Why A Healthy Car Battery Is Always Important

Your car's battery is crucial to your vehicle’s longevity. If you don't take care of it, you'll need auto repair far sooner than usual. Why? There are actually a lot of reasons behind that. The battery interacts with more components in your car than you would realize, and if it's seriously damaged, it might hurt those components. If it's not maintained correctly, your automobile battery has the power to stop it entirely, or in most cases, up until you replace it.

How Does a Car Battery Work?

The main source of power for your car's electrical systems is its battery. It stores power and delivers shocks to each and every electrical part of your car. It not only powers the electrical components, but it also maintains a continuous electrical current within your automobile, ensuring that it will start and have enough power to continue operating.

For such a little box, this is a huge job that may perhaps seem hard to accomplish. But it's not. Let's thus examine its operation.

The Primary Functions of a Car Battery

As I said before, your battery has two functions: it powers the electrical parts of your automobile while also storing electricity to start and maintain the operation of your vehicle. The process is actually fairly straightforward: to power your automobile, the battery turns chemical energy into electrical energy.

It essentially sends voltage (the electrical energy) to the starter (the component that makes the car run).

Starter

A part that communicates with both the battery and the engine is the starter. Consider it the intermediary since, when you turn the key, it "cranks" or "turns over" the engine by sending electricity from the battery. In essence, the starter rotates the engine quickly enough to draw gasoline and air into the cylinders, where the engine compresses them.

Your automobile can start only because of this entire process, which is made possible by the battery.

Alternator

However, it's crucial to understand that the starter uses a lot of power. It is thus limited to use during the time it takes to start your automobile. If not, the battery would lose all of its voltage. As a result, the alternator takes control once the engine fires up. In a succinct summary of a complex process, the alternator keeps your engine running and maintains the battery's charge. Your battery will remain fully charged at 12 volts in this manner.

Your engine runs even if the battery isn't the one doing it directly. Admittedly, if you just switch on an electrical device without the motor running, it will draw power directly from the battery, which is why your battery will ultimately run out of power if you accidently leave your lights on in the parking lot.

What is a Car Battery’s Average Lifespan?

An automobile battery normally lasts three to five years. But, that does not imply that it will be ideal throughout that period. It's regarded as outdated after three years. Yet, if you maintain it healthy, it may endure much longer than three years. Nevertheless, maintaining your battery's health is only one component that affects how long it will last; there are other things as well. A battery's lifespan might be shortened by both your personal driving habits and the environment outside.

Several indicators might help you determine if your battery is outdated or having issues. The check engine light and a difficult start are two such examples. Simply glance at the date that has been printed on the battery to determine its age.

After three years, your battery has to be examined and serviced even more frequently. You must then exercise caution and make sure there are no significant issues.

How A Car Battery May Damage Your Car

What occurs if you burn your hand or sprain your ankle? Naturally, you want to use your other hand or place weight on the other foot. The idea is the same for your automobile. Your vehicle's system strives to find a solution to keep the whole ship afloat when your battery is weak or destroyed. As a result, it increases the pressure on the starter and alternator, two additional components.

Because these components are taking too much voltage to make up for the battery's insufficient capacity to store energy, they will eventually fail. Your engine will become significantly less efficient, and a costly repair will be required.

It's wise to exercise caution when asking someone to start a dead battery. It will deplete and destroy the battery of the person trying to jump it if your battery dies due to a system short.

All of these problems are rather significant. Luckily, we are aware of certain precautions to take.

The Key To Proper Battery Maintenance

Keep the positive and negative posts and terminals of your car battery clean. Corrosion is visible as any green or white substance that surrounds them. Don't panic; it happens with aged batteries over time. Clean the terminals thoroughly using a wire brush and a corrosion-removing solution. You should get the corrosion checked out if it develops on a fresh battery or if it reappears soon after since that suggests a more serious problem.

Always drive safely and, if at all feasible, store your car somewhere warm during the winter and cool during the summer. Extreme temperature swings can harm your battery and reduce its lifespan.