Car Battery Maintenance Tips

The heart of your vehicle is its electrical system, powered by the car battery. It ignites the engine, runs the lights and sound systems and regulates the electrical flow for your car's delicate electronics. Yet, car owners typically only think about it when their engine refuses to turn over. Simple maintenance prolongs a battery's lifespan, reliability and keeps it from becoming an inconvenience that needs unexpected repair and replacement. Whether you need car and truck batteries for your commuter, construction site, or racing rig, a bit of care can go a long way toward its maintenance. JOZOKING (Tianjin) Technology Co., Ltd. has over 30 years of experience and specializes in the design, manufacture, and sale of a full range of starting and energy storage batteries. Follow these four maintenance tips to help keep your battery functioning properly.

Regular Visual Inspection and Terminal Cleaning

One of the easiest yet most effective ways to maintain a battery is by performing a visual check at least once a month. Open the hood of your car and examine the car battery terminals for any sign of corrosion-a powdery, white residue that coats them. Corrosion can significantly obstruct electrical flow through terminals to starter, reducing efficiency and power of your battery. To clean a battery's terminals, disconnect the negative cable first, then the positive one. Use wire brush and mixture of baking soda and water to actually scrub away any corrosive deposits, rinse with clean water and dry them completely. Applying a thin coat of petroleum jelly or anti-corrosion spray to the terminals before reconnecting (positive first, then negative) can prevent future corrosion. Keeping the terminals clean is crucial to ensuring reliable starts and a strain-free alternator. The more your car and truck batteries are exposed to tough conditions and environments, the more often you should check their terminals. JOZOKING batteries are built for extreme temps ranging from -55°C to 55°C, but even the toughest battery benefits from clean, tight-fitting connections.

Protecting Your Battery from Extreme Temperatures

Both extreme heat and cold can actually damage longevity of your battery. High temperatures cause the internal parts of a battery to corrode and the electrolyte to evaporate more rapidly, while cold temperatures can cause the engine oil to thicken to an undesirable consistency and increase the cranking amps required to start the engine. People living in harsh climates can reduce the strain on their battery with proper preventive measures. During hot summer months, park in shady areas or a garage whenever possible. In cold winters, always try to make sure your battery is at a full state of charge, discharged batteries are more vulnerable to freezing and cracking. Many modern auto battery service centers have load testers and will check the state of charge of your battery. However, if you have one of the many mobile car battery replacement services come to you, they can quickly test and install a new battery. JOZOKING maintenance free starting batteries were made for extreme temperatures, but even this battery cannot stand the test of extreme temperatures forever, in severely cold climates you may want to invest in a battery insulator blanket to wrap the battery to keep it warmer.

Avoiding Short Trips and Deep Discharges

Short trips of 20 minutes or less do not give your alternator enough time to completely recharge the battery. Repeatedly short-charging a battery like this can cause it to chronically undercharge. Sulfates form on the plates and begin to reduce the capacity of the battery. If short-distance travel is part of your routine, it's a good idea to invest in a smart battery maintainer or trickle charger to keep the battery topped up overnight once a week to ensure it stays at 100%. Also, try to turn off lights, radio, and other electronics before turning off your vehicle so you do not deep discharge the battery. Discharging a starting battery to below 10.5 volts will damage it permanently. Always try to use the correct car and truck battery for a start-stop vehicle-this typically will be an EFB or AGM battery. If you continuously find yourself dealing with issues like the battery dying, use one of the various car battery search engines online that allow you to search for the correct car battery replacement for your car by make, model and year. Knowing the average cost of a car battery may help you budget, typically ranging from $50 to $200 dollars, but an AGM battery or a lithium car battery could cost anywhere from $150 to $400 dollars.

Knowing When to Seek Professional Service

Even with diligent maintenance, your car battery will eventually reach the end of its life and will actually need replacement. Typically, batteries can last for 3 to 5 years, however, batteries made with AGM or lithium cells are known to last 5 to 8 years. Some common warning signs of a failing battery include: the engine turns over slower than usual, your headlights are dimmer than they should be, the battery warning light comes on the dash, or the battery case is bulging outwards. If you start experiencing any of these signs, it is time to have a professional car battery service check it out. Many local auto parts stores and repair shops will perform this service for free. If it needs to be replaced, it is often easiest and most convenient to arrange for mobile car battery replacement to come to you. When you are considering getting a new battery, compare the average cost of a car battery and consider different car battery brand alternatives, it's important to try to balance cost and quality. JOZOKING provides one-stop customization services and is a reliable manufacturer of high-quality batteries for many uses including automotive, lithium batteries, deep cycle gel, powersports, motorcycles and solar energy storage. Remember, if you need batteries for your truck, ask your mechanic to recommend one with the correct higher CCA ratings and higher reserve capacity that you need.

Summary

Checking and cleaning battery terminals, managing the vehicle's exposure to extreme temps, avoiding short trips, and calling on a professional mechanic when you suspect the battery is failing are four key maintenance steps for maximizing its lifespan. These tips should actually help prevent most of the issues that could cause a premature battery failure and save you money on unnecessary replacements. With over 30 years of experience and products sold in over 60 countries, JOZOKING (Tianjin) Technology Co., Ltd. manufactures high-quality car batteries built to last. Whether you need mobile car battery replacement or simply want to know the average cost of car battery, remember that well-maintained battery is a working battery. A reliable battery like JOZOKING can actually be an invaluable part of your automotive care. Use one of the available car battery search engines to actually find the perfect fit for your vehicle and drive with confidence.