8 tips to select the right battery for your car

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8 tips to select the right battery for your car

• BY
• http//thebatteryplace.net.au/

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A car battery helps to power your car's engine
and provides charge for all the electrical and
electronic accessories in it. If your engine
takes a longer time to crank and start you need
to visit a garage for load test of your
battery. Load test helps you identify whether
your battery is holding a charge or not. If its
weakening, its time to get a new battery. Once
you have decided where to buy a car battery from,
its time to select the right one for your car.
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Whether you buy a maintenance free battery or
a regular one, you need to consider size,
cold-cranking amps, reserve capacity and many
other things to buy the most suitable battery for
your car. Heres what you should consider when
buying a new battery 1.Technology
a.Different vehicles have different driving
styles and varying demands. Its important to
determine which battery is suitable for those
demands - whether its a conventional battery
thats low maintenance or maintenance free, a
deep-cycle or AGM battery. b.If youre looking
forward to gear your vehicle with numerous
electronic features and plug-in accessories, you
should consider a deep-cycle battery or a battery
made with advanced technology like AGM.
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2.Check for maintenance free or low
maintenance batteries a. Maintenance free
batteries dont need water. b. Low
maintenance batteries are unsealed and use
distilled water. This is an important factor to
consider if you live in hot climate. c. In a
regular battery, the electrolyte level has to be
checked regularly while a maintenance free
battery has no such requirement. d. A
maintenance free battery is more expensive than
low maintenance battery but it has the added
advantage of worry-free operation. 3.Battery
size a. Consult a replacement guide to find
the battery group size that works for the make
and model of your car. b. Consider group
size, which refers to the outside dimensions of
the battery and the placement of the terminals.
c. If youre not so sure about the car manual
description, get help from the auto supply store
employee to help you with the correct battery
size.
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4.Keep driving needs and climate in mind
a. High temperatures are hard on car batteries.
The electrolyte solution in car batteries
evaporates more rapidly, hence, unsealed
batteries are better for the hot
climate. b. If you drive long distances on
regular basis, a battery with a longer running
life is important for your daily usage. c.
If you primarily have short start-and-stop trips,
you need a battery that holds charge for longer
time as short trips don't give much time to your
battery to recharge. 5.Check cold
cranking amps (CCA) cranking amps (CA) a.
These two values are critical, especially if you
live in a colder region. b. CCA indicates a
battery's ability to start a car at 0F (-17C).
c. CCA determines the amount of current the
battery delivers to your car's starter. d.
CA defines the amount of current your battery
delivers to your car when temperature is 32F
(0C). This rating is usually higher than the
CCA. e. CCA is relative to how much lead a
battery has inside it. As the lead increases, the
CCA increases and so the cost of the battery
increases.
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6.Reserve capacity (RC) a. Reserve
capacity is the indicator of how long a fully
charged battery can continue to operate essential
car accessories if the vehicles alternator
fails. b. It identifies the time period for
which the battery can deliver a constant current
of 25 amps at 80F without falling below the
minimum voltage. c. According to standard
automotive battery with 6 cells, 1.75 volts per
cell is the value needed to keep your vehicle
running. 7.C20 capacity a. C20 capacity is
an indicator of energy stored in a battery. It is
the energy a battery can deliver continuously for
20 hours at 80F without falling below 10.5
volts. b. Some premium batteries also define
their C20 capacity in ampere-hour (Ah). c.
In general, for CCA, RC and C20 ratings, the
higher the number, the better. However, there are
still other factors to consider when choosing the
right battery.
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8.Select a battery that has been on the store
shelf for less than six months a. The date
stamp code gives you a battery's manufacturing
information. b. The first two characters on
the stamp are a letter and a digit. They may be
interchanged. Some batteries have letter first
while others have digit first. c. The letter
always stands for the month. Example, A stands
for January, B for February, etc. d. The
digit always specifies the year of battery
manufacture. Example, 5 stands for 2015, 6 for
2016. e. Always check the date stamp and
never buy a battery that has been on the shelf
for more than 6 months. If you cant figure out
the date, ask for assistance from an employee of
the shop.
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• Although some vehicles may accommodate a battery
  thats not exactly meant for them, its the best
  practice to use a battery approved for your
  vehicle by the company manual and according to
  its needs.