Helpful Info On Changing A Car Battery

As it gets older you car battery can start to lose its charge. You'll need to get a automotive battery tester to see where it's at. When you battery is weak it can cause your car turn over slower and make for harder starts. There may be times when you have to jump start your car because your battery just can't do it. This is very common when you only use your car for quick trips to the grocery or the weather gets bitterly cold. You could just buy a new battery but if you had a cheap battery charger things could be different. With a low priced battery charger you may be able to keep your battery going for a lot longer.

Now if you see a dashboard warning light flash on, then there is a failure in the charging system. This is something that needs to be addressed immediately, as recharging the battery will not rectify the problem. If your battery is refillable, you should remove the caps, and lay a damp rag over the opening while you recharge the battery.

If you have sealed battery with a charge indication window on top of your battery you should only use a charger if the window shows green or black. IF there is nothing in the window (it's clear) or is is yellowish you need to change that battery out for another one.

When recharging the battery, a trickle charger is your best bet. The trickle charger is specially designed to slowly charge your battery, and is relatively inexpensive. This device has two wires with alligator clips attached, and an electric cord to plug it into the outlet. You will notice that one wire has a green or black jacket, while the other's jacket is red.

Make sure that your car ignition is turned off when you begin. This is probably the most important tip to remember when starting to recharge your battery. You will first attach the red clip of the charger to the battery's positive terminal, which is marked with POS or +, while the green (or black) clip is attached to the negative terminal of the battery (marked with Neg or -).

After the charger has been properly connected to your battery, plug the charger into an electrical outlet and turn it on. You should let the charger run for several hours, or even better, overnight. Continue to leave the charger running until the meter registers a reading under 1 ampere. When you reach that reading, you should then unplug the charger from the electrical outlet, and then disconnect the charger from the battery.

Give some thought to a jump start for the engine if, after recharging, the battery fails to do its job. It is time to replace the bad battery if you are able to jump start the engine and the ammeter or charging system light shows that operation is normal.

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