The quarantine weakened our batteries

Many of us who have been affected by the quarantine have experienced our car batteries die as our cars were not used often enough. It was quite a common problem that a few of my friends texted asking for advice.

I also saw some posts in the net suggesting solutions to this problem like idling the car for 15 minutes every other day or 5 minutes a day would do the work. 

Another comment wrote that if the battery is healthy pre quarantine, it should last for 2 weeks.  My question is, how often is enough?

Battery life is tough to predict as it depends on how often you use your car, the charging capacity of the battery which is usually synonymous to its age and the climate. Yes, the weather. Have you ever heard of a tropicalized battery? Well, heat plays a big part in shortening the life of the car’s battery.

As for the standby time, a car should be able to sit parked for at least a month without the battery dying, unless it’s a higher-end car with plenty of computers that require power for memory and security.

A little review…

Most batteries that are available in the Philippines produce electricity through an electro-chemical reaction, which means that is has a liquid battery solution inside that plastic of a case.

Electricity is produced as electrons flow from the lead oxide anode to the metallic lead cathode, through a solution of sulphuric acid (note the acid). That reaction increases when the battery is charging, and decreases when the battery isn’t being used. That’s why batteries lose their charge when it’s on standby.

If the battery is connected to your car, it drains even faster because all the gadgets (ecu memory, radio memory, clock, alarm system) that are installed are sucking power even when it’s engine is off. This draining reaction is reversible, to a point. So when a current is applied to the battery, it regains its charge. The engine part that is responsible for charging your battery is called the “alternator”.

The alternator is driven by the engines rotational force and it maintains the battery’s charge. It also produces extra charge to power the lights, radio and all the other electrical gadgets in the car.

The best thing to do

Ideally, the best thing is to drive the car on a regular basis; three days a week is fine.

If you’re not going to be driving that often, just idling the car for 15minutes is fine but will do your battery a little good as your idling never really recharges the battery fully.

Realistically, you have to be in excess of 1,000 rpm before it starts charging at full force. Idling is commonly below 1000rpm.

What if we get stuck in a lockdown again?

The old school thing to do is to detach the negative ground cable of the battery or to attach a battery ground terminal with a kill switch. But that wouldn’t work well with cars with intelligent systems. I suggest using smart chargers like the battery tender. These types of chargers are so compact they are just two bits bigger than your smart phone. 

Unlike a traditional charger, which has a big chance of overcharging a battery, a smart charger only delivers as much power as your battery needs – once the battery is fully charged, it will turn off the current and recharge when the battery begins to decrease in power.  This can stay attached to your battery all year round and it wouldn’t damage it.

If you own a regular car with no intelligent features and you don’t mind resetting your clock or radio, you might want to consider a ground terminal kill switch. Otherwise, a higher end vehicle will need a smart charger.