Car Battery Cells Low

A low specific gravity in one cell compared to other cells means it is dead.

Car battery cells low.

Then use a battery charger to recharge the battery or just drive the car for a few days in normal service. These cells start your car by chemically producing voltage and amperage. Top up the level with battery water. A more helpful way to interpret that battery light is that it s warning you that your car is running only on battery power.

At its most basic a car battery is constructed of alternating plates of dissimilar metals usually lead and lead oxide pb and pbo 2 in an electrolyte bath usually sulfuric acid h 2 so 4 in water. The typical 12 volt car battery is composed of six cells. If the electrolyte levels in the cells are low plates are exposed fill each cell to just cover the plates. Distilled water can be purchased at most grocery stores.

The typical battery in vehicles made in 1952 and later is a wet cell battery a plastic cube containing sulfuric acid and lead with two terminals coming out of the top or the side. If this happens you will be able to keep driving for a little while. But when your car battery keeps dying over and over again it s a pretty safe bet that there s an underlying problem that needs to be dealt with before you end up. The best method to test a car battery for a dead cell is to check the specific gravity of the electrolyte fluid.

A battery is charged continually by the. The specific gravity for the electrolyte is ideally 1 265. This short guide should be reliable unless you have an aftermarket battery with special needs such as a dry cell battery or a hybrid like a prius. Car batteries can die for a huge range of different reasons and there s always the chance that whatever went wrong won t go wrong again.

When one or more of the cells fails the battery is incapable of producing the needed amperage to start the vehicle to get you to work in the morning. Car battery death for the purposes of this article refers to the battery s inability to hold a charge usually caused by sulfation. A typical 12 volt car battery is composed of six cells that chemically produce voltage and amperage to start your car. The symptoms of a soon to be dead car battery.

Any cells with lower levels may be unable to hold a full charge and are weak cells within the battery. When your car battery dies once it may be tempting to just write it off as a fluke. However when one or more of the cells fails the battery will be unable to produce the required amperage to start your car. Leave the battery for 12 hours and check it again.

The fluid should cover the top of the lead plates within the cell by nearly a quarter of an inch.