whether you are parking your car for the
winter or are just not driving it on a
daily basis
you always want to make sure that when
you go to start it your car will start
reliably whenever you need it
having a battery maintainer or charger
is an essential tool to have
that can save you some grief by either
preventing a dead battery or helping to
bring one back to life
while in other cases help you jump start
your car
in this video find out the three types
of battery chargers you can use
how to maintain or charge your battery
and why you don't want to overcharge
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a car battery will normally
self-discharge slowly over time
but nowadays cars have many more
computers on board
and some are always on from alarm
systems remote starter systems
to keyless entry and dash cam systems
with park mode
these all slowly drain the battery when
the car is off
if you don't drive your car much
regularly and only take short trips
you might be caught off guard one day
when your car won't start because of a
dead battery
to prevent this you want to have and use
a battery maintainer or battery charger
preferably you want one that won't
overcharge your battery
overcharging these types of batteries
can lead to irreparable damage
damage that could cause the battery to
have lower capacity lower life span
or even lower power output continually
charging a battery that is full can also
result in a dead battery that you will
need to replace
because of this you want a charger that
will monitor and stop the charging when
the battery is full
here are three types to consider the
first type is the most basic
a float charger no fancy computers
inside or any smart algorithms
just a charger that charges and stops
charging when the battery is charged
these are typically slow chargers meant
for maintaining the charge on your
battery
great for portability for maintaining
the charge of a good battery
and available at a good price point
watch to the end to find out why this
one is good to have around
even if you have one of the next two
types of chargers the second one is an
automatic charger with a microprocessor
that controls the charging and has fancy
features to revive and recondition
batteries that need it
the latest ones even have temperature
sensors that properly charge
batteries in different climates
multi-stage charging to ensure maximum
battery life
and even support for different types of
12v batteries these also have safety
features that protect you in case you
hook up the terminals incorrectly
smart chargers come in different
varieties with different features and
with varying amperages to give you
normal to rapid charging
again these will stop charging the
battery when full and kick into
maintenance mode to prevent damage
the third type is a charger maintainer
that includes
engine start or jump start mode you can
use these to boost a car when needed
something handy to have around
especially if you live in cold regions
there are old school ones like this one
that are not microprocessor controlled
and ones that are that have features to
revive and recondition batteries too
in the end pick one that suits your
needs if you're looking for a battery
charger we've provided several links to
good chargers in our video description
below
so check those out now that you know
what to use to charge or maintain your
car battery
how do you do it first thing is to
always practice safety
wear safety glasses as there are strong
acids in car batteries
then watch our how to change a car
battery safely video
to find out more about car batteries and
how not to cause a short circuit
charging is very simple with these
chargers you attach the red or
positive clamp to the red terminal of
the battery then you attach the black or
negative clamp to a solid unpainted
metal part of the car
make sure this metal part is away from
the battery
then plug the charger into the power
outlet and that's it
for smart chargers you have additional
steps to select appropriate modes
each brand is different so you should
make sure to follow the instructions
manual
and to remove the setup just reverse the
order unplug from the power outlet
remove the black clamp then the red
clamp
the reason you connect the negative or
black clamp away from the battery
is that when the battery is charging it
may release hydrogen gas which is
explosive at high enough concentrations
so this is just a safety precaution as
charging sometimes produces sparks
that could ignite the hydrogen gas this
is also why proper ventilation is
important
here's a quick tip sometimes smart
chargers are too smart for themselves
the safety features that prevent
sparking or provide reverse polarity
protection can get in the way
for example if a battery is too
discharged the voltage it provides may
be too low for the smart charger to
properly detect that it is connected to
the battery
or it may think that a battery is
damaged when it isn't
and refuse to charge in these cases
it may not start charging at all so
having a non-microprocessor controlled
charger around
can be useful as these don't care so you
can use them to charge the battery to a
point where the smart chargers will
properly detect them
and be able to charge we hope this video
helps you keep your car running when you
need it most
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