various - car batterys

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Mon 29 Nov 2010 18:27
various - car batterys - mark.b

first of all if i have posted in wrong section please move,

rite back to the intended subject, what i want to know is what kills car batterys once we have tempretures like those many parts of the country are having, is it that the liquid chemical freezes solid stopping the chemical reaction with the plates or does the temp just damage the chemical,would insulating the battery(similar to hot water tank at home) obviously not covering the vent holes help with preventing this problem

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Mon 29 Nov 2010 18:40
various - car batterys - Vitesse6

The battery produces electricity by a chemical reaction. As with all such reactions they go slower at lower temperatures. Add to that that the engine oil thickens with the cold and you have your problem starting.

Insulating the battery wouldn't do much good. Keeping the car in a warm place would, but a new battery would probably be cheaper in the long run.

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Mon 29 Nov 2010 19:34
various - car batterys - Collos25

Must disagree slightly keeping a battery warm does the world of good.

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Mon 29 Nov 2010 20:49
various - car batterys - brum

Heat and shock/severe vibration kills batteries. Cold just reduces a battery's ability to supply heavy current during starts, which is made especially heavier by cold thick viscous oil in the engine and ancillaries such as glow plugs etc. If your battery is dying in the cold, it is either not fully charged or well on its way to the battery recycling unit.

Running a battery partly or deeply discharged for extended periods kills them, so short runs in the winter are not good unless you can top up the charge regularly.

Edited by brum on 29/11/2010 at 20:51

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