General Guidelines for Battery CareThe primary purpose of your car battery is to start your vehicle. With regular maintenance and cleaning you can avoid a dead battery or break breakdown on the road. The batteries role is to supply power to the starter as well as powering any electrical accessories when the car's not running. Like your radio, courtesy lights, anti-theft system and door locks, maintaining your battery before problems arise can help your vehicle's battery last longer and perform at its peak while giving you peace of mind knowing that your engine will start no matter the conditions.
With a few simple steps, you can't keep your vehicle's battery charging better for longer. Most car batteries are located under the hood and invisible, accessible place, but sometimes you'll find them in the trunk, under the spare tire or even under the backseat. Consult your owner's manual for its location. Remove the cables before performing any battery maintenance. If your cables aren't color coded, usually they're red for positive and black for negative. Pay attention to how the cables are attached before you remove them. Remove the positive (red) cable first. By removing the positive lead first accidentally dropping the red cable will not arc to the frame of the car and potentially create a fire. Wiggle the cables side to side and pull up to free them from the battery posts to clean the posts. Remove corrosion from the terminal cables by using a cleaning solvent designed for battery terminals . It's a good idea to regularly check these terminals at oil, change intervals and clean them as needed. |
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This helps ensure a strong electrical connections to help your battery deliver power to the rest of the vehicle. No corrode washers are available that are especially designed to prevent battery corrosion at the terminal connections. Once the cables have been reconnected, you can coat the terminals and battery posts with a terminal protection spray cleaning your batteries. Cleaning the battery casing with a wet cloth can be helpful since dirt or traces of battery acid on the outside can create a pathway between the positive and negative terminals which could drain your batteries power.
If you're still having problems with your battery or you notice any issues at all, head to the auto parts store to have your battery tested for free. It can be checked on or off the vehicle and if necessary find a replacement if you need one. Fluctuations in temperature are bad for batteries so checking in the sprint and fall when temperatures start to change is a good idea. So you'll know its condition. Knowing whether or not you need a replacement before harsher weather comes along will help keep you from getting stranded with a dead battery.
For vehicles that remain unstarted for long periods of time, it's wise to take action to protect the vitality of the battery. You may not ever store your daily driver. The batteries in vehicles that are stored are susceptible to discharge and damage and may never be able to hold a full charge after sitting this charge for long periods of time to protect the batteries in your classic cars, lawnmowers, boats, motorcycles and other stored vehicles. It's important to follow the steps for general battery maintenance and you might also consider removing the battery and storing it indoors.
Storing your battery inside will reduce the chances of it being affected by extreme temperatures or parasitic drain that goes undetected. Although you can store it in the vehicle if you prefer, connecting stored batteries to a battery maintainer will supply your battery with a small trickle of electricity without overcharging it to ensure it stays alive over long periods of time. Hopefully this answers any questions you might have had about battery maintenance.
If you're still having problems with your battery or you notice any issues at all, head to the auto parts store to have your battery tested for free. It can be checked on or off the vehicle and if necessary find a replacement if you need one. Fluctuations in temperature are bad for batteries so checking in the sprint and fall when temperatures start to change is a good idea. So you'll know its condition. Knowing whether or not you need a replacement before harsher weather comes along will help keep you from getting stranded with a dead battery.
For vehicles that remain unstarted for long periods of time, it's wise to take action to protect the vitality of the battery. You may not ever store your daily driver. The batteries in vehicles that are stored are susceptible to discharge and damage and may never be able to hold a full charge after sitting this charge for long periods of time to protect the batteries in your classic cars, lawnmowers, boats, motorcycles and other stored vehicles. It's important to follow the steps for general battery maintenance and you might also consider removing the battery and storing it indoors.
Storing your battery inside will reduce the chances of it being affected by extreme temperatures or parasitic drain that goes undetected. Although you can store it in the vehicle if you prefer, connecting stored batteries to a battery maintainer will supply your battery with a small trickle of electricity without overcharging it to ensure it stays alive over long periods of time. Hopefully this answers any questions you might have had about battery maintenance.
More detailed look at battery care...
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One of the first checks that we can make with our batteries is its state of charge. And to do that, I'm going to be using a digital multi-meter today and I have it set on a 20 volt scale. Scratch through the outer layer of corrosion in order to get a decent reading. Looks like the on pictured is at twelve point five.
And some change. Now a fully charged battery will be twelve point six or above. So really, I'm not doing too bad at all. In fact, the Fairmont sits on the side during the winter is wintertime right now. So I'm not surprised that this charge is a bit low. What are some of the things we can do to keep the battery in good stead? |
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As long as we have our dvm out, we can check a couple of other things to make sure that all of our connections are good and that there's no surface drain on the battery. Make a good connection between battery terminal and wire clamp. Verify it by check the voltage drop between the battery terminal and the cable clamp. Make sure to check not only the positive post but the negative (ground) post as well.
Also, I'm looking at a zero voltage drops. That is totally awesome.
Next lets check what is called battery surface voltage drain.. Believe it or not. Over time, corrosion on the top of the battery case can actually become conductive and as a result, it can slowly drain your battery. The way to check for this is similar to what we did checking for the voltage drop on the cables.
Put the red lead of the dvm on the positive post of the battery and the black lead on the case of the battery in different places looking for a voltage to register.
On the battery we're working on we got about a 5 volt drain. Mostly I'm finding it around the outside of the caps here, but that's significant. It's not everywhere, but it is there. And this does account for a drain on the battery. So how do we fix this?
Well, we clean it. Remove the battery for service to make things easier and remove the negative cable first. This helps minimize any issues with sparks. It's also the last one you want to install. Next so removes a hold down.
Also, I'm looking at a zero voltage drops. That is totally awesome.
Next lets check what is called battery surface voltage drain.. Believe it or not. Over time, corrosion on the top of the battery case can actually become conductive and as a result, it can slowly drain your battery. The way to check for this is similar to what we did checking for the voltage drop on the cables.
Put the red lead of the dvm on the positive post of the battery and the black lead on the case of the battery in different places looking for a voltage to register.
On the battery we're working on we got about a 5 volt drain. Mostly I'm finding it around the outside of the caps here, but that's significant. It's not everywhere, but it is there. And this does account for a drain on the battery. So how do we fix this?
Well, we clean it. Remove the battery for service to make things easier and remove the negative cable first. This helps minimize any issues with sparks. It's also the last one you want to install. Next so removes a hold down.
Check battery cell levels
Now I'm going to check something that you can't check on all batteries. A lot of batteries are sealed and you don't have access to the individual cells on the inside. But in the ones you do you can remove these caps. Be very careful. Because you'll be dealing with sulfuric acid wear safety glasses. But you can just pry these covers up. So if you get a little more cleaning to do, I'm going to clean around the outside here, but I'm going to be very careful not to get any of the dirt down inside the battery itself.
That's better. Now let's get a look at those electrolyte levels. OK. Here's a close up look down inside these cells. Nice to see that contamination in there. That's not so good. You want it to be nice and clear like what you see. Looks like you've got a little bit of dirt in there and that one levels look good. In the cells where the level is low add distilled water.
But what you're looking at is the plates. But as far as the level goes, it should be right to where that plastic is. And that's good. Sometimes in hotter climates, especially, the water evaporates out of batteries. The acid stays the same, but the water evaporate. So if you find the electrolyte to be low, top it off with distilled water. Use a small vessel when adding water to the battery. It makes over spilling less likely.
That's better. Now let's get a look at those electrolyte levels. OK. Here's a close up look down inside these cells. Nice to see that contamination in there. That's not so good. You want it to be nice and clear like what you see. Looks like you've got a little bit of dirt in there and that one levels look good. In the cells where the level is low add distilled water.
But what you're looking at is the plates. But as far as the level goes, it should be right to where that plastic is. And that's good. Sometimes in hotter climates, especially, the water evaporates out of batteries. The acid stays the same, but the water evaporate. So if you find the electrolyte to be low, top it off with distilled water. Use a small vessel when adding water to the battery. It makes over spilling less likely.