Saving Your Car Battery
For those of us who either drive or own vehicles, one of the last things we want to experience is a dead battery. But this can easily be avoided.
My family and I bought our first car in November of 1989, and since then, we’ve either owned or driven several other vehicles, both gasoline-powered as well as diesel-powered. What I’m going to share works for all.
When you have finished your driving for the day...and please note....this applies to new batteries as well as to those which are not so new, (two years is considered a normal time for a regular lead/acid battery to work well), do NOT just switch off the ignition and lock up the vehicle! With the engine still running, switch off all the lights, radio and any other electrical appliances: accelerate the engine to a “fast idle” speed which is just above its normal idle speed, but do not race it. Keep the engine running at this brisk idle for about one minute, then release the accelerator and switch off the ignition.
I have found that this significantly improves the state of the battery while it is resting and gives you a quicker start the next day. Of course, do not neglect to check your battery cells periodically to ensure that the “plates” are covered with electrolyte, unless it is a maintenance-free battery. If necessary, buy a bottle of “Battery Life” or any other brand of distilled water, which is usually available cheaply from most gas stations, and gently add it to each cell until the dark plates are just covered. Do not overfill.
I am currently experimenting with a friend’s car which has a maintenance-free battery, and so far, that one minute of fast idling leaves it at a high charge...between 12.97 and 13.25 volts when I check next day.
I hope this little tip will help you greatly in maintaining your battery. Feel free to leave comments or questions. I’ll welcome your feedback here on the site. You may also visit another site which I sometimes use for recreation.
© Charles O’B. Harewood, June 2018
This article was written and submitted by Charles Harewood Jnr who is a former bank teller. While he was still at the bank, he used to give driving lessons in his spare time to a limited number of friends because of his great passion for driving and his God-given technical abilities. In addition to being an Internet Marketer with TripleClicks, he has experience in driving a Route Taxi. A Route Taxi, better known in Barbados as a ZR van, transports about fourteen passengers along a fixed route like a bus.
I sincerely hope that all of my friends and everyone else who reads this post will benefit from the advice given and will not have to replace their car batteries prematurely. Please make sure there is adequate ventilation...do not leave a vehicle idling in a closed garage...exhaust fumes may be harmful.
ReplyDeleteVery useful, but it looks like you have removed (cut in half) part of the plastic trim at the bottom of the window, and getting this out of the way is the most difficult part of the job, car battery is some time a real hell problem
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