How to Safely charge a car battery

This is a quick guide for charging your car battery using a standard battery charger. It covers that basic safety and how to instructions for charging a car battery without making you read through many pages of material you may not need.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Car battery charger
• Wrench or socket set
• Wire brush

1. (Always wear protective glasses when working with car batteries).
   Disconcert the positive terminal of your car battery. (Look for the plus sign and or red cable).

2. Clean the battery terminals of rust and debris.

3. Remove the battery cell covers. Inspect the water level and make sure it at least covers the cells. Add water if needed but do no not overfill the battery cells.

4. Attach the car battery charger positive clamp to the positive terminal of your car battery.

5. Attach the negative cable from the battery charger to your car battery or bare metal ground on the car chassis.

6. Use the lower amperage charge setting on your battery charge for a better charge. Turn on the battery charger.

7. If your car battery charger has an indicator light or gauge, use it to tell when charging is complete. If the car battery charger is the manual type, allow about 8 hours. When nearing full charge you can see the hydrogen gas bubbles in the water of the battery cell. Again, do not allow flames or sparks nearby.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't overcharge - car battery damage may result.
• Fill each battery cell with water to the full line (not over) before beginning). (You'll have to pry off the plastic cover first).
• Do not allow any open flames or sparks in the area.
• Do not get battery acid on your skin, clothes or above all your eyes.

[hunt7777]

on 10/5/2009 Gives correct information and does so simple and understandable.

[jroberts07]

on 10/3/2009 My car battery didn't need to be changed, however the terminals were slightly corroded and the water level was low. I removed the battery cables, cleaned the terminals and put on some anti-corrosion felt tabs, and filled up the various chambers with distilled water. I then reconnected the cables. It was not a difficult process at all.