6
BATTERY MAINTENANCE AND CARE
It is essential to keep your battery regularly charged throughout the year, especially
during the winter months. Low temperature reduces the effectiveness of your car
battery and your motor oil is thicker. Engines are more difficult to start and the heater,
windscreen wipers and lights are all draining power. It is at this time that batteries have
to be at peak power. If your battery is not regularly maintained and kept fully charged,
it can cause problems and a possible breakdown.
Listed are some helpful hints on how to keep your battery healthy in conjunction with
your Pro-User battery charger:
Detecting faulty Cells with a hygrometer
(not possible with sealed or maintenance-free batteries)
Starter-Batteries are usually made of several cells, with a nominal voltage of 2V per cell.
If one of the cells is defective, the whole battery deteriorates. If, after several hours of
charging, your battery is still flat, you should test the battery cells.
Using a hydrometer, which can be purchased from most motor accessory stores, you
can check the specific gravity of the electrolyte in each cell. Take hydrometer readings
from each cell in the battery. Put the fluid back into the cell after testing, taking care
not to spill the fluid. If one reading is lower than the others, this could indicate a faulty
cell. If necessary, get an auto-electrician to check your battery. In some cases a battery
can be revived, but one faulty cell is enough to ruin your battery.
Care
Sometimes the battery may appear flat, but the reason could simply be dirty or loose
connections on your battery terminals. It is important to maintain the leads on a regular
basis. Clean all contacts and grease them using terminal grease. Make sure that all
connections are tight.
It is essential to keep the electrolyte level above the plates, note that you should not
overfill it, as the electrolyte is strongly acidic. When topping up, do not use tap water.
Always use distilled or de-ionized water. It is important to keep the acid level up. If
necessary have it checked by your garage.
