Car Tech 101: What you need to know about car batteries (On Cars)

Brian Cooley tells you what to look for when you're out shopping for a car battery.

[zato]

You give just the right amount of energy in your presentation . Not over the top annoying or ho hum boring. Great job!

[rondye]

My former employer Johnson Controls Corp. owns 80% of the replacement battery business and acts like a monopoly. They set the price high and the other manufacturers just match it for high profits. Lead Acid batteries are the number 1 recycle product in the World, nearly 100%, so no raw material cost. It cost them, 12 years ago, about $8.00 to build and ship a battery. They manu. Sears Die Hard, Interstate, Optima, Dura Start. Ford OEM., Mercedes OEM. and on and on. They recently went on a huge price gouge. They are a monopoly and buys out competitors.

The original Optima batteries, before being bought by JC last forever. I have some that are 27 years old. The newer ones have a fault built in that causes them to start loosing voltage after 5 years. Built in obsolescence.

[darkbyte]

brian you have the gift of making car info so easy to understand .. thanks

[AwsomeEric]

I know I'm knit picking here but you only have one battery not 6. The individual groups of plates are called cells. You have 6 cells which come together to form a battery of cells.

[davidbarr]

Brian, Your videos are always thorough, entertaining, and well presented. Thanks!

[topdog]

It may not always be an easy repair on your car. Take the Dodge avenger and Chrysler Sebring for example. The battery is located in the driver side wheel well meaning you have to put the car up on stands to remove a battery. AGM batteries, although more expensive, have better warranties as well. And they're great for luxury cars due to their larger reserve capacity. And although disconnecting the battery when it's not used, won't stop the battery from losing it's charge. Any rechargeable battery will lose it's charge over time and should be charged periodically even when not in use, hence the use of a battery tender. Some even have a quick disconnect adapter for those hard to reach batteries.

[curtchase]

If your car has an ECM (computer), I'd shy away from installing a quick disconnect adapter. The computer, radio, clock, etc. need the battery power all the time. Be careful with those trickle chargers too. Ones, like the one shown in the video have a tendency to overcharge and even destroy a battery over extended use. They are usually set with a too high cutoff voltage. What they do is cycle on and off. Typically bring battery voltage up to around 14.5, then cut off, wait till the battery gets down to around 13.5 then kicks back in. I had one of these on one of my boat battery once during off season (about 8 months). When I went to start the boat next season, engine woudn't crank! Found out the float charger burn't up the battery! I may still use this charger, but only leave on my boat battery for about a week, wait 2 months, put back on for a week. That seems to work out ok.

[Billybobzzz]

You can't go to high in the CCA rating. If your engine doesn't need the extra capacity it simply won't use it. Where an extra high CCA rating is extremely useful is in cold weather starting. A higher CCA rating means you can start your engine reliably more times that day, before failing because you have the extra standby capacity. I have see batteries with low CCA fail to start an engine in very cold winter temperatures where my neighbor could not start their car at all. My car parked right next to them started my car normally and then jump started several neighbors who could not start their car. I then drove several very short distances (not long enough to charge my battery), shut off and restarted my car easily each time (the temperatures were 35 degrees below zero Fahrenheit that winter). That is why I always get the battery with the highest CCA rating that will fit my car. It costs more but I can always start my car reliably (it only takes one breakdown for you ti regret buying a cheaper battery).

[psdaengr]

Don't use a disconnect with a modern car. The onboard computer systems need a continuous source of very low amperage power to retain programming.

[CybersecNerd]

Thank you, always nice to have a refresh over the details!

[timtravasos]

Superb explanation. Not condescending but good and factual.

[-lucentdawn-]

Very well directed, created, animations, and graphics. I have seen a lot of how-to videos and this is one of the best. Thank you! off to go buy a new battery.

[SoundArtMagic]

thank goodness for you. this video was so helpful as we're just about to buy our first replacement battery. so many thanks!

[bran]

Cheers mate, I'm not the sharpest knife in the draw when it comes to machanical issues, but you actually taught me how to go buy my new battery thank you

[Aldorelaxingguitar]

Very nice explanation and like that negative battery clip idea

[thiagoesperebien]

Hey can I ask?

If you make the mistake of putting the (-) terminal on the (+) side of the battery, will your car lights still go on?

[aipalapala]

Brian, I read that a hybrid plug in 12V battery doesn't last as long because the battery doesn't start the car and the battery doesn't get a fast discharge on a normal basis. I see a recommendation of putting it on a tender regularly to resolve the issue of film formation on the plates. The recommendation does not come with an explanation on the science. Is the recommendation true?

[lordleonusa]

Fairly accurate description, the sure fire way to make your battery last for many years is simply to ensure it remains above 12.5 volts at all times, just buy and use a battery maintainer/tender.

[reallyhappenings]

Gel has best tolerance to vibration. AGM starting battery plus deep cycle gel, same as in my boat!

[nevermind]

very informative and understandable demonstration on batteries 10/10