How to charge the car battery correctly?

The car battery may drain at the most inopportune moment. And there can be a lot of reasons for this, from the included dimensions that were corrupted by the night, or long listening to music with the engine turned off to severe battery wear, when it begins to rapidly lose its charge. Naturally, in such a situation, it is necessary to bring the battery back to life as soon as possible, for this, special chargers for the battery are used. Moreover, when working with these devices, it is very important to do everything right, so you need to follow a few simple rules. Let's talk about everything in order.

Checking the battery status

It is very important not to allow a critical discharge, because it negatively affects the battery life. Each driver must be able to determine the moment when it is necessary to charge the battery. The easiest way is with models that are equipped with a special indicator. It is a small green ball-shaped float placed in a transparent cone. If the level and density of the electrolyte inside is at a sufficient level, then the ball pops up-the indicator in this case lights up green. If nothing is visible, you should recharge the battery.

To determine the discharge, you can use the special device — multimeter. It determines the voltage at the terminals of the power supply. If the battery is 100% charged, then the voltage is ≥12.6 V. The indicator 12.42 V already speaks of charging only by 80%, 12.2 V — 60%, 10.5 V and less — 0%.

In addition, you can test using a load fork. It shows how much the voltage dropped under load, that is, with its help you can set the actual charge indicator and battery capacity.

Preparing the battery for charging

If after checking it became clear that the starter battery needs recovery, then it needs to be charged. But first you need to prepare it properly.

• It is advisable to disconnect the battery from the on-board network and remove it from the vehicle. If time is very limited, you can disconnect only the negative wire.
• The next step is to clean the contact terminals of oxide and grease residues, this is necessary to ensure good contact.
• The surface of the battery is recommended to be wiped dry or dampened with a 10% solution of soda ash or ammonia with a rag.
• When working with classic serviced batteries, be sure to unscrew the plugs that are located on the battery cover. Look inside if the liquid level is critically low, add the required amount of distilled water.

How are car batteries charged?

The process of restoring a dead car battery is extremely simple. It is important to properly connect the charger to the power source-the polarity of the terminals must be strictly observed when connecting them («+» to «+», «-» to «-»). Only then can the charger be connected to the outlet.

When working with automatic devices, you don’t need to do anything else-they turned it on and forgot, they will do everything themselves, pick up the necessary current and voltage and turn off as soon as the battery is fully restored. If you use a device with manual control, you must independently set the initial operating parameters. As a rule, it is recommended to use current with a force equal to 1/10 of the nominal capacity indicated on the power supply case to charge car batteries.

Separately, it should be said that the battery should be charged at a temperature of 20-25 ° C. The fact is that if the temperature is lower, the process may be delayed, since the reaction slows down. If the room temperature is below 0 ° C, it is extremely undesirable to charge starter batteries under such conditions, since the effect will be very slight, almost zero. That is why it is very important but before restoration, bring the battery from the cold into a heated room and wait a few hours until the electrolyte inside warms up to the desired level.

Precautions

Each car battery is a complex electrochemical system, within which different processes occur. When charging such power supplies is released into the atmosphere explosive mixture of oxygen and hydrogen, which is why certain safety rules must be observed when working with them:

• Lead starter batteries can only be charged in rooms with reliable ventilation, which are well ventilated.
• Close use of open flames is strictly prohibited.
• When charging on board the car, be sure to check that the negative contact wire is disconnected, otherwise there will be a short circuit, and you can burn the car electronics.

How long should the charge last?

The duration of charging automobile batteries depends primarily on the degree of their sparseness. Typically, a fully discharged power source is restored in 10 hours. If it was only partially discharged, it would naturally take less time.

One of the criteria for a 100% battery charge is considered to be the drop in current that it can take to 2-3 mA for each Ah of its capacity (with a buffer charge mode). In order for the charge level to reach 100%, after the current drops, it is still necessary to continue charging for about an hour. Then you can be sure that the battery has recovered entirely.

What types of chargers are there?

Chargers can be divided into different groups according to several important criteria that have a direct impact on the features of their work and operation.

Depending on the charging method, the following memory are allocated:

• from direct current;
• from constant voltage;
• using the combined method.

The first option is considered more effective, but when using it, you need to clearly control the process to prevent overcharging and boiling of the battery. The second method will be simpler, however, it cannot provide a complete restoration of the power source, in this case the charge is only possible at 80%.

That is why most modern chargers work on the basis of the so-called mixed (combined) method, when the first two types of charging alternate. This option is characterized by efficiency, safety and extreme simplicity. Human participation in the process is minimized, constantly monitoring the state of the battery is not required.

Depending on the purpose of the battery charger, there are:

• Chargers-able to restore the starter battery from an existing source of electric current.
• Start-charging-can not only charge the battery from the network, but also start the engine with a fully discharged battery under the hood. They are capable of generating current of high power-200 A or more. These are simply irreplaceable helpers in the winter, when at sub-zero temperatures drivers are constantly faced with the problem of starting the engine.

Given the design features and operating principles, devices of such types as:

• Transformer-it’s already evident from the name that they use a transformer that connects to the current rectifier. These are easy to use, reliable and efficient appliances. They have only one drawback-large weight and overall dimensions.
• Pulse-the basis of the design of the charger of this type is a voltage converter that operates at high frequencies. In fact, this is the same transformer, but it is more compact and lightweight. Therefore, the memory is small in size. Modern pulse devices are very popular, most of the processes in them occur in automatic mode, which greatly simplifies operation and control.

As you can see, charging car batteries is not a complicated process, the main thing is to follow some rules and choose the best device for recovery.

You can buy a battery charger in Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa in the online store 130.com.ua. We have devices of all types and in different price categories.

Materials on the topic