In a car, every detail has its own meaning and fulfills a specific role. And no matter what they say, there are no main mechanisms and secondary ones in it. With a discharged battery, for example, the transport will not show any signs of "life" at all.
Accumulator battery
The rechargeable battery is primarily necessary for the car's starter to operate and, accordingly, to start the engine. In addition, it is designed to provide electrical energy to various automotive consumers when the engine is not running. In turn, when the engine is running, the generator charges the battery.
Reasons for discharge
Everything seems to be banal simple, but many factors contribute to the discharge of the battery and many car owners simply do not pay enough attention to some of them. But even if the motor is idling, the energy consumers that have been switched on for a long time negatively affect its charge. In this case, this can include the connection to the car of other consumers that are not provided for by the standard equipment, and a short circuit in the power grid.
The quality of the battery charge is also affected by malfunctions of the car's electrical equipment, in which the charging voltage from the generator decreases, long-term parking with a negative terminal connected (from ten or more days).
Battery types
When the battery is discharged, the order of "resuscitation" actions will differ slightly depending on what type of battery is installed on the car. Batteries are classified into serviceable, low-maintenance, and maintenance-free. The first option is extremely rare, so we will not dwell on it. Low-maintenance batteries require periodic topping up of distilled water, and maintenance-free ones are designed in such a way that the water consumption in them is reduced to a minimum and they do not have special openings for such an operation.
Checking the voltage at the battery terminals
The only thing that is allowed to initially be done with any type of battery is to check the voltage with a load plug, multimeter or voltmeter. The voltage at the terminals of the battery with one hundred percent charge should be 12, 6-12, 9 V. Smaller indicators indicate its discharge.
Checking the electrolyte level and its density
If there is a low-maintenance battery, the car owner should check the electrolyte level, its density and, if necessary, top up with distilled water.
What is an electrolyte? It is a mixture of sulfuric acid and distilled water. The evaporation of water cannot be prevented, and it happens especially intensively during hot summer weather. On some types of batteries, there are minimum and maximum marks, but if there are no such marks, then you should check that the electrolyte completely covers the battery plates. On top of that, its reduced density often indicates battery discharge.
To check the density of the electrolyte, you need such a simple device as a hydrometer. It is a glass flask with a pear and a float. The density is checked in all banks of the battery, after which the appropriate conclusions are drawn. Normally, the readings should be from 1.25 to 1.29 g / cm3. To increase the density of the electrolyte, only distilled water is topped up.
Some batteries have a special charging indicator, it gives readings just based on the density of the electrolyte, which somewhat simplifies the task. If it is green, no charging is required, black - the battery is discharged, white - discharged or worn out.
Charging the battery
Based on the results of all the operations performed, you can proceed to direct charging of the battery. To do this, you need a special charger. As a rule, it is not difficult to use and fully automatic. It remains only not to forget to take a number of measures to properly charge the battery. Namely, remove the terminals and open all openings.
The positive terminal of the charger is connected first, then the negative terminal. And only after that the device is connected to the network. When charging is complete, disconnection is performed in the reverse order.
It should be remembered that when charging the battery, a combustible mixture of oxygen and hydrogen is released, therefore, in no case should the battery be placed near sources of fire. The room must be well ventilated.
This is not the case with maintenance-free batteries. They differ technologically from low-maintenance ones not only in that they have no filler necks, but also in their internal structure. Some, like low-maintenance, function thanks to a liquid electrolyte, in some it is contained in non-woven polypropylene, and in others it is mixed with silica powder and is a gel.
A maintenance-free battery should be charged with great care, strictly following the instructions. If possible, the current on the charger is set within 10% of the capacity indicator in Ah. When the battery is completely discharged, it is best to use only 1.5-2 A, since the rapid release of gases is fraught with serious consequences.
