The battery is one of the most important components of a car. Indeed, with a discharged battery, the car simply will not start, and it will be pointless to continue further progress.
Therefore, when choosing a battery, you should be very careful. In today's article, we will consider how to choose the right battery and what to pay special attention to when buying.
What reduces battery life?
First, let's talk about what factors can affect the wear of a car battery. Among them, the following should be noted:
- Increased vibration. Unfortunately, no one is safe from this factor. And no matter how soft the suspension of your car may be, vibrations occur everywhere, and not only from the engine.
- Incorrect or incomplete charging. Often, car enthusiasts recharge the battery, which absolutely can not be done. Incomplete charging or recharging reduces battery life by several times. There were also cases when, after a 1.5-day charge, the battery was completely out of order. In general, the battery is powered up to no more than 12 hours.
- Frosts. This is one of the worst moments for the battery. After all, the lower the air temperature, the stronger and more often the battery is discharged. In winter, every day the battery loses up to 1-2 percent of its charge. Therefore, do not be surprised if suddenly in the morning your car stops starting. The only way to protect the vehicle from the cold is to put it in the garage for the night. No other recommendations were given.
How to choose the right battery?
It turns out that buying a battery from a well-known manufacturer is not enough. Remember, if the characteristics of the unit do not specifically match your car, its presence in the car is simply pointless. Therefore, before buying, you need to carefully consider all the necessary parameters. We will talk about them in the following sections.
Voltage level
This is not the most important characteristic, but still it is necessary to pay attention to it. On cars, all batteries are produced with a single voltage - 12 volts. A more difficult situation with buses and trucks. Here, depending on the brand and type of vehicle the battery can be either 24-volt (one is installed) or 12-volt (two connected in parallel). This should also be considered when buying.
Choosing a battery for a car: a few words about capacity
This characteristic is responsible for the amount of energy that the battery gives out per unit of time. You only need to buy a battery of the power that was prescribed in the operating instructions. It is also allowed to use batteries with a capacity of 5-10 percent more than recommended by the manufacturer. This is what most of our motorists do.
How to choose a battery for a Niva car and find out how powerful it is? By factory parameters, the battery capacity for the VAZ-2121 is 55 A / h. This means that its discharge current will be approximately 2.75 amperes. But if you often use the car at air temperatures below 0 degrees, it is recommended to take a battery with a capacity of 60 Amps.
Compared to the 55-ampere, it will hold the charge longer and discharge less (just what you need for winter use). But this applies not only to domestic cars. The answer to the question of how to choose a battery for the Renault Logan car sounds approximately the same. That the domestic "Niva", that the French "Renault" can work with more capacious batteries without problems. By the way, a battery with a capacity of 60 Amps is installed from the factory on Logan.
How to choose a battery for a car with a diesel engine? Recently, more and more foreign manufacturers began to expand the range of power units, supplementing them with diesel engines. This popularity of a diesel engine is due to several factors. This is environmental friendliness, power (such motors are more high-torque) and economical fuel consumption.
But now is not about that. You probably noticed that manufacturers put more capacious batteries on diesel modifications of cars and crossovers. This is due to the higher torque. That is, to start the diesel engine, the battery must give a higher starting current. So it turns out that the battery capacity of gasoline and diesel cars of the same make and model may differ by 10-15 Amps. This factor also needs to be taken into account.
Is it worth saving on capacity? A battery of lesser power should not be purchased, and there are several reasons for this. Firstly, it will be constantly recharged (since the generator operates at the same power as before). Secondly, such a battery wears out and ages very quickly. That is, instead of saving, you get a double expense. And thirdly, due to poor power, the battery is not able to normally scroll the starter and provide current to the entire on-board network of the car.
In winter, such a battery receives even less charge from the generator than in summer. As a result, the chances of starting at least three attempts are reduced to zero. To start the engine, you have to charge the battery every day, and this is an additional waste of money and time.
Dimensions
Battery dimensions are also an important parameter to consider when choosing. Such a great importance is due to the fact that there is very little space under the battery in the engine compartment. How to choose a battery for a car so that it fits in a regular place? Everything is very simple. You can determine the overall dimensions yourself by measuring the standard battery with an ordinary building tape measure. And if you can not take this factor into account when buying a standard-capacity battery, then with devices of increased capacity (even a path of 5 Amps), you should be more careful. Their sizes should not significantly differ from the dimensions of standard analogues.
Choose terminal type
In total there are several types of terminals - American, Japanese and European type. In order to determine the desired option, open the operating manual supplied by the manufacturer. Or you can turn to the help of online resources, indicating the exact make, model and year of manufacture of the car.
Polarity
Before choosing a battery for the car, check the required polarity of the battery. There are two types of batteries - with reverse and direct polarity. On the case of each of them there is a badge "-" and "+". If “minus” is on the left, then this battery is with reverse polarity, if “plus” is with a straight line.
Selection of batteries for the brand of vehicle
How to choose a battery by car make? If you want to find out all the characteristics without leaving your own home, you should go to a special auto portal and fill in the appropriate fields. You will need to indicate the make, model of the car, as well as the year of manufacture or modification. After that, the service will automatically determine which capacity and size of the battery you need. By the way, on some portals, the price and availability of this type of battery are immediately displayed. Here you can buy the unit (via the Internet).
About manufacturers
Which company is better battery for a car? Of course, it is best to buy batteries from trusted and reputable manufacturers. There are a lot of such at the moment, so there will be no problems with the choice and assortment. To be more specific, the highest quality products are offered by Bosch (the best battery for a car of domestic and foreign production), Ista and Vesta. There are unscrupulous companies that make marriage on the assembly line.
This category should include most of the Chinese brands. By the way, Turkey (namely INCI AKU) also produces far from the best battery. For a car, it is bad in that it has a very slow charge. And out of 6 start-up attempts, only 4 turned out to be successful. Before choosing a battery for a car, it is advisable to consult with friends and motorists - they can recommend the most suitable and reliable battery model for you.
How to visually distinguish a fake from the original?
Sometimes it happens that the battery with the logo of the eminent promoted brand is "stamped" just in the garages. And in order not to fall for the tricks of fraudsters, you need to adhere to certain rules. First of all, you need to look at the release date of the battery.
If the battery was manufactured more than a year ago, you should not buy it, since its composition is destroyed without recharging (of course, none of the sellers will charge it in the window). It is also very important appearance. There should be no chips or cracks on the battery case. Any deformation in the future can cause the evaporation of the electrolyte, which will certainly reduce the battery life.
Dents that form after falling and careless loading can also be a major cause of fluid leakage. Not only the case itself should not have deformations. This requirement also applies to such a part as boric. They should not be a single scratch. If they are present, most likely this battery has already been used before.
On-site battery check
It should be noted that external inspection is not enough to make sure that one or another battery is working. After a visual check, be sure to ask the seller to measure the battery density and charge it. If he refuses to do this, it is better to refrain from such a purchase.
According to the standard, the electrolyte density level may be less than the manufacturer's declared by 0.02 cm3. Battery charging is checked using a special load plug. Such a tool is available from every bona fide seller. On average, the results of a voltmeter reading should range from 12 to 12.9 V (no load). With a load, the battery voltage should not fall below 11 Volts for several seconds.
If the results of the check were satisfactory, and in appearance the product meets all the requirements, such a battery can be safely purchased. And one more thing: when making a deal, be sure to ask the seller for a check and a warranty card. In this case, you can always exchange the battery if it does not fit your car or if it suddenly turns out to be inoperative. Remember that in the absence of the mentioned documents, the store has the full right to refuse you in terms of exchanging goods and returning money. The presence of a guarantee is clearly not superfluous.
How to increase battery life?
We have already talked about how to choose a battery for a VAZ car. Now, let's note a few rules regarding battery operation. All of the following items will help increase the life of your battery for several years. So, let's begin.
- Firstly, after the purchase you can’t put the goods sideways or “upside down” (even during transportation from the store to your home). This rule applies to all batteries, even if they are dry-charged.
- Winter is coming soon, and as we know, the worst enemy for the battery is the cold. Therefore, it is recommended to remove the battery from the mounts at night and store it at room temperature (for example, at home in the pantry). If you do not want to remove and replace the battery daily, just do not be lazy to drive the car into the garage. The cold will affect the battery to a minimum, which means that the car will not dramatically lose its charge. Remember that a car that stood on the street at night at minus 20 is unlikely to start without preliminary warming up. And it will take much more time than dismantling the battery or rolling the car into the garage.
- If there is a need for stripping the boron, never use files and coarse sandpaper for this. It is best to use fine-grained, namely "nulevka".
- Charge the battery correctly. If the battery has lost up to half of its charge, it is no longer able to scroll the starter. It is strongly discouraged to recharge it. This will lead to the fact that the electrolyte simply boils away, and the battery will be unsuitable for further operation. Ideally, it takes 10-12 hours to charge the battery. If the memory was connected for a shorter time, the battery runs out very quickly.
- Periodically monitor the leakage current of the vehicle electrical system. This is best done before installing a new battery. If the level of current leakage is more than 15 mA, the battery will “sit down” even with the engine off and the electrical devices turned off. If this problem is not resolved in time, the battery will require daily recharging.
- Check the condition and performance of the generator itself. Often, on supported foreign cars and domestic cars, it turns off, and from time to time all the current is taken from the battery. It turns out that the generator, instead of charging the battery, on the contrary, “sows” it even more.
- Regular measurement of the electrolyte density level can significantly extend the life of the battery and ensure a normal inrush current when starting the engine. Ideally, it should be completely transparent. If you saw that the liquid turned black, most likely a short circuit occurred in one of the cans. Also, a different level of electrolyte content is not allowed. If in one bank it is less than in another, you should replenish the tank to the level recommended by the manufacturer. And it’s better to pay attention to this when buying (when you’re just thinking about which battery to buy). Auto in this case will always be serviceable and efficient.
- Well, the last rule - avoid frequent battery overloads. Some motorists persistently twist the starter even after 5-10 attempts to start unsuccessfully. It should be noted that with each new revolution, the battery significantly loses its charge. Therefore, if your car does not start after three attempts, do not further torment the ignition key - this will only put the battery in. Motorists recommend twisting the starter for no more than 5-6 seconds. In this case, the interval between attempts should be at least 5 seconds. This time is necessary in order to restore the ability of the battery to supply inrush current, which through a coil is converted from 12 to 20,000 volts. It is also not recommended to equip the car with excessively powerful speakers and subwoofers. Yes, compared with regular speakers, they produce a better sound. But at the same time, you should be prepared for the fact that the generator will not have time to charge the battery - from time to time it will have to be done independently.
Conclusion
So, we found out which battery to choose for the car. As you can see, there are a lot of criteria. But difficulties in choosing arise only once. In the future, you will already know how to choose a battery for the car, and what parameters it should meet.
