How to Charge a Car Battery?

Introduction

Having a car battery charger in your garage or your car when on the road is a lifesaver. Being able to give you battery a boost when it needs it is as easy as having a car battery charger or jumper leads close to hand and you will never be stuck with your battery dead again.

How to Charge a car Battery at Home?

There are a number of steps that you need to take in order to use your car battery charger both at home as well as when you are on the road. First you will need to plug your charger into an outlet. Then you will place your clamps onto the battery terminal posts. Positive clamp is usually red in color and attaches to the connection with a plus sign. The negative clamp is usually black in color and will attach to the post that has a minus sign.

For safety purposes you must ensure that the claps do not touch each other or any other metal objects on the battery. The next step is to switch your charger on and set the voltage. You will need to check your cars instruction manual to ensure you use the right amount of volts when charging. Once on check that there are no sparks or leakage of fluids, if nothing like that happens then your battery is charging. Leave the battery charging for long enough to thoroughly charge your battery up to a level of charge that is stable.

Charging a car Battery how Long

Charging time on a car battery will differ depending on the size of the battery concerned. When talking size you are talking amperage and not physical size of the battery. It will also depend on how low your battery power is, if it is very discharged then it will take longer to charge and could take up to 12 hours to get it back to working levels of charge.

If you jump start your car and use your alternator to charge your battery then the charge will take around an hour. If you are going to be using a battery car charger it can vary between 1 and 3 hours. The lower the amps on your charger the longer it will take to charge. A 12 volt battery using a 10 amp charger will charge the best.

Charging a car Battery While still Connected

You can leave your battery connected when charging if you are using a trickle charger which is designed to keep your battery at a certain level of charge for extended periods. If you are using a full charge then it is best not to keep your charger on while still connected for safety reasons.

How to Charge a car Battery with Jumper Cables?

It is very simple to jump start your car using jumper cables, and there is no danger when doing this if you do it correctly. We give you the steps you need to take in order to do this in the correct way:

• First you will have to have another car with a working battery or a battery charger that can be used to revive your dead battery. Make sure that the working car is switched off or the battery charger is not plugged in before starting.

• Connect the red or positive jumper cable to the positive side of the dead battery. The positive side will have a plus sign.

• Connect the red or positive jumper cable to the live battery in the same way.

• Connect the black or negative jumper cable to the negative side of the good battery. The negative side will have a minus sign.

• Connect the black or negative jumper cable to the negative side of the bad battery in the same way.

• You will then start the live battery and leave it running for a period of two to three minutes. Rev the engine a few times to ensure that the dead battery is charging.

• You will turn the key in the car with the dead battery and test if there is a charge in the battery yet. If there is the car will start up.

• If your car has started then remove the cables in reverse order.

• Keep your car running for at least thirty minutes and run the engine at high RPM’s to ensure that the battery charges adequately.

How to Recharge a car Battery Without Jumper Cables?

Jump starting your car battery without using jumper cables is possible. This is done mainly in stick shift cars but there are ways to do it in automatic cars as well. For a manual or stick shift car you can follow the following steps:

• You will need to get your car moving. If it is at the top of a hill then that is perfect as you can just start it rolling down, if not you will have to find somebody to push it for you. It is important to remember that your brakes and steering wheel could also be reliant on your electrical systems so don’t roll your car down too steep a hill if possible.

• Ensure the hand-brake of the car is released, push down on the clutch and get the car rolling.

• Once the car is running down the hill at a fair speed try starting it by turning the key in the ignition with the clutch pushed down.

• If that does not work, then you will have to turn the key and at the same time release the clutch into a gear and press down on the accelerator at the same time. It is always recommended to put your car into second gear when accelerating.

Once the car is started make sure you leave it running at high RPM’s for about 30 minutes to get the battery to charge enough to function properly and not to die again.

Conclusion

The best way to charge your car that has a flat battery is with a car battery charger or you could use jumper cables if there is somebody around with a working car to assist you. You can not only charge your car or jump start it when the battery is dead using a car battery charger but also maintain your cars battery or any other battery operated vehicle with these great devices.