Sooner or later, most drivers encounter the inevitable inconvenience of a dead car battery. You don’t need to be an expert auto mechanic to know that without a running battery, your car won’t start. You can call a roadside maintenance service or find a way to get your vehicle to a repair shop, or you can charge your car battery yourself. If you have the proper equipment, like a portable battery charger, you can perform this task anywhere, even when stranded on the side of the road.
Let’s break down what a car battery does, why you should recharge your battery, and how to use a portable charger to charge a battery.
Car batteries are an essential component of your vehicle and trigger the chemical reaction that turns the vehicle on. They also produce the energy required to maintain consistent voltage. Thus, batteries are a critical element of the vehicle that should be properly preserved. One method to extend the life of the battery is to charge it.
Just as there are practices to avoid battery drainage, such as keeping the radio and headlights off when the engine is turned off, there are methods for adding charge to the battery as well. By acquiring a mobile charger, you can charge your battery to its full capacity and, when done properly, extend battery life. Considering batteries typically cost $100 to $200, a charger might be a good investment in your garage. Fortunately, there are several battery chargers available depending on your budget, charging speed, and warranty requirements.
Although the frequency of charging your battery is often situational, some recommend charging monthly. Since battery depletion occurs when the vehicle sits undriven, charging is beneficial to prevent the battery from going dead. Thus, for those who leave their vehicles for extended periods (weeks to months), it is best to charge the battery before the car is stored and again immediately after nonuse when you start driving again.
Given the electric current involved, you must take caution when handling battery-related matters. Please see the following directions for charging your battery.
Before you start charging the battery, you need to prepare it. Start by determining whether you need to remove your battery from your car to perform the charge. Some car batteries must be lifted out of their holding trays, while others can be charged as they are. In most conventional vehicles, you likely won’t have to remove the battery to charge it.
In the unique situation where you need to remove your battery to charge it, do so first before you start the charging process.
Once your battery is prepared for charging (if necessary), make sure all electronics in your car are powered down, including any accessories such as the interior cabin light or the stereo. If any electronics remain powered on during charging, the battery may experience an electrical arc during the process. Again, make sure all power and electronics have been turned off!
Having confirmed that all power is off, you can begin to remove the negative or ground cable for your car’s battery. It’s almost always a black cable marked with a “-“ symbol. The positive cable will be red and display a “+” symbol.
Your battery may also have plastic caps over its terminals that must be pried free for you to remove the cables. If these caps are present, remove them if necessary to access the terminals.
Use a socket wrench to loosen the negative cable, then carefully pull it away from the battery. Ensure that the negative cable is situated far from the positive cable to prevent a charge from transferring between the two sources.
You’ll need to repeat the removal process for the positive cable and terminal. Move the positive cable away from the negative terminal for the same reasons described above.
Before you start charging your battery, it’s a good idea to clean your terminals. You can do so using a terminal cleaning brush, which looks similar to a small toothbrush and is used to clear away corrosive debris and dirt from the terminals. You can also use either a commercial battery cleaning solution or make your own by mixing baking soda and water.
Cleaning the terminals neutralizes battery acid and prevents malfunctions from occurring when you charge the battery and reconnect the terminals.
When cleaning your battery’s terminals, always make sure you wear face and eye protection for safety.
With the steps mentioned above now complete, you are ready to hook up your battery charger.
Before beginning any of the processes noted below, please note that your charger may have specific instructions for its operation. You should follow these if they contradict our guidelines below.
Here is how to connect your battery charger:
After your charger has run for its desired duration and the charging process is complete, you can remove the charger’s connecting cables from your car battery. In some instances, the charger may have a meter or indicator telling you when it is safe to do so.
To safely remove the charger, make sure to power it off before touching any of the other controls on the unit. Only after the charger has been shut off is it safe to remove the cables. Once powered down, remove the positive cable first, followed by the negative.
After removing the cables, don’t forget to replace the cables on the terminals for your car battery. Again, make sure you reconnect the positive cable before replacing the negative, and be sure to use your wrenches to screw on any nuts or bolts as needed. If you removed the car battery entirely, you need to set it back into its tray and replace the hold-down clamp.
Once reconnected, you are finished. That’s all there is to it!
Now that you have learned how to charge your car battery, you may consider using a multimeter to test the battery in the future. A multimeter is an instrument that measures the amps and volts of the battery. If the multimeter’s digital readout indicates less than 12.2 volts, it is indicative of the battery requiring a recharge or replacement.
Now that we have outlined the process and you’ve seen it for yourself, it should be relatively clear that charging a car battery isn’t an overly complicated task. As long as you are sure to handle the cables in the correct order and you use the proper charging equipment, your battery should be charged in no time.
Matt Yantakosol is a lifelong automotive enthusiast and former consultant focused on the consumer aspect of the industry. He has traveled to New York, Detroit, Chicago, L.A., Paris, Geneva, Frankfurt, and Tokyo Auto Shows to track and observe the newest industry innovations. In addition to JDPower.com, Matt's writing has appeared on Pcarmarket.com.
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