Whether it’s a kid’s toy car or a real automobile car, a car needs a battery to function. The battery is the car’s electrical heart. When it dies, your car won’t start and may leave you stranded hopelessly in any situation. But many people take car batteries for granted; they don’t take care of the batteries and don’t feel the need for timely service of them.
What is the Battery?
Telling in the simplest way a battery is a device that translates chemical energy into electricity. The battery electricity is used by the starter plug of the car engine to help it ignite. The battery is composed of cells that store energy. They store the power that starts the engine and supplies all the car’s electrical needs.
The mechanism behind the working of the battery.
All car batteries are generally lead-acid type. The car battery is an example of a wet cell battery. A battery is composed of different cells, mostly six cells.
- Each cell generally has two plates: one is made of lead and another one of lead oxide.
- Anode (Positively charge plate): Lead oxide
- Cathode (Negatively charged plate): Lead
- Electrolyte(Solution in cells dipped): Sulfuric Acid.
An insulating plate is kept between each cell to prevent touching and allowing the proper flow of electricity through it.
- All the positive plates in a cell are connected at the top, as are all the negative plates. The cells themselves are interconnected, positive to negative.
- Now sulfuric acid which is the electrolyte acts as an acid catalyst, this acid provokes the reaction to produce different ions like hydrogen ions, oxygen ions, lead ions, and lead oxide ions.
- The result of the formation of these ions is a chemical reaction that produces electrons.
Now, these electrons race around the plates to generate electricity.
The electricity produced helps to start the engine so that you can enjoy the ride of your car.
TOP 3 tips to keep the car battery healthy.
- Be the doctor of your car: The first and foremost tip to keep the Car Battery Hucknall healthy is to test your battery often just like a monthly check-up of your body by the doctor. The battery is the major part of a car, without it, the car is of no use. Ensure that your battery is clean, dry, and free of dirt and germs. A dirty battery can discharge across the sides and may even cause a mild short circuit.
Secondly, checking the voltage of a car battery with the help of a voltmeter once a month is very necessary to ensure its not partially or fully discharged in any case. Ensure that the voltage measured is around 12.7 volts or greater than this value. This reading signifies that the battery is in a healthy condition.
- Be Observant of oppressive temperatures: Just like the human body, a car needs extra care during extreme conditions of hot and cold. If used in extremely hot conditions without any timely service it can drastically affect the life of the battery as the fluid in the battery evaporates quickly. So, park your cars in a shaded region and give timely service to it. In acute cold weather too, batteries can be affected as they need more power to function. So Solution to this is wrapping the battery in a battery heater to prevent damage from the cold.
- Keep your battery tightly fastened: One of the very common but most ignorant problems in taking care of your battery is to tightly fasten them. Small jerks and vibration if in excess can damage the battery’s internal components. So, it’s necessary to firmly and tightly fasten the battery to avoid any vandalism. Don’t tighten the battery otherwise it may get damaged.