How to Read Volt Meter on Car Dash
Your vehicle'due south battery is its lifeline. Without a performance bombardment, yous're not going anywhere. Which ways you should regularly bank check your battery's charge to make certain it has enough juice to last yous the next couple of months. Today, we're going to show y'all an like shooting fish in a barrel mode to test your bombardment voltage.
Fortunately, this is a relatively simple task. If you have the right tools for the job, there'southward no reason you can't exercise it all by yourself.
Before We Start
Is the Alternator or the Battery to Blame?
If you're noticing some power issues and you lot're concerned virtually the prospect of a dying battery, you lot should beginning run a couple of tests to make up one's mind whether the issue is with the bombardment or the charging organization (the alternator) before spending a adept chunk of change on something you lot don't need.
What'south An Alternator, You lot Ask?
The alternator converts free energy from the engine into alternate electrical electric current for the battery, which powers the vehicle's electrical systems. So if it seems similar your battery isn't working, this is the outset place you lot should await.
You can check on the health of your alternator in a few ways:
- After y'all've started your vehicle, turn on your headlights. If yous detect that the lights are a piffling dim, then that could be an indication the lights are existence powered primarily by the battery. In such a case, this means there is little or no charge existence created by the alternator.
- With your headlights on, try revving the engine. If your lights polish brighter during the rev, information technology could mean that your alternator is producing some current, just non enough at idle to maintain a sufficiently charged battery. Conversely, if the effulgence of the headlights doesn't alter intensity, your alternator is most likely working smoothly.
- If your interior lights are gradually dimming every bit the car is running, your alternator is likely to arraign.
- If y'all remember hearing a slight growling sound coming from your vehicle before your things took a turn for the worse, that may be a inkling that alternator is deteriorating.
Note: If you aren't experiencing any of these symptoms, yous should cheque your bombardment'due south voltage.
Here are a couple of ways you lot can exam your battery voltage yourself.
How to Examination Your Bombardment Voltage with a Voltmeter
A unproblematic method for checking your battery'southward voltage involves using a voltmeter, which measures the electric potential difference between 2 points in an electric excursion (in rough layman's terms: voltage). We recommend y'all opt for a digital voltmeter as they are much easier to use.
For the nearly accurate reading, perform this exam twelve hours after turning off your vehicle to give any surface charge a chance to dissipate.
- Make sure your vehicle is turned off.
- Remove the battery's positive terminal comprehend. Check the concluding for any corrosion and clean it off if necessary. Yous'll and so want to adhere your voltmeter's positive lead to the positive lead on your battery. Later on that, connect the negative voltmeter lead to the negative battery terminal following the same steps you did for the positive end. Now, you're all set to bank check the voltmeter readings.
- Check the reading. A fully charged battery will typically display a voltmeter reading of about 12.6 to 12.8 volts. If your voltmeter is showing a voltage anywhere between 12.4 and 12.viii, that means your battery is in good shape.
- Whatsoever voltage above 12.9 volts is a good indicator that your battery has excessive voltage.If that's the instance, plough on the high beams to bleed excessive voltage surface charge. (Also, an excessive charge could mean that your alternator is to blame for an over charged battery.)
- Accuse your battery if the voltmeter display a voltage beneath 12.4. Just if you lot're voltmeter is reading annihilation below 12.2 volts, y'all should consider "trickle charging" your battery. This essentially means that yous would be charging your bombardment at a much slower charge per unit, which allows yous to avoid the risk of applying excess charge amperage that could cause a lot of excess rut and off-gassing (and in extreme cases, explosions).
How to Exercise the Engine Cranking Method
Don't get rid of your voltmeter, you'll withal need it for this exam. As well, if you don't have a remote starter, sit in the commuter's seat while you find the voltmeter readings.
To check your car battery voltage using the "crank" method, connect the voltmeter to your bombardment post-obit the same steps outlined above. Side by side, have a friend creepo the engine for a few seconds while you keep an eye on the voltmeter. (By "creepo" nosotros mean starting your vehicle to energize the engine using an outside strength, like a remote starter (not a key). The name comes from the onetime days, when a literal metal crank was needed to manually turn an engine on.) Should the voltage read annihilation below 9.6 volts, that means the bombardment has become sulfated and is no longer retaining nor accepting the accuse.
If you want, you can have this test a little further by disabling the ignition or injection to prevent your engine from starting. This will allow you to crank engine a fiddling longer, only nosotros suggest cranking no longer than 15 seconds. If yous're battery is properly charged, the voltmeter should prove that it maintains a voltage of 9.6 volts or higher.
Other Methods
These are just two of the ways to measure out your bombardment'due south voltage, but they're amidst the simplest and well-nigh cost effective methods.
If you lot're still unsure of how things are done, or if you don't accept the conviction to practice this yourself, recall that you can always book your vehicle for service check upwards at your local Go Auto location, we would be happy to assist!
Source: https://www.goauto.ca/blog/how-to-test-your-battery-voltage
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