Car Battery Charger
Abattery chargeris a very convenient tool to have around the house during emergencies. It helps you recharge your dead battery and restore the chemical reaction on the internal plates and electrolyte to get your car back on the road as soon as possible. Still, there are some safety precautions you need to follow to prevent damage to the battery, yourself or even your home. This guide will tell you how to safely use a car battery charger.
What type of car battery charger you have?
Basically, you'll have either a fast (boost) charger, a slow (trickle) charger or a model with both types integrated into the same unit. The fast charger uses high electric current to quickly charge the battery. This makes the fast charger very convenient, if you don't have the time to wait for several hours to recharge the battery.
However, there is a good reason to use a slow charger as well. The slow charger uses a small amount of electric current to recharge the battery. Thus, the charging process can take ten or more hours. Yet, a slow charge can greatly restore the chemical interaction between the plates and the electrolyte, improving battery performance.
Safety precautions
Whether you are slow or fast charging your car battery, follow these safety precautions when recharging your car battery:
1. Choose a well-ventilated area outside the house, if you plan to slow charge the battery. Car batteries produce hydrogen gas, which is highly explosive when exposed to a spark or flame. Thus, choose an area away from appliances that work with open flames like a cloth dryer or water heater.
2. Verify that your battery doesn't exceed a temperature of 120 F (48.8 C) to prevent damage to the battery. On the other hand, the battery shouldn't be frozen or have traces of ice in the electrolyte either. In this case, you'll need to bring up its temperature to prevent damage to the battery or cause an explosion.
3. If your battery has removable vent caps, remove them. Put on your safety goggles and protect your hands with chemical resistant globes. Clean the battery top and remove the caps using a flat-head screwdriver. Check theelectrolyte. If necessary, add distilled water to each cell to bring the acid to the proper level. The acid should reach the fill ring visible through the cap opening. This will help remove some of the battery gases as well. Then, replace the battery caps.
4. Now, make sure the charger is unplugged and the switch is in the off position before you connect it to the battery.
5. Connect the charger's black lead to the negative post of the battery-the one with the negative (-) sign next to it. And connect the charger's red lead to the positive terminal on the battery-the post with the positive (+) sign next to it. If your battery has side terminals, use adapter-charging terminals to hook up the charger.
If you are fast charging the battery on your vehicle, you should connect the charger's red lead first and then connect the black charger's lead to a good ground on the vehicle next. This could be a bolt, metal bracket on the engine or the vehicle's frame. Choose a spot as far away from the battery as possible. This will prevent a spark from potentially catching on to battery gases.
Charging the battery
6. At this point, you can select the right settings on your battery charger. For example, select the slow or fast charge, and the proper voltage and amperage. If you are fast charging the battery, though, choose an amperage setting bellow the 35 amps to prevent potential damage. See the charging timetable on your charger's instructions manual. Amperage settings and charging times will vary according to your battery'scold crank amperage(CCA) rating, reserve capacity (RC), and the residual charge at the time of charging.
7. Place the charger as far away from the battery as you can and plug in the charger to a wall outlet. Turn it on. If you are slow charging your battery, don't leave it unattended for long periods of time. Specially, make sure the battery doesn't overheat or acid spills out through the vent caps. In this case, you'll need to stop charging the battery and have it checked before attempting to recharge it.
8. Turn off the charger. If you own a manual charger, you'll need to turn off the charger yourself after the charging period has ended. Then, unplug it from the outlet and disconnect it from the battery. If you fast charged your battery on your vehicle, disconnect the black charger lead first and then the positive lead. This will reduce the possibility of creating a spark as you disconnect the charger.
It is not hard to learn how to safely use a car battery charger. However, always read the operating instructions that came with your charger. It will give you the right settings for the specific features on your charger. Specifically, read the recommended amperage settings for your particular battery and the type of charging.
