Then it truly is dead, and must be replaced. But a battery that's at the end of its service life can't be recharged enough to restore it to a useful power level.
#Car battery indicator red full
A battery that's merely discharged-from leaving your headlights on or from a damagedĪlternator-can be recharged to its full capacity. When you ask yourself “Why won’t my car start?” you usually refer to the battery as being "dead," even though that's not technically correct. This is what's known as the cycling ability in a battery. This unique process of discharge and charge in the lead-acid battery means that energy can be discharged and restored over and over again. A full charge restores the chemical difference between the plates and leaves the battery ready to deliver its full power.
You can recharge a discharged battery by feeding electrical current back into it. Eventually the battery is so discharged that it can no longer deliver electricity at a useful voltage.
This happens when you're driving without any accessories and the alternator puts current back into the battery.Īs a battery discharges, the lead plates become more chemically alike, the acid becomes weaker, and the voltage drops. In the reverse process, a battery becomes charged when current flows back into it, restoring the chemical difference between the plates. When a battery is connected to a load that needs electricity, such as the starter in your car, current flows from the battery. Most people don't realize that a lead-acid battery operates in a constant process of charge and discharge. This happens when any load that needs electricity, such as the radio, is connected to the battery. Electricity flows from the battery as soon as there is a circuit between the positive and negative terminals. In a typical lead-acid battery, the voltage is approximately 2 volts per cell, for a total of 12 volts. It develops voltage from the chemical reaction produced when two unlike materials, such as the positive and negative plates, are immersed in the electrolyte, a solution of sulphuric acid and water. Unplug your phone too, since every little volt counts.A battery stores electricity for future use. To eke out every minute of charge, turn off as many electronics as you can: radio, air conditioning, heated seats, even the headlights if it's daytime.
Once you turn the engine off, it might not come back on again. Use whatever charge is remaining in the battery to get somewhere safe, either an auto repair shop or your home. If the battery isn't being charged, the electrical systems will start to fail. If there was enough juice for you to start the car, then you can safely drive the car on however much charge is remaining, but it won't last long - maybe 30 to 60 minutes max. Either way, it's something you want to check out. It could also mean there is a minor problem with the battery like corrosion. If it stays on while the car is running, it probably means there's something wrong with the alternator. The battery light comes on when you start your car, and it might linger for a second or two, but it usually turns off pretty quickly. So, the light is telling you "your alternator is not properly charging." It's not telling you "your battery is bad or needs to be replaced immediately." You don't have enough information yet. It looks like a little battery, or sometimes it says "Battery." A simple circuit looks at the voltage that the alternator is producing and turns the battery light on if that voltage is low. Because your car is so dependent on the battery, any car with a combustion engine and a 12-volt battery has a light on the dashboard that warns you if the recharging system fails.
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