How to get the most out of a car battery?
It is merely impossible to imagine commuting daily to the work by walking, especially when one has to travel several miles. Perhaps, it’s the automobile innovations like cars and bikes that have enabled humans to easily to do the same. Fuel and fluids that power car engines and car batteries enable humans to commute to places easily with the help of cars.
However, everything has a limited life. This holds true, even for things like a car battery. Car batteries are composed of different chemical materials that run out of their power-producing capacity after some time. This time frame varies anywhere from 3 to 5 years depending on conditions and how it was treated during its course.
There are instances where one might have found their car battery to be dying earlier than imagined. This is because the car battery might have undergone an excessive strain before giving up. Such kinds of mishaps can be avoided to make a car battery last longer. Here’s how one can get the most out of a car battery:
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Cleaning the battery:
Unlike most of the internals, a car battery is perhaps one of the most exposed components that are openly accessible right upon opening a car hood. This is one of the reasons why so much dust is contaminated with a lot of dust and other contaminants. A regular check and care to ensure that the battery terminals stay clear of such contaminants ensure that the car battery keeps on performing optimally.
Apart from such contaminants, a car battery also tends to develop a powdery substance on its terminals on its own. Such kinds of deposits can be cleared off the connection terminals by applying a mix of water and a couple of spoonful of baking soda to form a paste after disconnecting the terminals from the cables.
Once the mix is applied, rub it off with the help of an old toothbrush and clean it off properly with a cotton cloth before reconnecting the cables. Such a process can be made even easier if complemented with additions like corrosion eraser, terminal protection fluids, process guides, and other terminal cleaning tools. One can also look forward to replacing the battery terminals if they are corroded to an irreplaceable extent.
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Temperature observation:
The chemical nature of a car battery limits its working to a certain range of temperatures. This is one of the reasons why one might find performing a car optimally in one weather condition as opposed to others. Car batteries are known to show faster signs of aging or running out quickly when it comes to extremely warm and cold weather. A regular battery inspection shall help overcome the side effects of using a car battery in such weather conditions.
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Disabling accessories:
Car batteries tend to deliver a high amount of power while cranking an engine when a car is started. Turning on various accessories like nav systems, ACs, parking lights and other such components at the time of starting a car tends to put an unnecessary strain on the car batteries. Keeping the accessories off during such events ensures that the car battery doesn’t end up taking an excessive hit in terms of its overall cranking potentiality and delivers a desired, optimal performance.
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Battery setup:
A car battery is held up by different nuts and bolts inside the car assembly under the hood. Such connections can get loose over time due to their moving nature. A loosened car battery is highly fragile and hazardous by a possible explosion. Ensuring that a car battery is regularly fastened avoids the possibility of excessive vibrations. While a battery shouldn’t be kept excessively loose, one must also ensure that it isn’t fastened too much.
Excessively fastening can cause internal battery damage and shorten down the options towards nothing but a battery replacement. Once a tightening is felt, just go half a turn more to ensure that the bolt is tightly aligned to the nut.
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Avoid small trips:
Sometimes, humans habituated to drive their cars, even for small trips to places like the closest supermarkets and shops. Such kind of small trips frequently put an unnecessary strain on the car battery. Small trips often bare the opportunity for batteries to regain the energy lost while they are running for such a small distance.
Constant repetition of such a process meant a drastic voltage dropping until the battery suddenly ran flat one day. To avoid such unexpected happenings, one can prioritize their car journeys for longer distances and keep a battery charger handy to avoid such mishaps. They not only help to charge the car battery but also maintain a stable voltage level.
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Monthly inspection:
A lead-acid car battery has unique complications. Such batteries are known to drain their power when they are left partially charged. Keeping a check and ensuring that they stay around 12.7 volts ensures that the car battery doesn’t unnecessarily drain power. Devices like a voltmeter can help car owners keep such checks every month. Voltage counts tell a lot about how much power is left in a battery.
Anything below 12.5 volts is highly susceptible to be a warning alarm to get the battery charged. Counts like 12.4 volts signal half battery charge while 12 volts signal a flat battery. A little bit of laziness to check the car battery can leave one with a flat battery in the middle of a long drive.
These are some of the essential tips to get the most out of a car battery. While death is inevitable, such measures and practices ensure that a car battery keeps on going strong for miles and years to come.
