Author: danielbroadyca

7 Reasons to Recycle Your Battery

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If you’re sitting on your car battery wondering what to do with it, consider recycling. Chances are high that there is a recycling facility somewhere near you, and here are seven good reasons why you should recycle your battery.

1. It Won’t Sit on Your Property

 

If you’re not using your battery and it’s just taking up space. Turn it over to be recycled and free up that space for something else.

 

2. Avoid Adding to the Landfill Problem

 

The landfills already have enough garbage going into them every day. Recycling your battery keeps them from adding to that problem.

 

3. Avoid the Spread of Harmful Chemicals

 

Batteries contain chemicals such as sulfuric acid that can corrode items and get into soil and water. Recycling the batter keeps these chemicals from getting where they shouldn’t go.

 

4. Reduce the Spread of Harmful Metals

 

Batteries contain mercury, zinc, lithium, and lead, which are harmful when consumed and dangerous if they get into water. Recycling your battery keeps these metals where they should be.

 

5. Materials Are Used in Other Products

 

Usable materials in your recycled battery can be put to use in other products, including sunscreen and dietary supplements.

 

6. Create Less Expensive Batteries

 

Recycled batteries can be used to create batteries that cost less money.

 

7. You’re Helping the Environment

 

Keeping old batteries away from soil and water is good for you and the environment. To learn more about battery recycling in San Diego, please visit this website.

Jump-starting a Car

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Whether you left your lights on overnight or a friend’s battery died, you may need to jump start a battery. Here is how to do it.

Jump-starting a car involves using a car with a fully charged battery to start a car with a dead battery. Make sure to drive the car that was jump-started for several minutes after jump-starting it or the alternator will not charge the battery back to full capacity.

If the dead battery is leaking, damaged, or heavily corroded, jump-starting the battery could be dangerous and you should call a professional. Avoid touching the posts of the battery directly.

To jump-start a battery you will need a car with a charged battery and a set of jumper cables. To begin, park the car with the good battery close to the car with the dead battery. The engines should be close enough that the jumper cables can reach each battery without being tight. Put each car in neutral or park and remove the key from both ignitions.

Open the hoods and locate the batteries, making sure to notice which terminal on each battery is negative and positive. The cables and batteries will have a ‘plus’ sign and red coloring for the positive sides. Alternatively, the negative battery terminal and cable will be black and have a ‘minus’ sign. Connect the positive clamp of the battery cable to the positive terminal of the dead battery. Next, connect the other positive clamp the positive terminal of the working battery. After that, connect the first negative clamp to the negative terminal of the working battery. Finally, connect the second negative clamp to a metal surface of the dead car’s engine that is not painted or oily. You may see a small spark when you connect the last clamp.

Once the four clamps are connected, start the engine of the car with the good battery. Let it idle for a few minutes and rev the engine several times. This process charges the dead battery a little bit. With the engine still on try to start the engine of the car with the dead battery. The car should start up, but if it does not, turn off both cars and remove the last clamp you connected. Adjust or wiggle the three other clamps on the battery terminals, then reconnect the fourth clamp. Repeat the process of starting and idling the good car, then starting the dead car. Once the car starts, remove the cables in the reverse order that you installed them. The car is now ready to drive.

To find out more information on battery accessories in San Diego, please visit this website.

5 Tips on Vehicle Battery Maintenance

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Your car battery is a crucial part of your vehicle operating system, as it helps the car start up and continue to run. It is also full of toxic chemicals that have to be carefully disposed of, so it’s important to keep it in the best shape possible to reduce cost and environmental impact. Here are five tips to help you with that goal.

Tip 1: Watch Your Cell Voltage

Your mechanic or auto parts store can do this easily. Check the voltage level every 3 months or 3,000 miles, whichever comes first. A fully charged battery should have a 12.5-12.6 volt charge. If it’s too low, your tester will have suggestions for maintenance or replacement.

Tip 2: Keep Your Battery Clean

A dirty battery will have a negative effect on the charge. Take off the clamps and remove any dirt, grease, and oxidation. Every six to eight months the battery terminals should be scrubbed with a wire brush.

Tip 3: Insulate Your Garage, and/or the Battery Itself

If possible, it’s great to keep your car in an insulated garage. This helps keep your battery warm in the winter. You also want to avoid higher temperatures, which can drain the battery fluid more quickly than lower temps. You can also insulate the battery itself fairly cheaply. If your car battery already has an insulator, keep an eye on its placement and make sure it stays undamaged.

Tip 4: Add Water

Check the water level of your battery every few months. If it’s lower than the bottom of the refill hole, add some distilled water with a funnel.

Tip 5: Check the Placement

Make sure your battery tray is clean and the battery is sitting precisely. You don’t want the battery to move around, tip over, or bump into other engine parts.

To find out more about battery repair in San Diego, visit this website.

How to Tell When Your Car Battery Needs Servicing

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Responsible for powering your car and keeping it running, your battery is an integral part of your vehicle’s performance. Most car batteries have a life expectancy of two to three years total, but you don’t want to wait until it’s completely dead in order to swap out your old battery for a new one. Here are some signs to watch out for that can point to a dead or dying battery.

No Start

An old or worn out battery will result in a problem starting your car, whether it’s frequent or intermittent. Your engine may turn over, but it will take a while to start, especially if it has been stagnant for some time. When you start a car’s engine, the car battery is solely responsible for the spark that lights the gas and air mixture within the engine. Sometimes this symptom is misread as a bad starter or a problem with the alternator, but it commonly means that your battery voltage is just a little under what your car requires for efficient operation.

No Lights or Accessories

The battery is responsible for all of the lights and accessories in your car, most importantly when the alternator is off. If you’re curious about whether your battery is on its last leg, you can do a headlight test. Have someone watch you turn on and off the headlights. If the lights fade at the time when the car is being turned on, or immediately following, these are clear signs that the battery needs servicing or to be replaced. You can also check the electrical accessories such as the power windows or radio. If these are sluggish, or do not come on at all, these are symptoms of battery problems.

To find out more information about battery accessories in San Diego, please visit this website.

A Brief History on the Automotive Battery

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Car batteries generate electric power and send it to the car’s ignition and starter in cars with traditional gasoline engines. Despite the long history of the battery as a power source, some of the most important developments in the modern car battery’s life happened over a century ago. Here are some of the most important steps in the evolution.

Earliest Iterations

The first battery is believed to have dated from 250 BC, used by Sumerians in what is now Iraq. These were jars with copper cylinders and a corroded stick of iron. Experts believe these were used for metalwork, jewelry production, and possibly for medicinal purposes.

Modern Battery

The creator of the modern battery is agreed to be Alessandro Volta, an Italian inventor who came up with the first dry-cell version around 1800. He connected two dissimilar metals in order to generate power, calling it the Voltaic Pile. This battery never created much energy, but it was a forerunner for what would come to be the contemporary car battery.

French Contributions

Gaston Plante, a French physicist invented a battery using lead electrodes with sulfuric acid in 1860. This lead acid power source was one of the first uses of wet cell technology. Georges Leclanche, another Frenchman, is also credited with an early type of wet cell battery. In 1866 he used a zinc rod and manganese dioxide/carbon to produce a charge. This was the forerunner of the zinc carbon cell battery, which is now prevalent and popular around the world. Despite continuous and frequent changes and updates, the bare bones of the automotive batteries developed around this time remain as constants.

For more information on car batteries in San Diego, visit this website.