How to charge a car battery at home?

Charging a car battery at home is a practical skill you need to know because a dead battery can happen at any time. A dead battery could be a horrible thing for your schedule, especially if the car battery maintenance schedule is terrible.

Replacing an old battery is often the first option of action. Still, in many cases, a recharging car battery will be the best solution at the moment.

Sometimes, your car charging system, hampered by the terminal battery corrosion, prevents the battery's recharge process and lets the electricity inside the battery drain out. Cleaning the battery corrosion and recharge the battery by yourself could save your time and money.

It's not difficult to charge a car battery, especially if you know how to use a battery charger. So, here they are, how to charge a car battery at home.

Preparation to charge a car battery.

Before charging a car battery, here are some preparation you have to know

Pay attention to your car battery ampere hour (Ah) size marked on the battery case. Use the battery charger with a minimum of 10% of your car battery ampere hour (Ah) capacity. A battery charger with less capacity than 10% of your car battery needs a longer time to a full battery charge.
Most modern cars use 12-volt battery voltage, so use the battery charger with 12 Volt DC to charge your car battery.
Suppose your car battery is a wet cell battery type. In that case, open the caps and ensure the battery water level is nearly three-quarters full before the maximum level. Only adding water to car battery with distilled water. The battery water level will rise upon the charging process.
A car battery charger usually has two main cables to attach to the battery. Red cable means positive, and the black color cable means negative ones. Be careful and don't connect in the wrong way.
Use your car battery charger and follow the recommended procedure in the battery charger manual book.

Precaution before charge a car battery

Charging a car battery may be dangerous. Here are some precautions before charge the car battery at home

It's better to remove your car battery from the car and charge it separately. Read your car service manual book before disconnecting the battery.
Use hand gloves and goggles to protect your eyes and hands from the acid.
Charge your car battery in a well-ventilated area
Avoid sparks (for example, smoking) when charging the battery because the steam produced during the charging process can be dangerous and cause a fire.

Connecting the battery charger

After preparation and precaution are done, then follow the recommended procedure in your battery charger manual book. Here's how to charge a car battery at home:

Make sure the battery charger is off before starting.
Connect the positive cable (red color) on the battery charger to the positive terminal on the car battery (red with the plus sign).
Connect the negative cable (black color) on the battery charger to the negative terminal on the car battery (black with a minus sign).
Set the battery charger to the slowest Charge Rate.
Turn on the battery charger and set the timer.
Please wait for the car battery until it fully charges. It may take 3-12 hours to charge fully.
When removing the battery charger, please turn it off first, remove the positive and the negative cable.

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Charge a car battery while still connected?

Can we charge a car battery while still connected to the car? The answer is YES, and we can, but charging a car battery while still connected is challenging and should be done very carefully.

There is only one reason why we have to charge a car battery while still connected. It is when you must to resetting your car engine management system with a special service scanner tool if disconnecting your car battery.

Some car models need to reset the car engine management system with a special service scanner tool if the car battery disconnect from the car. So, for this only reason, you can charge a car battery while still connected.

Here are some considerations if you charge a car battery while still connected

We must set the battery charger to the slowest rate, at least less than 10% of your car battery capacity. A larger charge rate will make the battery acid steamed and spread to the entire engine bay.
Using the slowest charge rate takes longer and sometimes requires more than 12 hours to charge fully.
There must be no mistake when installing the battery charger because it can damage your engine management system's computer.