How to Charge a Car Battery While Still Connected: Revive Your Battery!

There are a total of two ways that you can charge your car battery, and they are both extremely easy ways.

The usual way would be to remove the car battery from your car to charge it, whether you do it at home or in a workshop. That’s actually the way that most people do it unless they need to charge their batteries in an emergency.

What’s the Regular Way to Charge a Car Battery? 

If your car battery is dead and you have time in your hand, i.e. you are at home and you don’t need to take the car out immediately, there’s a regular way to charge it.

The car battery needs to be removed from the car for you to charge it; at the same time, you need to make sure you have the right tools for completing the job.

Depending on the model of your car, the battery might be easily accessible to remove it, or it could be that you need to use a few tools to remove it from the car. 

Next, all the accessories and lights need to be turned off to charge the battery, unless you want the battery to arc while charging it. 

The battery also needs to be cleaned with a terminal cleaning brush and a combination of water and baking soda. Again, this is only possible when you have enough time on your hands and all the necessary tools available around you. The car battery might also need to be refilled with distilled water if it is low on water. 

Finally, when the charger is off, the positive cable needs to be hooked up to the positive terminal of the battery and the negative cable needs to be hooked up to the negative terminal of the battery. The charger needs to be turned on and the timer set for the charger to start charging the car battery. 

Is it Possible to Charge Your Car Battery When It is Still Connected? 

Normally, car batteries need to be charged at leisure when the battery has been removed from the car and you have all the necessary tools around.

However, there are some times when you get into your car in the middle of the day, turn on the key but instead of starting, your ignition makes a “click” sound and refuses to start. 

This happens when your car battery is “dead” or “flat” and needs to be charged in an alternate method. 

To answer the question, it is definitely possible to charge your car battery while it is still connected to the car, and this should be done with the help of a trickle charger. 

So, if you are in the middle of a chore or on the road, and your car battery suddenly dies on you, you’re going to need the help of a trickle charger to charge your car battery. 

What is a Trickle Charger? 

With trickle chargers, you can prevent your car batteries from losing charge completely so that they suddenly stop working. This is a low-voltage charging unit that is designed to improve the health and the state of your battery so that it works longer and better. 

With a trickle charger, you might need up to 48 hours to charge your car battery completely and to full capacity. They are extremely handy if you want to maintain the working capacity and the health of your car battery for a long time to come. 

Can You Charge Your Car Battery When it is Still Connected? 

Depending on the model of the car you are using, you can definitely charge your car battery when it is still connected to your car.

Whether your car allows this can be found in your model’s manual; if your car model allows it, any smart battery charger available in the market can be used to safely charge your car battery while it is still connected. 

Sometimes a particular car model doesn’t allow the battery to be charged while it is still connected to the car. Doing so nevertheless might boil the acid inside the battery and damage it completely and beyond repair.

In other cases, charging these batteries while still connected can force the battery acid out of the battery, or cause the battery case to split mid-charge. Car battery acid is extremely corrosive and can burn everything it touches inside the car. 

Still, if your car model allows direct charging while still connected to the car, there’s a safe way to do so. 

Is it Safe to Charge your Car Battery keeping it Connected? 

If required, it is quite safe to charge a car battery while it is still connected to your car, but as long as you maintain a few precautions. If your car model allows it, there will be no risk to your car battery or to your car if you charge the battery while it is still connected to the car.

At the same time, there might be some chances of sparks and shocks which may hurt your hand while you are charging the battery. 

It will be much safer if you are wearing the right kind of protective and safety gear while charging your car battery, including eye protection and gloves. At the same time, the charger’s voltage shouldn’t be more than 14.7 volts when you are using the charger for it to be safe.  

Charging your car battery should always take place in an open and well-ventilated area. It helps the situation if your car battery dies out in the middle of the road and you have to charge it under the open sky. This is much better than charging your car battery in a closed area. 

Steps to Charge Your Car Battery:

First of all, the vehicle needs to be turned off, and the keys need to be taken out of the ignition. If your car is turned on, the clamp of the charger can end up causing serious damage to the battery and to your hands. 

Next, the hood of the car needs to be opened for the clamps to be attached to the car battery. If you are using an O-ring connector for permanently installing the tender, it is important to follow your car’s manufacturing instructions to do so.

For alligator clamps, the clamps need to be safely attached to the exposed terminals of the car battery. Sometimes, you’ll need to remove the connectors of the car battery to access the battery

Thirdly, it is important to set the correct voltage of the battery charger, which needs to be done by turning off the changer and unplugging it first before you attach it to the car battery. 

The positive clamp needs to be attached to the positive terminal of the car battery and the negative clamp needs to be attached to the negative terminal. The positive terminal is usually red in color and the negative terminal is black in most cases. 

Next, turn on the battery charger so that the car battery starts to charge. 

When the car battery has been sufficiently charged, the charger needs to be turned off and the clamps need to be removed in reverse. This means, the black clamp needs to be removed first, and then the red clamp needs to be removed. 

These steps should be enough for your car battery to charge sufficiently when you need it to. 

Conclusion

Your car battery dying out when you are in the middle of your chores or traveling somewhere important can be a nuisance, but it has a solution. You can definitely charge your car battery while it is still connected to your car without a lot of trouble, with the right tools and machines you have around you.