How to Test a Car Battery

The car battery is the soul of the car; its malfunctioning turns the car into a dead machine. You should always keep your car battery in an updated condition—fully charged and functioning—in order to not get stranded on road while you are driving. You should always keep your car serviced properly, and one way to do this is to learn how to test car battery yourself. It will save you money otherwise spent at garages.

The entire electronic functions in your car, even the ignition system works with the help of your battery. It is very easy to test a battery in your car by simply doing a thorough inspection and to also check the voltage stabilizers in your battery. The total electrical power to run the engine of a car is generated from the car battery; the car can generate its own power by an alternator that stores generated power in the car storage battery when it gets charged.

Battery basics

In order to know how to test car battery it is important to have a slight knowledge about the basic working of your vehicle. A car battery is an electrolytic capacitor which stores the electrical energy in form of chemical energy which converts the chemical energy back again to electrical energy as required. Usually a battery provides an approximate voltage of 12.6 V.

A battery runs through two processes mainly: charging and discharging process. While charging, the electrical energy is converted into the chemical energy and while discharging the chemical energy is converted back into the electrical energy in form of the power output. Thus it is very necessary to maintain this chemical balance to get the best result.

Another important factor in this chemical reaction is water. It is necessary to maintain the water levels in a car battery to stabilize the voltage output. Over charging the battery is not advisable as it may lead to further problems. You should always check the voltage levels while doing so.

Charging the battery

Some simple methods to know how to charge car battery is first and foremast check the current voltage output. The voltage level that it offers with or without load makes you understand the condition of the battery. You need to diagnose it with the help of a voltmeter set on 0-50 V range.

First you need to disconnect it from the car as per instructed in the car manual, to preserve the settings in the car attach a 9V alkaline battery to the PCM of the car, just connect the voltmeter in such a way that the red lead is connected to the positive battery terminal  and the black one to the negative terminal. Look at the voltage level. If it ranges between 12.6 and 12.8 that indicates that your battery is in top condition, if it reads even slightly lesser than that your battery needs charging.

You also need to check the fluid levels in your battery, check the cell compartments inside your battery, the electrode plates has to be merged in the electrolytic fluid, if not, add water to the cell compartment up until the fluid level fills till one-fourth of the plate. Also check the car alternator regularly from a mechanic.

Follow these basic steps and you ought to have a safe trip, where ever.

Photo Credits: Rich Moffitt

This post involves:

alternator, car battery, car storage, chemical balance, chemical energy, chemical reaction, electrical energy, electrical power, electrolytic capacitor, electronic functions, storage battery, voltage levels, voltage output, voltage stabilizers, water levels

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Battery, Car Tips

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