8 Simple Tips & Tricks To Extend The Life Of Your Car Battery

Car and truck batteries should last about 3 to 5 years …

But lots of people discover that they need to change their battery every 1 to 2 years.

But, why is this?

So, what can you do to extend your automobile's battery life?

Well … That's what we'll talk about in this article.

We'll show you why car batteries die early … and what you can do to avoid this from occurring.

We will additionally provide you with 8 easy tips and tricks to optimize the lifespan of your vehicle's 12 volt battery.

The suggestions we'll teach you in this short article will certainly be easy to do … and also any person will be able to do these (even if you know absolutely nothing regarding cars and trucks or automobile batteries).

Let's get started!

To start with, You Need To Understand That Every Car Battery's Lifespan Has A Limit (however the majority of people destroy their battery long ahead of it's life).

First off, every auto battery has a limitation to its life expectancy.

Even if you deal with your vehicle battery completely … it will certainly still

die eventually.

This initial life-span is called the battery's "Calendar Life" and it's totally independent of how many times the battery has actually been charged or discharged.

As soon as a battery reaches the end of its "Calendar Life" it will certainly end up being unusable.

However a lot of vehicle batteries never make it their full "Calendar Life"…

Instead, they die early as a result of poor upkeep as well as treatment … which you can do something about.

Here's A Bit Of History Concerning Lead Acid Batteries Prior To Our 8 Battery Tips and Tricks …

Lead acid batteries are the oldest, most trustworthy, and most commonly used type of rechargeable battery's on the planet.

Lead Acid Batteries have 3 life phases-- formatting, peak, and decline.

Formatting is when the battery is brand-new and also needs to be utilized carefully.

Optimal is the perfect efficiency stage, which we seek to preserve for as long as feasible.

Decrease is a slow-moving process, but one that progressively finishes in the termination of the battery.

Batteries in decline can still be used for a long time, but need to be viewed.

Around this period of time, you can either refurbish the battery or keep a close eye on it and also attempt to change it prior to any trouble occurs (like being unable to start your vehicle for work).

8 Easy Tips To Extend The Lifespan Of Your Car's Lead Acid Battery

Tip #1: Perform a month to month check up of the battery terminals to ensure that they are clean and corrosion free

One of the particular and initial troubles the majority of folks have with their car battery is actually the buildup of corrosion all over the battery terminals.

Corrosion ruins the connectivity around the battery and the vehicle and lots of batteries are replaced due to a lot of corrosive build-up.

But in many cases, this can be quickly managed by simply putting a very small amount of Cola or a Do It Yourself anti-corrosion mix (which one part water to three parts of baking soda) on top of the corroded locations.

The acid inside of the Cola as well as the alkaline properties inside the DO-IT-YOURSELF anti-corrosion mix will definitely eat the corrosion off.

When the corrosion is alleviated, utilize a fresh moist cloth or sponge to cleanse the remaining deposits and moisture.

Be really sure to allow it dry out, and then wipe a bit of petroleum jelly onto the terminals to protect against long term corrosion.

• note: check out our essential safety tips at the end of this article prior to disconnecting/re-connecting your battery.

Tip #2: Do not run any type of cars or truck devices (radio, lights, or electronics) prior to activating the auto ignition as well as driving the vehicle

When the car is turned on, the car alternator creates power and charges the automobile battery after the battery has a decline in voltage.

Leaving Car Lights On While Car it is Off Drains The Car Battery. However, if the vehicle is not on, and you are not making use of the vehicle's electronic devices and you are simply relying on the vehicle battery to power those electronics.

This is detrimental to the vehicle battery since automobile batteries are just not made for this kind of use.

Instead, car batteries are only meant to provide an abrupt burst of power for the ignition. They are not made to supply extended power for electronic devices or various other devices (this is what a deep cycle lead acid battery is made for).

Utilizing your automobile battery as a battery that powers electronic devices, rather than a battery that just provides you a burst of power for ignition, will damage the battery as well as considerably reduce it's life-span if it's repeatedly made use of in this fashion.

So, try to avoid operating any type of automobile devices or electronic devices while the vehicle is off.

Tip #3: You want to make sure that the car battery is securely attached and that it has good battery cables

Your battery must be secured at all times. If a battery is moving around at all, it will be weakened and might short circuit.

This will certainly ruin your battery & will even cause damage to your vehicle, as well as create a safety risk.

This might happen if you have a bad battery or bad cables (or if they are not connected properly). So be sure to check your battery cables and ensure that they are securely connected as well.

Tip #4: You should insulate your vehicle battery to protect it against any extreme changes in temperatures

By protecting your vehicle battery from any large changes in temperatures will help to maximize your battery’s life time.

You can do this with a vehicle battery insulation kit.

The Newer model vehicles should already have these type of kits already installed. However, if your car does not have one installed, you can easily install one of these kits yourself.

But make sure that it fits your vehicle's battery compartment. In general the companies that sell these type of battery insulation kits, usually have a form on their web site so you can put in your vehicle model and year, and it should also inform you if the battery will fit with their kit.

These safety battery protective sleeves are typically constructed from plastic or an acid immune, thermal resistant material.

And these vehicle battery insulation kits, will also insulate your battery as well as protect it and still allow for proper ventilation.

Tip #5: Make sure that you fully charge your vehicle battery at least once a week (using a car battery charger or change between batteries if you need to)

Even when your car is turned off, your car battery still drains.

Now this happens because the current is still drawing from the battery by the vehicle accessories (like your radio, lights, etc.) or even the car computers.

And this is the reason that when people come home from long vacations they discover that their car battery is dead.

Now to prevent this, you may use either a vehicle battery charger or even solar battery charger.

Vehicle battery chargers (regular or solar) will maintain the optimal charge level of your vehicle battery, even when the car is not being used.

They provide enough power for all of the car accessories and even the car computer, so that they won’t continuously draw all the current from the vehicle, even when the car battery is off.

As you can see, these vehicle chargers are really useful, especially if you happen to go on a trip or you might have left your vehicle to sit for a while.

They are also very useful if you happen to frequently go on short car trips (like going to work back and forth each day) and you never allow your battery a chance to be fully recharged. If you repeatedly do this, it will drastically reduce your battery’s life time, unless you use a vehicle battery charger or you change out batteries and can leave one at home so it can fully charge.

Now the most valuable part of this tip to remember is to …make sure that you remember to fully charge your vehicles battery a minimum of once per week, because doing this will dramatically increase the life expectancy of your battery. You can do this with a battery charger and change out batteries …or by simply going on a car ride that is just long enough to recharge your battery.

Tip #6: Be sure to check your car battery’s water level

The majority of car batteries will indicate when there is a need to add water.

So, make sure that you check your car battery water level's indicator light regularly to see if water is needed. Make sure you re-fill your battery using distilled water (very important, make sure you ONLY use distilled water when you are refilling your car battery).

Tip #7: Don't overcharge your vehicle's battery

Never over charge your vehicle's battery. Because lead acid batteries will release oxygen & hydrogen gases if they are over charged.

This will cause two problems:

1. These gases are explosive.
2. They also will break down the structure of the water in the battery and will shorten its life-span.

Tip #8: Be sure to check your car’s alternator

If you do all of the things that we have recommended to you in this article and your car batteries are still dying to soon, then you need to check out your car’s alternator (or get a mechanic to look at it).

If your alternator goes bad, this will result in an ineffective re-charging of your battery & will dramatically shorten the battery’s life span.

Some Important Safety Precautions:

Safety Precaution One) Before you disconnect your vehicle battery, be sure to read your car owner manual first. The most common (if it is not stated otherwise, in your owner’s manual) is to make sure that you disconnect the negative cable first and then you disconnect the positive cable. And when you reconnect the battery, make sure to connect the positive cable first, followed by the negative cable.

If this is done in the wrong order, it can affect your car fuses and other things. Such as the electronics. Make sure to remove your car keys from the ignition prior to performing any work on the battery. Some vehicle's are much more sensitive when you perform this procedure than others. Such as German Luxury Cars (like Mercedes Benz and the BMW type cars) – so be sure you use some extra caution.

Safety Precaution Two) In case you are charging a battery, be sure to do it in a well ventilated area. While handling a car battery that is already installed, you will need to open the hood of the vehicle for a few minutes, so as to allow for it to ventilate first.

What can you do if your battery dies?

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If your car battery happens to die or it is in the decline phase, all hope is not lost! You can still recondition the battery and bring it back to life again.

There is actually a very simple method which you can learn in the EZ Battery Reconditioning program that will bring a dying (or dead) 12v lead acid vehicle battery back to life once again.

It’s very simple and very quick…

This easy 12v car battery reconditioning method will extend the life time of your car's battery even longer than the tips we discussed in this here…

…PLUS it will save you money, since you can re-use your reconditioned vehicle battery instead of buying a new, over priced battery.

You can learn more here.