How to Properly Charge Your Car Battery: A Quick Fix

You might have come across this problem before. You park your car perfectly alright at night. But when you start it in the morning, you find your battery dead. This is quite frustrating, especially if you’re in a rush. But don’t worry. Today we’ll walk you through the steps through which you can charge your car battery.

If you’re driving your battery on a long trip. Then, the best bet would be to jump-start the battery. Then, let the alternator fully charge your battery on the trip. But if you’re driving short trips, then this trick won’t work. While a jump-start will take you to your destination. You’ll still need to recharge your car battery so it doesn’t die again. If recharging your battery doesn’t work, then you’ll visit one of the nearest battery shops. If you’re looking for the best battery shop in the UAE, visit the Central Trading Company.

What Comes Next?

The estimated time that you’ll take to set up the battery for charge would be five minutes. While the battery itself would take one to six hours to charge. For the best results, charge your car battery overnight. Overnight charging would fully charge your car battery.

Charging a car battery doesn’t take a high level of experience or car knowledge. Although, if you can’t find the battery terminals under the hood. Then we suggest you go through your car’s manual instead of finding your way around. This will help you save a lot of time.

Things You’ll Need

There are a few things that you’ll need to make the charging process simple. The first and most important thing is the battery charger. Next, you’ll need a magnetic light to help you find your way under the hood. You might also want an extension cord. If the power outlet is far from where you want to place the charger. Moreover, you might also find having a pocket screwdriver to be useful. Especially if your car has a battery cover.

Steps to Charge Your Car Battery

1.      Get the Battery Ready

The first step is to see what you’re working with. This includes finding the battery and checking its type. Find out if your car battery needs removal for charging. While most of the batteries don’t need removal, some might. So, if you need to remove the car battery for charging, do so now.

2.      Power off Electronic Items

Once you locate the battery and prep it for charging, it’s time to remove all the load from it. Turn off all electronic items. These include the lights, both internal and external, and the media player. Make sure that there’s nothing turned on that might drain power from your car battery.

3.      Remove the Cables in Order

Once you prep the battery for charging, it’s time to remove it. But you must make sure to remove the cables in order. The first one to unplug is the negative cable. This one is usually a black cable and comes with a ‘-‘ mark on it. Once you remove this cable, now you can safely remove the positive one.  The positive cable is usually red and comes with a ‘+’ mark on it.

Some batteries come with plastic caps over their terminals. Make sure to pull these covers off before you start removing the cables. Then, loosen the negative terminal and pull the cable away from the terminal. Make sure that you don’t touch the wire where there’s no plastic cover. Then, place the negative cable away from the positive cable and remove it as well. The last thing you want is for these cables to touch and cause a spark.

If charging batteries isn’t your thing, then you can buy a maintenance-free ACDelco battery. Visit your nearest Central Trading Company store in UAE and get the perfect battery for your ride.

4.      Clean the Terminals

Now that you have the battery out of the hood, it’s time to clean it. Make sure to clean the terminals before you charge the battery. This will tone down the battery acid. Thus making sure that it doesn’t malfunction during the charge. To clean the battery, use a brush and a mix of baking soda and water. Scrub off the dirt and debris from the terminals. Then, dry them off before proceeding.

5.      Plug the Battery in the Charger

Before you go any further, make sure to check the instructions for your battery charger. Every charger has its own way of operating. So the best way is to follow the instructions that come along with the charger. If yours didn’t come with one, then we’re here to help you!

Firstly, make sure that the charger is off. Then, plug the positive terminal first with the positive end of the charger. Repeat this for the negative terminal. Make sure to plug the positive terminal first and then the negative one. After you connect the charger, it’s time to turn on the charger. Set it to the default value of charging. This will make sure that it charges the battery at the right rate. For optimal charging length, check your car’s user manual.

6.      Remove the Charger

After the charger charges the car battery for a specific time, remove it. Some chargers come with meters that show you when it’s safe to remove the cables. As the charge doesn’t instantly stop. So you’ll have to wait a couple of minutes after powering the charger off. Now, remove the cables as you plug them in. Remove the positive cable first and then the negative one. Then, place the battery back in your car and fit the cables in the positive-negative order.

How do You Tell if the Battery is Overcharging?

When you’re charging your battery for the first time, overcharging is possible. So make sure to look out for these signs that’ll tell if your battery is overcharging. You’ll smell rotten eggs, hear a hissing sound from your battery, or feel the battery case heating up. All these signs indicate an overcharging battery. So make sure to power off the charger if you come across any of these signs.