What to do if the car battery runs out quickly

As a source of electricity in cars, an alternator with a rectifier driven by an engine is used. But the engine still needs to be started, and even when it is inactive, it will be necessary to feed consumers from something. A rechargeable battery (ACB) is used as a storage device, capable of storing a charge for a long time.

Reasons for fast battery drain

The capacity of the battery is selected in such a way that during normal operation of the generator and consumers, in the average mode of operation of the car, it is always charged with a calculated margin.

Energy should be enough to start the engine, even if there will be difficulties with this and to maintain power to lighting devices, on-board electronics and security systems for quite a long time.

The battery can fail in several cases:

• the battery is very worn out and has a small residual capacity;
• the energy balance is disturbed, that is, the battery is more discharged than charged;
• there are malfunctions in the charging system, this is a generator and a control relay;
• Significant power leaks appeared in the on-board network;
• due to temperature limitations, the battery is not able to accept a charge at the desired rate.

It always manifests itself in the same way, the backlight and outdoor lighting suddenly dim, the onboard voltmeter detects a decrease in voltage under a slight load, and the starter slowly rotates the crankshaft or refuses to do so at all.

If the old battery

The nature of the battery is such that under the action of an external charging current and subsequent discharge to the load, reversible chemical processes occur in it. A compound of lead is formed with sulfur, then with oxygen, such cycles can be repeated for quite a long time.

However, if the battery is not properly cared for, deeply discharged, electrolyte level is lost, or stored improperly, some irreversible reactions may occur. In fact, part of the active mass on the electrodes of the elements will be lost.

Having retained its external geometric dimensions, the battery will greatly decrease in terms of electrochemistry, that is, it will lose its electrical capacity.

The effect is the same, as if only 60 Ah were installed instead of the 10 Ah prescribed for the car. No one in their right mind will do this, but if you do not pay attention to the battery for a long time, then this is exactly what will happen.

Even if the battery was treated strictly according to the instructions, they did not allow deep discharges and checked the level, then time will still take its toll. Budget batteries made using calcium technology fall into the risk zone after three years of average operation.

The capacity begins to decrease, the battery can suddenly be discharged in the most harmless situation.

It is enough to hold the car for several days with the alarm turned on - and you won’t be able to start it, even if the security has never worked. It is better to replace such a battery immediately.

What causes a new battery to drain

Everything is clear with the old one, but when a completely new and obviously serviceable device fails to start the engine.

The reasons can be several:

• short trips were made by car with the inclusion of consumers and frequent starts, the battery gradually used up its accumulated reserve and was completely discharged;
• The battery is normally charged, but the oxidized terminals prevent the development of a significant starter current;
• self-discharge is caused by contamination of the battery case from the outside, conductive bridges of salts and dirt were formed, along which energy was lost, even disconnecting the battery in the parking lot will not save from this;
• there were malfunctions in the generator that did not allow it to give out the calculated power, as a result, everything goes to consumers, and there is no longer enough current to charge the battery;
• additional equipment with significant power consumption is installed on the car, the standard system of the generator and battery is not designed for this, it is the battery that will always suffer.

Deep discharges are not allowed. Usually, several percent of the capacity is irretrievably lost on each of them, depending on the manufacturing technology and age, you can lose the battery in two or three discharges to zero.

Moreover, if the battery has completely lost its charge, the density of the electrolyte will drop to such a low value that even starting to charge from an external source without using special techniques will be problematic. You will have to turn to a competent electrician who is familiar with the technique of reviving such electrodes, between which ordinary water is actually splashing.

How does winter, spring and summer affect battery performance

Rechargeable batteries have a fairly wide temperature range of use, but they do not behave very confidently at its edges. This is especially true for low temperatures.

It is known that chemical reactions slow down when cooled. At the same time, it is in winter that the maximum return is required from the battery. It should ensure that the crankshaft is quickly scrolled by the starter, which will be prevented by thickened oil in the crankcase.

Moreover, the process will be delayed, since mixture formation is also difficult, the spark power decreases due to a voltage drop in the network, and the control electronics at the lower temperature threshold work much less accurately.

Battery in winter. What's going on with the battery ?? This is IMPORTANT to know!

As a result, by the time a frozen engine is started, the battery will already lose up to half of its charge, even if it is new and has high-quality characteristics for cold scrolling current.

It will take a long time to compensate for such damage with increased charging voltage. In reality, it turns out to be lowered, in the car all the heated windows, mirrors, seats and steering wheel are already on. A cold battery simply will not be able to take charge with a lack of external voltage, even if the generator has some power reserve.

If you continue to operate in this mode, then very quickly the battery will sit down to zero. If this happens before a cold night in an open parking lot, then most likely the electrolyte that has lost its capacity will freeze and the battery will collapse. Salvation is only one - it is necessary to regularly check the condition of the battery.

In summer, the battery is easier to work, but there is a danger of overheating and rapid evaporation of water from the electrolyte. The level should be checked and topped up with distilled water if necessary.

Finding and eliminating the causes of car battery discharge

If the battery is more than three years old for a simple budget battery with a liquid acidic electrolyte, then its failure can occur at any time for natural reasons. Although, on average, batteries live up to five years.

Higher quality and more expensive AGM batteries with gley electrolyte last even longer.

In the case of a sudden detection of a deep discharge, it is imperative to find the cause of the phenomenon, otherwise it will definitely repeat.

Measures can be as follows:

• after charging the battery from an external source and letting it stand for at least two hours, it is necessary to measure the open circuit voltage, it should be approximately 12,7 Volts;
• if the battery provides for monitoring the electrolyte level, then this must be done, if it does not, but the battery is not AGM or Gel, it must be done anyway, even maintenance-free batteries actually have access to individual banks;
• after starting the engine, the voltage at the battery terminals must be controlled with an accurate digital multimeter voltmeter, not trusting the standard device, even if it is;
• the voltage at medium engine speeds and a charged battery, even when the headlights and heaters are turned on, must be at least 14 volts, not all generators can provide this, sometimes it drops to 13.5, but not lower;
• if the generator is in good condition, that is, it produces more than 13,5 volts under load, but less than 14, then operation is permissible, but with regular monitoring of the charge value, this can be done by measuring the EMF, that is, the no-load voltage after holding without charging and loading, tables is on the network;
• you need to know the leakage currents of your car in a state when everything is turned off, and it is stored in a parking lot with the security system turned on; knowing the current, it is easy to calculate the rate of charge loss;
• significant leaks should be the subject of an appeal to an electrician;
• the driver must be able to approximately calculate the power of simultaneously switched on consumers and correlate it with the output of the generator, depending on this balance, choose the time to recharge the battery from an external source.

If we talk about the most common reason for a sudden discharge of the battery, then these are electrical appliances that are forgotten by the driver at night. Here, only the habit, when leaving the car, to control whether everything is turned off, and to return if there are doubts, saves.