Category: Battery

How To Make Your Battery Last

How To Make Your Battery Last

napa legend batteryToday’s report from Buckley’s Auto Care is on car batteries, why they die and what we can do to lengthen their life. Most of us have had a dead battery at one time or another. In fact, it would be very unusual if you hadn’t. You may be surprised to learn that only 30 percent of Wilmington vehicle batteries last for 48 months. So, that means that if you purchased your battery in say, October of 2007 and it’s now the fall of 2011… You could be taking a risk and fighting the odds. I don’t know if that’s a good thing..

Now that’s an average. How long a battery lasts depends on many factors. You may not know that one of the biggest factors is the temperature where you live and drive around Wilmington. You might suppose that cold weather was harder on batteries because it takes more power to crank a cold engine, but the opposite is actually true.

 

For more information on your battery, please visit us:
Buckley’s Auto Care
1604 E. Newport Pike
Wilmington, Delaware 19804
302-999-8285

Batteries in very cold climates have a life expectancy of 51 months as opposed to 30 months in very warm climates. The reason is simple: batteries are chemically more active when they’re hot than when they’re cold.

A car battery will actually start to discharge on its own within 24 hours in hot weather. It takes several days in cold weather. When batteries are left too long in a state of partial discharge, the discharged portion of the battery plates actually, for the lack of a better word, ‘die’. Recharging the battery will not restore the dead part of the battery plate.

One of the big problems for the way most of us driving in the Wilmington area, is that our batteries don’t always get the attention they deserve. Twice a year they should be monitored and tested for amperage, cold cranking amps and physically inspected for cracks, leaks and terminal condition. At Buckley’s Auto Care just ask for our Preventative Health Check Service. We’ll analyze your car’s charging system, change the oil and filter, rotate tires and more! It’s a great way to prevent that unexpected breakdown.

Oct 10, 2011 | 0 comments | View Post

Charge It In Wilmington For Extended Battery Life

Here’s an interesting statistic for our friends in Wilmington Delaware: Only thirty percent of car batteries make it to forty-eight months. And the life expectancy varies by where you live. It ranges from fifty-one months in extremely cold areas to just thirty months in extremely hot climates.

Why is that? It turns out that it’s our modern cars with all their electric accessories that are to blame. Things like, GPS, DVDs, and entertainment computers are keeping car batteries from maintaining a full charge. The longer a battery goes with a low charge, the sooner it’ll die.

So you must recharge your battery. This is the job of the alternator. The problem comes when the car’s demand for electricity is high and we are driving in stop and go conditions or short trips around Wilmington or Newport. The alternator just can’t keep up.

The result is shortened battery life. So what can we do to improve our battery’s health?

We need to keep the battery as close to a full charge as possible. That can be hard because sitting for just twenty-four hours in hot weather between charges can be too long. When the weather’s cold, sitting for several days will cause discharge.

So some highway driving between New Castle or Hockessin will help keep a full charge if the battery has not been deeply depleted. Car batteries are not designed to be run down really low, or deep cycled, as it’s called. So using your headlights or other power accessories when the car is off can deeply deplete your battery. Using the alternator to recharge from a deeply depleted state is very hard on your battery because it charges too fast. In fact, on average, your battery would only last for ten recharges like that.

If you do find yourself with a dead battery or very low battery, use a good quality battery charger to slowly bring the battery up to full charge. Follow the instructions on the charger.

Because our batteries are so often at less than a full charge, experts suggest that we use a battery charger from time to time to keep the charge up. They recommend once a month during hot weather and once every three months during colder times.

Now, a word on safety. Batteries contain sulfuric acid that can severely burn your skin and could blind you. If you find yourself with a dead battery, carefully inspect it before you jump start it. If the case is bulging, cracked or leaking, do not jump start it. Damaged batteries can explode or catch fire.

Deeply discharged batteries can freeze. Do not jump start a frozen battery.

Ask us about tire sales and service, too.

Dec 02, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post
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