Overnight, the battery accumulates, what should I do? Running the engine with a worn out battery

The battery is one of the most important parts of the car. He feeds the starter, starts the engine, supports the working generator, if he does not cope with the loads himself, and also ensures the operation of some electrical components with the engine stopped (central locking, alarm, lighting, etc.). But it often happens that the battery is discharged for some reason or another, and the car owner does not even suspect it. Having come to the garage or to the parking lot, the driver often can not just start the engine, but even get into the salon. We will consider similar cases, establish their causes, and also try to deal with them independently.

Features of modern batteries

All old batteries were designed for a specific service. Instead of being able to be served, new batteries have a longer life. Modern batteries, provided they are used normally, can work without any maintenance for 3 to 5 years. Old models had plugs in each of the cans, so that the car owner could determine the amount of electrolyte in them and its density, as well as visually determine the state of the plates. The new batteries are mostly unattended, i.e. One-off. They have a closed housing, because of which it is impossible to determine the density and the amount of electrolyte. Having worked out their time, such a battery can not be repaired or restored, it can only be handed to special reception points.

Why the battery goes down

But no matter what the battery pack is, one day it will show its weak points. And do not be surprised if, after a few years of her flawless work, you find that a battery accumulates in your car overnight. There may be several reasons for this:

• The battery just worked its way;
• The generator does not give charging ;
• There was a leakage current;
• One or more instruments remain permanently on.

There is another reason - long simple at low temperature. If the battery in the frost has sat down , it simply needs to be brought into a warm room, allowed to warm up for several hours and charged.

Old battery

If the battery has worked more than five years and has gradually ceased to hold a charge, then in this case nothing will help. Usually, problems begin with the onset of frost. If the battery in the frost has sat down, it is desirable to go on diagnostics. It happens that in severe cold the electrolyte, which by virtue of its old age has lost its density, freezes, tearing the banks of the battery.

If your old battery is serviced, it can be "brought to the senses", topping up the electrolyte and recharging it, but it will hardly last long, especially in winter. It is better to buy a new battery and forget about this problem for several more years.

Lack of charging

If, however, the battery accumulates overnight, which has worked very little, it is necessary to urgently install and eliminate the cause. Start with the generator, for this you do not need any special knowledge in the field of electrical engineering. On the dashboard of all cars there is a light bulb that lights when the battery does not receive charging. If it is lit while the engine is running, immediately go to the service.

Current leakage

When the battery goes down overnight, there is a need to check the system for a leakage current. Define it, having the skills to work with an ammeter, it's easy, it's harder to find a place where the leak itself occurs.

Remove the negative terminal from the battery. Ammeter or multimeter in ampere meter mode, we measure the current between the negative battery terminal and the removed terminal. If the leakage rate is above 80 mA, this is already a problem and a signal to urgently be sent to the service station to determine the location of the leak and troubleshooting.

Non-switched devices

Sometimes it happens that, after leaving the car for a long time, we forget to turn off the dimensions, the radio tape recorder or other devices that, constantly working, lead to the fact that the car battery sits down. If this is an exception, and not a rule, there is nothing terrible here. It's enough just to recharge the battery, and it will again work in the usual mode. But it also happens that we do not even suspect that somewhere, for example, in the trunk, perhaps, without turning off, the lamp burns.

You can determine this by looking into the closed trunk from the cabin. If the backlight is on, it's time to replace the faulty terminator.

Symptoms of a depleted battery

To avoid problems with starting the engine on the road, you need to pay attention to the battery status. If it is serviced, at least every three months, check the density of the electrolyte. This is done using a hydrometer - a special device that resembles a large pipette with a scale and a float. With its help, the electrolyte is taken away, and the float shows its density. The charged battery should have a density of at least 1.12 g / ml, half discharged - 1.2 g / ml, and a fully discharged battery - less than 1.28 g / ml.

Maintenance-free batteries are equipped with a special warning lamp - a lamp. If the battery is charged, it always glows green, in case of discharge it is red.

Sel battery: how to open the car

But what if the trouble has already occurred? Have you come to the parking lot, press the button on the key fob, and the lock does not react? Well, if there is a regular key and a lock of the lock in the door. But in fact in some modern cars the key as such is not provided at all.

If the battery in the car with an electronic key has sat down, and you can not even get into the cabin, do not panic. Do not also beat the glass and try to crack the door. Try to get another charged battery and a pair of wires 1.5-2 meters long. Next, the car will need to be poddokratit so that you can remove part of the protection of the crankcase in the place where the starter or generator is located. When protection is removed, connect the positive lead from the battery to the positive terminal of the starter or alternator, and connect the negative to any element of the body of the machine. When the wires are connected, open the car with a key fob. As you can see, getting into the car salon is not so difficult, but how now to start the engine with a dormant battery?

How to start the engine with a discharged battery

If you hit the salon of your car, but the battery charge is not enough to start the engine, you'll have to use alternative methods to start it. The engine can be started up when the battery is worn in several ways:

• Remove the discharged battery, charge it and start the engine;
• Start ("light") the engine with the help of special high-voltage cables from another battery or working car;
• Start the engine by towing or pushing the car (unless, of course, you have an automatic transmission).

How to charge the battery with a charger

If you have a battery charger and the time to charge it, remove the battery by disconnecting the negative and then the positive terminal first. Bring it into the room, open the jam stoppers, check the amount of electrolyte (if the battery is serviced) and top up if necessary. Connect the terminals of the charger to the battery, observing the polarity. Turn on the charger and set the desired charging current. It should be equal to one-tenth of the capacity of the battery; If the battery capacity is 55 A / h, then the charging current should correspond to 5.5 A, if 60 A / h - 6 A, etc. Charge the battery until the arrow of its ammeter shows "0".

Running a dead battery from another car

When there is no possibility or time to charge the battery in the traditional way, you can try to start your car with a "cigarette lighter" - high voltage cables - and another car. For this machine, you need to install the hood to the bonnet so that the length of the cables is sufficient to connect the battery terminals. We connect the batteries of both cars in parallel (minus to minus, plus to plus). We start the engine of another machine. We wait 3-5 minutes for your battery to recharge a little. After that, we start the engine of our car. Usually this method works in 100% of cases, if only there are no other problems.

Starting the engine by towing or pushing

This method can only be used by car owners with a manual transmission. To use it to start the engine, it is necessary that another car takes us to a tow. Slightly dispersed the car in a neutral gear, turn on the ignition, squeeze the clutch, turn on the 3rd or 2nd gear, release the clutch. Once the engine starts, you need to squeeze the clutch, turn off the gear and stop towing. The motor does not need to be silenced at once, let it run for about 20 minutes, or it's even better to travel this time so that the battery gets some kind of charging.

When pushing the car will have to make a lot of effort and draw a few people to it. The engine is also started from the 2nd or 3rd gear.

The effectiveness of towing and pushing methods is not so high, however in most cases the engine still manages to be launched. But if the battery sits down during the night, and so happens daily, you will agree that the best solution is to purchase a new battery.

Can I charge the battery without the charger

And what about when there is no way to "light", push or charge with a charger? What if the battery in the car got in and you have no one to help? In this case, you can use a standard network adapter from the laptop. This method is rather risky, because most of these adapters give a current of no more than 2.5 A. At this point, it is likely that it will simply burn, unable to withstand the oncoming current of the battery. Yes, and need to charge a very long time. But if there is no other alternative, you will have to try.