How to use a car battery charger
If your car has not been driven for a considerable amount of time due to lockdown, it may be a good idea to purchase a car battery charger to ensure that your car battery is working to its full capacity for when you get back on the roads.
If your car has been sat idle, either that be on a driveway, in a garage or on a road, it is important to ensure that you go on a drive every 2 weeks for at least thirty minutes (preferably on a motorway or a dual carriageway).
A long journey will help the alternator charge the car battery. It is important to know that if your drive your car regularly but only do short journeys, this will make your battery work harder. These short journeys may result in the car battery becoming flat as more current will be drained from the battery than the alternator can put back.
In this article, we will be explaining how to use a car battery charger, which will help prevent a flat battery.
What does a car battery charger do?
The positive and negative leads of the car battery charger clip to the battery terminals to help replace the car battery's lost charge.
When looking at purchasing a car battery charger, it is important to know that the higher the amps, the quicker the car battery will charge. However, charging the battery quickly can damage the battery in the long term.
How to hook up a car battery charger
It is important to follow the instructions within the manual for your particular car battery charger, however, most car battery chargers will follow the below instructions.
Before connecting the car battery charger to your car battery, make sure that the car battery charger is turned off.
Now take the positive cable from the car battery charger and connect this to the positive terminal of the car battery. Once this is connected, get the negative cable from the car battery charger and connect this to the negative terminal of the car battery.
Now that the cables are connected to the car battery terminals, before your turn on the charger, make sure that you set the car battery charger to its slowest rate of charge. Once this has been done, you can now turn on the charger and set how long you want to charge the car battery.
How long does it take to charge a car battery?
If your car battery is completely flat, a car battery charger should be able to get your engine started within 2 hours. Once your car starts, we would recommend taking your vehicle for a drive (preferably on a motorway) to ensure that the alternator can charge the car battery. To charge your car battery fully, it can take up to 10 hours.
If your car battery is completely flat, it may be worth jump starting your vehicle. To read how to jump start your vehicle, please click on the related article below.
Related: How to jump start a car?
Car batteries at National
If you consistently have a struggle starting your vehicle, this could point to a fault with the car battery. Over time, as the battery ages, the internal battery components can erode and become less effective. Another common warning sign that you have a faulty battery is that a dashboard warning light may appear. If this is the case, we recommend booking into your local National Tyres branch and get your car battery tested.
If you are looking to purchase a new car battery, these can be purchased online and fitted at your local National branch. To see all of the car batteries that we currently have on sale, please click on the link below.
Related: Car batteries online
Did you enjoy this blog post? |
7 people found this review helpful
Sign up for SPECIAL OFFERS
