06
Nov
A tow truck driver from Triple-A used this as his rule of thumb. Your vehicles alternator can keep a healthy battery charged but it was never designed to completely recharge a dead car battery if the unit in question reads below 12 volts.
Jumper cables and a second battery battery booster or second vehicle might be enough to jumpstart the vehicle.
Can you recharge a dead car battery. Your vehicles alternator can keep a healthy battery charged but it was never designed to completely recharge a dead car battery if the unit in question reads below 12 volts. Many battery chargers deliver two to six amps some allow you to choose the amperage level and will take at least several hours to recharge a dead car battery. It is possible to recharge a dead battery and depending upon the situation you are in a dead battery is generally an easy fix whether you are stuck in your garage and can handle it yourself or you are in the middle of nowhere and need professional quick and efficient service in the blink of an eye.
Recharging the battery can get you back on the road and can preserve the life of the battery. Heres how to charge a dead car battery. How to charge a dead car battery.
Gather the correct materials - Battery Charger Battery Cleaner Disposable rags or paper towels Distilled Water Flat-head Screwdriver Gloves Memory Saver Ratchet with small extensions and sockets Safety Glasses Wheel Chocks Wire Brush. It can but you have to know how and when to recharge it as opposed to just scrapping it for a new one. If its completely dead its gone and you need to find a replacement.
It takes between 4 to 24 hours to fully charge a totally dead car battery depending on how many Amperes your car battery charger is charging with and your car batterys size. Batteries generally have a life span of five years and advanced designs can last seven to 10 years so dont feel too bad if your old battery makes its way to the recycler. Jumper cables and a second battery battery booster or second vehicle might be enough to jumpstart the vehicle.
The dead battery wont accept a charge though so dont shut the engine off. Do not attempt to jump start a frozen battery as it could explode. Thaw it out and attempt to charge it first.
According to NAPA Auto Parts a healthy car battery shows 124-127 volts. If its slightly below that jump-starting and driving your car for an hour should be enough to recharge it. Under normal circumstances starting your car will drain the battery a little but the alternator will charge it back up as you drive.
In that same way any power that your cars accessories use while you are driving should be supplied by the alternator so the battery never cycles deeper than it is designed to. You can always recharge a dead car battery with a jump from another car battery. And as there are several conditions that can prematurely kill your battery you should know that you can still recharge a battery even when it is already dead.
Recharging a Dead Battery No dont just replace a dead battery right away. In general if the battery is showing between 12 and 124 volts its safe to recharge it using your vehicles alternator. In order to charge a dead car battery a set of jumper cables and a functional car with a charged battery is required.
You will then have the ability to connect the batteries to one another using the jumper cables and recharge the dead battery by transferring energy from the functional battery. At times car batteries lose charge prematurely especially when you leave the lights on for long. Finding yourself with a dead car battery is a serious inconvenience.
Luckily you can easily recharge your car battery. You just need very little mechanical know-how and a speedtrickle charger to do so. Even while your car is collecting leaves on its hood your car battery is always being used in some fashion which means it will continue to drain.
Thats mainly because its still powering your cars alarm system climate control computer systems and any other electrical features it has on board. A common reason for a dead car battery is that its been drained by the lights being left on without the engine running. If your battery hasnt completely discharged you may be able to charge it using a car battery charger that plugs into the mains.
You need to give your car battery some time to recharge. A minimum amount of time you want to let your car run after giving it a jump is 5 10 minutes. Perhaps even revving the engine up a little bit 2000-2500 RPMs.
A tow truck driver from Triple-A used this as his rule of thumb.