Tips on how to prevent your car battery from dying this winter. How can you prevent your car battery from dying this winter? The battery is one of the most vital components of your automobile, therefore, knowing how to keep your car battery from dying in cold weather is very important. As we all know, cold weather is one of the greatest enemies of our car batteries, and even the robust and newest battery may go dead when exposed to extreme weather conditions. The chemical reactions that keep an automotive battery functioning don’t handle cold temperatures well, however, there are several tips you can follow to protect its health.
There are various reasons why your vehicle battery dies in cold weather conditions. One reason is that vehicle batteries during cold weather produce much less electrical current which means the chemical reaction is much slower than on a summer day. Extreme cold also thickens engine oil, requiring your battery to work harder to start the engine. Your battery may also be getting old and its performance level has dropped, or your battery leads are dirty or loose.
Tips on How to Prevent Your Car Battery from Dying This Winter
Extreme winter temperatures can reduce the life of your vehicle’s battery, and whilst we cannot change cold winter temperatures, we can be prepared for them and minimize the risk of winter conditions impacting our motoring. Follow our simple tips below and save your battery from dying!
- Park your vehicle inside and avoid the wind. Don’t leave your vehicle outside, instead park it inside the garage. It will help to protect the battery against extreme cold weather. Safeguard it from the cold, blustering wind, snow, and ice by storing it in a carport.
- Use a thermal battery blanket to protect your vehicle’s battery. Cover your battery with it to protect it from the cold weather.
- Don’t turn on accessories immediately. Allow the alternator to charge the battery for a minute before charging anything to it. Remember to turn off everything that will use up power after turning off the engine, this will help your battery keep its charge longer especially in winter.
- Keep your battery clean, free from dirt and corrosion. Cold weather can quickly thicken the engine oil and increase electrical resistance, making the battery work harder. Dirt, dust, and corrosion on your battery connections can all contribute to this resistance. If you failed to maintain your battery, it would not survive the season, so always keep the battery terminals free from corrosion.
- Get your battery checked before winter hits. Regular battery checkups will extend the lifespan of your cells. It will be more helpful to do the check before wintertime. Maintaining healthy cells during the winter season will prolong battery life.
- Don’t just idle. To keep your battery in good condition throughout the winter, you should be driving your vehicle for at least 10km or more a few times each week. When you drive your vehicle, the alternator is busy working to charge the battery, refilling the power that was drawn to start the engine.
- Juiced your battery. A battery that is fully charged will not quickly deplete, it will remain alive even after reaching -76 degrees Fahrenheit while a discharged battery will start freezing at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Giving it some juice will strengthen its performance during the cold weather. So, make sure you charge it up.
Winter is not the best season for our vehicle batteries, that’s why we have to exhaust every means to keep them alive during this time. Following our tips on how to prevent your battery from dying can be very beneficial for you, so make sure you have read it.
If you plan on storing your vehicle during the winter, then always remove the battery. Store the battery in a dry cold but not freezing location and use a battery charger frequently to keep the battery charged. This will protect the battery during this time. Bear in mind that leaving the battery in place during winter storage will result in a dead battery. To keep the battery charged throughout the storage time. Utilize a trickle or float charger. Trickle and float chargers are devices that slowly emit low-voltage charges to your vehicle battery, restoring the battery to a fully charged status over several hours. Float Chargers is a device with on/off features which means it automatically turns off when the battery is fully charged and turns on again when the battery’s charge lowers. This is ideal if you’re going to have the charger connected to the battery for a long period. The Trickle charger is most effective when you are available to turn it off after the battery is charged as it does not have an on/off feature, no worries as it provides a small charge to your battery, it’s intended to be slow to avoid overcharging which can happen if they’re left plugged in for too long. Make sure to use the correct charger for your battery.
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