How do I charge the battery at home?

Probably, every car owner faced the problem of a dead battery. This trouble can happen with any driver, if you do not give enough attention to the power source of the car.

We will talk about why the car batteries are discharged, and also about the peculiarities of their charging at home.

Why the battery sits down

Usually the life of a modern car battery is 5-6 years, provided it is properly used and serviced in a timely manner. At the end of this time, the power source is worn out, and it is almost impossible to restore it.

However, it often happens that even a relatively new battery stops working. There may be several reasons for this:

• The car stood for a long time without moving, especially during the cold season;
• Insufficient quantity and density of electrolyte in cans;
• Malfunctions in the electric equipment of the car;
• Destruction of the battery working plates, etc.

If the machine is standing for a long time without moving, the battery, not getting charging, is discharged. Especially quickly it happens in the cold. It is enough that the car stood for two or three weeks, and you will not be able to start it.

During battery operation, the electrolyte is gradually evaporated. And if you do not control its number, eventually it will lead to the fact that the battery will lose its properties.

The cause of discharge can also be various problems with electrical equipment. This can be a short circuit, a lack of charging caused by a generator malfunction, etc.

In the event of the destruction of the working plates, the battery should not be used - this can cause an internal short circuit, which is fraught with the failure of other electrical equipment and even a fire.

How to prepare the battery for charging

If nevertheless the storage battery is discharged, it is not necessary to rush to carry it in service. You can charge it yourself, of course, if you have a charger, plus you know how to charge the car battery. But first the battery needs to be prepared for this.

To begin with, it must be removed from the car by disconnecting the terminals. If the battery has been in the cold for a while, it must be taken to the room and given a few hours to warm up before proceeding to charge.

Charge the battery at home and you can not remove from the car, but do it only in a dry warm place, better in the garage.

If the battery is serviced, you must unscrew the cans and check the electrolyte before charging. If necessary, add it. And only then, without twisting the plugs, start charging.

And further. Before charging the battery with a charger, you need to know its capacity. It is usually indicated on the label and measured in ampere-hours (Ah, Ah / h). This value is needed to calculate the optimum charging current.

A few words about security measures

Before you charge the battery at home, it's not out of place to learn a few simple rules that will protect you and your loved ones during this process.

• First, the room in which the charging will be done should be well ventilated. Evaporation released during the process (sulfur dioxide, hydrogen, etc.) is unsafe for health.
• Secondly, it is forbidden to charge the battery near open flames and heating devices.
• And thirdly, any charger works from the network, so it is not recommended to leave it unattended for a long time.

Charging methods

There are three main ways to charge the battery:

• Constant voltage (voltage 14.5-16.5 V with current decreasing from 45 to 20 A);
• DC current (charging current is 10% of battery capacity);
• Combined method (first by direct current, then by constant voltage).

After choosing the optimal option for constant voltage, you will have to wait 24 to 48 hours. In the first case, the charging voltage is set to 16.5 V, and in the second - 1.4 V. The battery, charging, gradually "gaining strength", leveling the difference between the battery and charger.

The method of direct current allows you to charge the battery at home for 10 hours. Here it is important to determine the charge current accurately. As already mentioned, it should be equal to a tenth of the capacity of the battery. In other words, if the capacity of your battery is 55 A / h, you need to set the charging current to 5.5 A. When the battery voltage reaches 14.4 V, it needs to be reduced to 3 A, and at 15 V - to 1.5 A.

The combined method combines the first two and is considered to be the best today. For this method, there are special automatic chargers that can be used without constant supervision.

If you do not want to understand how to charge the battery with a charger using the described methods, use the tips below for quick and full charging. They do not require special knowledge in the field of electrical engineering, and therefore even a beginner will do.

Quick charging method

How much should I charge the car battery ? There is no clear answer to this question. For each case it will take a different time. Normally, it takes 12 to 24 hours to fully charge the battery. However, you can charge the battery at home even faster. This, of course, is not entirely correct, but if you do not have time to wait, use the fast way.

To do this, you can not remove the battery from the car, just disconnect it by removing the terminals. Unscrew the lids of the cans (if it is a serviced battery), check the amount of electrolyte. If there is a need and an opportunity, we add it.

Next we connect the terminals of the charger to the battery, strictly observing the polarity. Only after that you can connect to the network. After turning on the charger, set the current controller to its maximum value.

After 30 minutes, the charging is stopped. This time is enough to ensure that the serviceable battery is recharged and able to start the engine. Further charging it - the case of the generator, unless, of course, we are not dealing with malfunctions of electrical equipment.

Full charge

If you have time, it is better to make a full charge of the battery, using a small current. This method will charge the battery at home in a sparing mode to the maximum.

Remove the battery from the car, after disconnecting the terminals. We install it on a flat surface. We unscrew the plugs, check the electrolyte. We connect the terminals of the charger, not forgetting to observe and check the polarity. We connect to the 220 V network and set the charging current at the level of 10% of the battery capacity. Leave for 10-12 hours, not forgetting to check the progress of the process.

How much should the charged battery show?

How do you know that the battery is charged? Often you can hear that the battery level can be checked with a voltmeter. There is, they say, 12 V - then everything is charged. In fact, this is a false way. Determine the battery power can only by the capacity indicator, and for this you need an hydrometer.

If you do not have it, you will have to be content with approximate indicators. Most of the modern batteries on the body have indicators on which you can determine whether it is charged or not.

But if there is no indicator, just look at the ammeter of the device. The more the battery is discharged, the more current it consumes during the procedure, and as it is charging its value will gradually decrease. The battery can be considered charged when the ammeter needle points to zero. That's why, in fact, the question of how much should show a charged battery, you can confidently answer - not at all!

Can I charge the battery without the charger?

But what if there is no charger? The easiest way in this case is to ask someone to "smoke" from his car. To do this, use a high-voltage cable with special clamps. They are placed on the terminals of the battery of the operating machine and on the terminals of the discharged battery connected to the electrical equipment of the other vehicle, with the polarity observed. After this, you need to wait some time (5-10 minutes), so that the discharged battery is slightly recharged, and start the engine. When the machine starts, the cable is disconnected. The battery will start charging from the generator.

But how to charge the battery without a charger, if there is no possibility to "light" it? In this situation, you can try to charge using a laptop adapter, but there are a few nuances. First, most of these devices do not produce a current greater than 2.5 A, so it will take a very long time to charge. And secondly, there is a high probability that the adapter will not withstand the counter current load and will burn.

Whatever it was, try still worth it, especially if there is no other way out.