Car Battery Charger Basics
photo credit: AndyArmstrongA car battery charger is a piece of equipment that connects to a car battery and passes electrical current to the battery after it has lost its charge and gone flat. When using a car battery charger, it is very important to follow the instructions which came with the charger.
It’s usually a good idea to check to see that the battery fluid level is ok (where this is possible) before connecting the charger. The charger will have cables which are usually coloured red for positive and black for negative. You need to attach the negative (black) cable from the charger to the negative connection on the car battery and attach the positive (red) cable of the charger to the positive side of the battery.
Usually it’s best to charge the battery the lowest amp setting, but this will obviously take longer. If haven’t got a lot of time, you should use a higher amp setting to enable the battery to charge faster. Using too high a setting could cause the battery to heat up and become damaged, so make sure you avoid this. There are some safety issues to be aware of when it comes to car batteries and chargers. When checking the fluid level inside the battery, make sure that you don’t get any of the liquid contained in the battery in your eyes, or on your skin. It could potentially burn skin and damage your eyesight. Make sure that you wear safety goggles and ideally gloves to protect your skin from the battery acid. While you are working on the car battery and charging it, you should avoid smoking. Gases given off while charging can explode causing serious injury and damage to property.
Some chargers need to be connected to a mains electricity supply during the whole of the charging period. Others are portable and rechargeable, and can therefore be used to charge a flat car battery where there is no mains electrical supply. If driving in remote areas, or anywhere else that has no mains power supply nearby, the portable chargers are the best type to choose.
There are also solar-powered car battery chargers which plug into the 12v socket inside the car. They will trickle-charge the battery at a low amp rate and will therefore take longer to charge the battery, but they are relatively cheap and don’t need to have a mains power supply outlet. They are useful if your car is unused for long periods of time, as they can be left connected and will keep the car’s battery charged and ready to start the engine when required.
