Car Battery Cells Low

If the electrolyte levels in the cells are low plates are exposed fill each cell to just cover the plates.

Car battery cells low.

Car battery death for the purposes of this article refers to the battery s inability to hold a charge usually caused by sulfation. These cells start your car by chemically producing voltage and amperage. The best method to test a car battery for a dead cell is to check the specific gravity of the electrolyte fluid. A low specific gravity in one cell compared to other cells means it is dead.

The specific gravity for the electrolyte is ideally 1 265. The fluid should cover the top of the lead plates within the cell by nearly a quarter of an inch. 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. 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.

Distilled water can be purchased at most grocery stores. The typical 12 volt car battery is composed of six cells. A battery is charged continually by the. 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.

Then use a battery charger to recharge the battery or just drive the car for a few days in normal service. Any cells with lower levels may be unable to hold a full charge and are weak cells within the battery. If this happens you will be able to keep driving for a little while. Leave the battery for 12 hours and check it again.

However when one or more of the cells fails the battery will be unable to produce the required amperage to start your car. The symptoms of a soon to be dead car battery. A more helpful way to interpret that battery light is that it s warning you that your car is running only on battery power. 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. Top up the level with battery water. Specific gravity is the density of the electrolyte fluid compared to water. Your battery s job is to start the car it s your alternator that generates the power that keeps it running and recharges the battery.

When your car battery dies once it may be tempting to just write it off as a fluke.