Hey everyone! I have been wondering why do people recharge their car battery, because shouldn't that be the job of the alternator and if it does get to the point where the battery needs to be charged isn't that when you would know the alternator is dying? Or do people do this so that the alternator doesn't have to charge the battery as much making it last longer? Once again, sorry if this is a stupid question.
9 times out of 10 it's because the battery is failing and can't hold the charge that the alternator is providing
so then shouldn't you get a new battery?
yes
Let your car sit for several days with the interior lights accidentally left on and you'll discover one reason.
fair point
For that matter modern cars are always drawing a small amount of current even with everything turned off. Leave the car sitting long enough and the battery will need to be charged.
What are they charging if the car is complete shut off?
Unless you have a really old car there are systems still active even when the car is turned off (anti-theft and remote unlock for example) that are always drawing a small amount of power. If the car is used regularly it's not noticeable but if not used for a long time the battery can be depleted. Batteries also have a certain amount of self-discharge over time when not in use.
Chuck told you why. Cars ALWAYS use a tiny bit of power even when shut off. Electronic components have what's called "quiescent current".
Normally, that tiny current would take on the order of years to kill a battery. However with all the gadgetry that modern cars have now (passive keyless entry etc.), it wouldn't surprise me if that consumption has gone up.
why do people recharge their car battery
I don't plug in my battery, but I drive my vehicle almost every day so it gets charged normally.
However, if I was letting the vehicle sit for a month or more, I would plug it into a battery maintainer. The reason is because car batteries had self discharge. They lose a few percent of their charge every week. And you don't want to let your battery get too low because that will permanently damage it (reduce its lifetime).
To make the starter go like this, every time they turn the key -
*brrrrr*
1) Longer term storage without the car running.
2) Last ditch effort to save a dying battery.
Hi.
I have one of the CTEK 'smart' battery chargers.
I bought it for use on my Jeep.
It has the 3.0 litre, diesel engine. Winter can be hard on a battery. A diesel pulls a lot of power for glow plugs, plus it has to turn over a high compression engine. Then there is all sorts of electrical load from lights, wipers etc. I do a lot of short journeys that do not always allow the alternator to keep things topped off. Hence i use the CTEK to keep the battery in tip top charge.
