern maintenance free batteries now where you can’t measure the density. Their technology assumes that there is almost no water evaporation.
They have an intricate, labyrinthine system on top that allows the vapor to cool and flow back into the cans. Therefore, to determine the density of the electrolyte in such batteries, it is sufficient to use the table that is placed above.
7. In winter, the battery is weak in taking a charge while it is cold. In the under the hood battery gradually heats up from the heat of the engine, due to this electrons begin to move faster and the battery goes to normal operation. I would advise against using special insulators for the battery as this keeps it from heating up from the heat of the engine.
8. Before the first frost you need to fully charge the battery, especially if you have short trips, this will help you keep the battery safe from many factors. In this case, it is best to charge with a current of about 2 amps for about 10 hours.
9. When you want to start the engine with a donor, it is not always possible to start especially in severe frost, if you connect the terminals directly, all the current will go to charge the dead battery and the energy may not be enough to start the engine, and also it may drain the donor battery.
Do this… Loosen the minus terminal of your battery, then put on the plus battery wire first, then the minus battery wire, then gently remove the minus terminal from your battery, thus you will not open the circuit. When you start the engine, do everything in reverse order.
That seems to be all the basic factors to prolong the life of your battery. Have a safe trip.
10 Tips to Make Your Battery Last for a Long and Loyal Life
It is the dream of every driver that his car did not break down. But to do this dream is not enough, it is also necessary to properly care for it. We have found 10 ways to properly maintain your car battery so it will last a long faithful service.
- The most important thing you need to do is to choose the right battery for your car. To understand how to do it correctly – refer to the documentation of the car, which should be written exactly the parameters of the car battery: capacity, power, current. These parameters are enough to ensure that in the future purchased battery is fully charged, held a long charge and not discharged to a critical level.
- Constantly, especially in the winter season, watch the external condition of the battery. If it already shows small cracks, then ensure that it is in full working order.
And the most important thing is not. I should add: 1. Never fill up the electrolyte in the battery, especially sulfuric acid, unless it accidentally leaks out of the battery. If the electrolyte level drops, only refill with distilled water. 2. Never allow the battery to be completely discharged, much less stored like this. This is death to the battery. 3. Important. At intervals of once every 3-4 months conduct a training cycle of discharge-discharge. You came to the garage in the evening, leave the lights on, and put it on the charge in the morning. 4. Do not use simple, home-made, primitive chargers which do not control the degree of charge. If you overcharge, boiling electrolyte is inevitable deformation of the plates, crumbling. 4. Do not bring batteries for winter storage in a warm room, even in the cold, fully charged and serviceable batteries are better stored, from time to time recharge. One last thing; I have 39 years of driving experience, I’ve had a lot of cars. Battery life: the shortest is 6 years, now at Skoda battery, its native went almost 11 years old. As long as it runs.
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