When a car battery dies, you can attribute it to one of the following reasons: either you left your headlights on for too long, used your car accessories excessively, or your charging system is failing.
While you can’t go back and revert these causes, you can still remedy the problem by learning how to recharge a car battery.
So, for the record, do car batteries recharge? Well, your battery is built to last for four to six years. So unless it suffers from serious corrosion or leakage, a recharge will do to keep it going once it stops functioning.
Inspection, Preparation, and Charge Time
Before you start charging, make sure your battery terminals are clean. Besides your car battery charger, it helps to also have a pair of safety goggles, rubber gloves, baking soda, water, and a cloth at your disposal. There will be dirt, crud, or a build-up of sulfur on your terminals so it is important to wear protective gear when cleaning them out. Make it a point, too, to ensure your battery doesn’t have leaks or smoke coming out.
Read your battery charger instructions thoroughly. You need to know whether your car has auto shut-off and fast charging features or manual shut-off and slow charging features. Take note of this as it is important in correctly using your car battery charger.
After inspecting and preparing, you’re ready to recharge. Give sufficient distance between the charger and your battery. Never let them get too close to each other. Remove your battery caps to allow the gases to escape, then identify your terminals: a red or a plus sign means positive and a black or a minus sign stands for negative. Attach the positive charger clamp to the positive battery terminal and the negative charger clamp to the negative battery terminal. Plug and turn on your charger. So how long to charge a battery? The standard charging time for a full batt is 24 hours.
Jump-start
In the event that you find yourself in the middle of the road and there’s no electric outlet near you, the only option you have is to jumpstart your car using another car.
Things you need are just the same with those mentioned above, but instead of a charger, you’ll need jumper cables, a jumper box, and a functioning car.
The same methods apply. Inspect the batteries of both cars. Clean the terminals. Make sure the cars have proper distance between them before proceeding; remember to keep them close enough to each other but never in contact. Before attaching the jumper cables, make sure, too, that the engines of both cars are not running.
When it comes to working with jumper cables, it’s important not to let the clamps touch each other. In addition, the order of this process is crucial so it’s best to follow the steps carefully. Begin by attaching the positive clamp to the positive terminal of the dead battery first, then the other positive clamp to the positive terminal of the functioning battery. After that, attach the negative clamp to the negative terminal of the functioning battery, followed by the other negative clamp to any unpainted metal part of your car such as a clean nut or a bolt.
Start the functioning car first. Run it for a couple of minutes, then move on to your car. Granted that the transfer of power is successful, your vehicle will turn over easily. For it to continuously recharge, run it for at least 10 minutes. Remove the jumper cables in reverse order once done.
Now, if your car battery won’t hold charge after jump, that means you have a bigger problem in your hands. The culprit could be a faulty ignition switch, starter connection, fuses, alternator, etc. Or, your battery might just be too old and already needs a replacement. Go to your nearest auto repair shop to identify the problem at once.
Vehicle check-up and possible repairs mean dealing with skyrocketing costs. That’s a fact. However, you can lessen your expenses by buying your own car battery online. Auto Parts Warehouse can help you with that. We offer you an easy shopping experience and an array of options. Plus, we have deals that can allow you further discounts.
If you need a replacement battery, check out this link for our selection of top-grade car batteries.
Any information provided on this Website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace consultation with a professional mechanic. The accuracy and timeliness of the information may change from the time of publication.
