Cars are becoming more and more important in our daily lives. Be it a neighborhood task or a long drive, people prefer to take the car. This is because cars are extremely powerful and comfortable at the same time. It also makes the traveling experience safer as opposed to two-wheelers, especially during journeys.
Just like humans are driven by food, cars too need different kinds of fuels to keep going. One of such fuel comes in the form of electrical power. This is obtained by the car from the batteries installed in them. Electrical power is one of the most essential sources for a car. This is because it is responsible for power starting the car for action. A car without a battery is useless for the commute.
Hence, it is essential to have a good battery inside the car. A good car battery ensures that it starts, allows accessories to work as normal, and the most important, not give up when needed the most. Car batteries have a different shelf and active life. This is often misunderstood by people and hence sometimes it results in extra costs due to prolonged damage apart from changing a car battery.
Sometimes, people are also unaware of the things to take care of during a car battery replacement service. These are the times are when people go to buy car batteries themselves before going in for a replacement service to avoid extra costs. Eventually, it may lead to a mismatched purchase or a bad installment damaging the car in the long run. To ensure that people avoid such kind of mistakes while going for a car battery replacement, here is a comprehensive guide to assist the people during the buying process. It shall help anyone make an educated decision and an informed choice and not get overwhelmed by the choices available in the market
Brand of the battery:
This is one of the easier ways to determine a quality battery. Each car manufacturer recommends a set of brands they can look forward to installing in their cars. Picking a new battery from either of the brands for battery replacement will ensure an optimal car performance. This is thumb-rule, irrespective of the vehicle, and must be followed for best results. Following this tip, one can avoid wasting money on cheap, poor quality batteries.
Batteries coming from such brands go under a quality manufacturing process and are verified before the sale. This assures that the branded batteries keeping on performing optimally without any hiccups for longer periods. Warranty bundled along branded batteries ensures peace of mind to the customers long after the purchase has been made.
Size of the battery:
Different cars have different kinds of battery sizes. These sizes relate to their capacities. Branding specification is done by the car manufacturers for the batteries often comes with a size specification. This is because a car cannot fit in a battery of all sizes due to the unique engine bay.
Some types of batteries may fit in but may not perform efficiently due to excessive demands. This is one of the reasons a car manufacturer often recommends a certain size of the battery to opt for during a car battery replacement.
Such kind of sizes can be easily identified by the labels imprinted on the car batteries. 51R, 75, 34/78, 24/24F, and 65 are some of the common examples of the sizes available in the market. One can always look forward to buying the right battery for the car after referring to the specific model and size in the car manual.
Reservation limit:
Every car battery has a certain time limit as to when it can provide enough power to run a car in case the charging system gives up. This usually happens when car accessories like lights are forgotten to be turned off overnight. An excessive runtime burns up the charging system due to electrical overload.
In order to analyze how much time the car battery has to offer before it gives up, one can look forward to checking the label on the car battery. The specification is an average estimation done based on industrial tests conducted after the manufacturing process. A battery with at least 90 minutes of reserve time is the battery to go for. This ensures that one would be easily able to take the car to the nearest car shop for car battery replacement in case the battery gives up due to a dying alternator.
Life of the battery:
Life is one highlighting qualities of a good car battery. This is that factor makes it worth spending extra cash on branded batteries instead of opting for cheap batteries. A usual trend of a three-year warranty is issued by several good car battery manufacturers. However, such batteries usually last longer than the warranty period.
Regular caretaking of the battery, even when the car is not driven around can make such batteries even longer. There is no exact metric to determine the battery life but an average estimation of around 36-60 months is expected from quality batteries. The estimation is subjective and completely dependent on usage patterns and storage.
Restoration power:
Batteries are known to run weak in extreme weather conditions. This is one of the reasons why a car puts too much strain on battery cells to deliver the necessary power to the car engine. Each battery has some restoration power to kick things back on easily. This power is known as Cold Cranking Amps (CCA). It is one of the quality measures to determine a good car battery. A good car battery is usually able to deliver power using CCA for at least 30 seconds at 0 degrees Fahrenheit temperature at the least operable voltage.
Buying such a battery ensures that one can kick start the car using the emergency power delivered by CCA if the car is stuck in the middle of nowhere. However, CCA might not reflect its importance in warmer regions.
These are some of the common tips to take off when going for a car battery replacement. This shall assist you in picking the right battery for your car. It saves you the hassle of going through the entire owner’s manual and make informed decisions whenever going for a new car battery.