How does the charging car battery works with engine on?
Is it enough to keep the engine running on regular bases or does the car have to move for the battery to charge? I am asking becouse mine could do with a charge top up but I have been on medication that makes me drowsy so there is no way I can drive to do this, I can seat n the car for a while tho if that is enough?
so…who is putting thumbs down for most the answers?
August 20th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
You do not need to drive it anywhere for the battery to get a charge, but may want to leave it running for at least 10 minutes.
August 20th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
you dont need to drive.the alternator will recharge the battery for your next drive then when you drive that will also help.sit idle for 15 minutes
who is the person giving thumbs down for correct answers?grow up and move out of moms basement
August 20th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
turn it on once a week or get a electric charger it will top up the battery as needed
ideally a run round the block is good
August 20th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
You can charge the battery on idle. Maybe revving the engine up to 1500rpm for a few seconds occasionally. Make sure you leave the garage door open. We don’t want you to be a carbon monoxide poisoning casualty.
August 20th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
At engine tickover speeds the car battery will not get back what was taken to start it for at least an hour.
Better to get someone to drive it around for 20 minutes once a week thus jkeeping the other bits flowing nicely too
August 20th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Under normal circumstances, you shouldn’t have to charge your battery very often. Unless you have an alarm or something that is lit/running all the time, the battery in your car should hold a charge for many weeks. Starting you car and letting it idle for a little while (1/2 an hour every week) should charge it enough if it is sitting up. You should do this anyway for other mechanical maintainances also, especially turning on your AC and recirculating the lubricants involved with those systems. Normally, a fully charged battery should read about 12.5 volts. When your car is running the alternator should put out over 14 volts, which would charge your battery. Hope this helps!
August 20th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
I suggest you purchase a simple ‘plug into the lighter socket charger’. It
will cost almost zero to use, and it will keep your battery up. That, of course depends on your parking situation. It would require 120 volt current. If you have a garage then that would be perfect. If not, then as many have stated, run the engine a few minutes every few days. Turn off all excessive loads such as anything plugged into the lighter socket.
August 21st, 2010 at 12:40 am
the way the batter works is electricty run of copper wire and spinning. there is a metal piece with copper wire. it spin your belts when it spins your belt it charging your battery! so you dont have to move or anything to charge it.
August 21st, 2010 at 1:36 am
lol diesel, i assume you are describing an alternator, not a battery. As a battery is not belt driven nor has any moving parts lol.
the alternator produces a mechanically induced electrical current, a magnet spins inside a copper coil causing intermittent posotive and negative electricity. This is charging the battery as the crank turns. As someone already mentioned, it is a bit better to drive the car to prevent other things from seizing and to lift the revs a bit. But you shouldnt need to worry unless the car is being stored for over months tho
August 21st, 2010 at 2:22 am
leave it alone.
get a battery charger.
the day before you are planning to drive again, charge the battery.
sitting on tickover is not good for the engine, nor the environment