How Long Does It Take To Charge A Car Battery?
Diamond Energie car battery by Santeri Viinamäki — CC BY-SA 4.0
If you googled, “how long does it take to charge a car battery,” you likely have an issue on your hands. Maybe you hopped in your car and it won’t start or you had some other kind of issue that prevented you from taking off.
Whatever the case, you need a boost, and probably need an estimate about the time you need to go from zero to fully charged so that you can drive with confidence and get yourself from point A to point B.
How Long Does It Take to Charge A Car Battery?
So, how long does it take to charge a car battery? Well, it just depends. On average, you’re looking at anywhere from 4 to 24 hours, but it could take more or less time. In order to determine how much time, it will take to charge up your battery, you need to figure out the number of amps in your car.
On top of that, it helps to take a look at the size of your battery, as the bigger it is the more time it might take to get it charged up for use. As an estimate, you’ll see a lot of mid-sized cars with about 40 to 80Ah, so you can gauge your estimate from there. For a good indicator, follow these common charging times below:
- 2 amps – 24 to 48 hours
- 4 amps – 12 to 24 hours
- 40 amps – 30 minutes
While these are average indicators, you might still need to wait more time than you might estimate. Always take a look at your battery and check the type for a better indicator.
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Keep Yourself Safe
Because charging your battery can be a long-term thing, you might need to prepare yourself for the worst. That means having someone that you can call. So, if you start to notice that your battery is out or running low, you might need to stop your car, pull over and call someone for help.
You can get a quick boost to get your car back up and running, though it will still affect your car if you turn it back off and start it up again. To be on the safe side. Tell someone you know to pick you up or jump you and them take it to your nearest mechanic if your car won’t start up again.
Why is Your Battery Out of Juice?
Just like with many parts of the car, your battery might stop functioning due to a number of reasons. The list is long and it mostly depends on your vehicle and battery type. Typical reasons why your battery falls flat include:
- Lights that were left on
- Electrical issues
- Faulty or old battery
Noticing your battery isn’t working is generally pretty simple. First of all, your vehicle won’t start and second of all, you’ll notice that your car’s performance starts to decrease. If you cannot turn on your car after multiple times of trying, you may need to change our your battery to prevent any damage to the rest of your car.
How to Charge Your Car Battery
So, you’re out of juice and need a boost, follow these tips to charging your battery and getting more out of your driving.
1. Prep
Always take a look at what type of battery you’re working with in order to get the best and fastest charge. For prep, you may need to remove your battery, something that you can do with ease by opening up your user’s manual.
2. Switch Off Electrics
To be on the safe side, disconnect or turn off all electrics in the car. This will help to prevent any kind of power surges that might attack your connected electronics.
3. Go Negative, Then Positive
Though it might sound like a simple thing for some car gurus out there, when charging a battery, you always want to start with the negative. The negative is also called the ground cable, something that you need to find and remove first.
Then, head over to the positive cable, twisting off the cables to get to the nodes you need to connect the cables for a solid charge.
4. Clean It Up
Due to all of the things flowing from one place to another, you could have built up something that prevents the charging of your battery. So, before you connect any cables, brush off some of the gunk that might have built up around the nodes with a wire brush.
5. Connect
Now, it’s time to connect, something that you should take caution with. Anytime you’re working with charges, you should keep a close watch out for any reactions that could come along, following a few steps to avoid any backlash.
- Connect positive cable and then negative cable (always do it this way!)
- Switch your charger to the on position
- Check the timer and wait a bit
- Remove after completion
6. Turn Everything Off
Before touching the cables or removing anything, make sure that the charger is turned off. Then, you can take the cables off, start your car, and see if everything is back up and running so you can take off and not worry about a faulty battery.
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Keep Your Car in Tip-Top Shape
The battery of a car is one of the most important things. It sends the electricity from one place to another, making sure that it can start-up and run when you need it to. When your battery starts to act up, you can run into a number of issues, one of which is your car being unable to start.
To keep your car in good shape, check out your battery often and make sure that you can get it back up and running before you start driving. If your battery needs a boost multiple times, it may be time to replace it, avoiding any additional damages that can come from an uncharged battery.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU REPLACE YOUR BRAKES?
Unless you’re a mechanic or super-dedicated car enthusiast, you might not know much about the brakes on your car. How long do they typically last? How often should you replace your brakes? We’ve got answers
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