Does Car Battery Charge In Idle?
Charging a car battery is very easy if you know what to do. There are multiple ways of doing it perfectly and even getting multiple benefits out of it. But the most effective and healthy way of doing it is charging your car battery from the alternator of the car.
You must be surprised and ask if does car battery charge in idle. But yes, your car battery is recharged even in idle. In this article, we will tell you all about how it happens.
Does car battery charge in idle?
Car batteries are connected to the engine of the car with a proper setup and science behind them. And there’s no way that a battery lasts for years without having to recharge it if the car is being driven on a regular basis. Hence, there’s a way of recharging your car battery automatically and that is by its alternator.
Why you shouldn’t do it?
But this mechanism works when the car’s engine is on and the alternator can function properly. Hence, you should get to know more about how does car battery charge in idle. It is obvious that the alternator of the car runs when the engine is on, no matter if the car is moving or not.
So the only problem here occurs is that the alternator doesn’t charge the battery at the same speed that it does while the car is moving at highway speeds.
For this exact reason, we don’t recommend charging your car battery while idling. Actually many mechanics have been saying that you can charge your car while idling to let your battery be able to start the ignition the next time. And yes, this is true that if your battery is that drained and you need to recharge it before it dies again and doesn’t start the very next ignition.
But this practice should only be followed when there’s no other choice. Otherwise, keeping a professional car battery portable charger is a must for anybody these days, especially those who have an automatic transmission car.
Idling is not good if done continuously
As we told some of the major problems in the above paragraph, similarly, idling doesn’t help your car battery retain its original condition. Actually, it makes your car battery very weak and you will eventually have to replace it. Idling basically runs the alternator but at a lower speed and that makes its electricity production very low.
And when the battery charges at low power then its health will be compromised. Also, eventually, the battery will become so bad at it that even when your car is moving at a faster speed, the battery will not charge at that speed. Hence, your battery will become so weak that you will need to replace it with a new battery.
The battery shouldn’t be draining faster than its charging speed
Modern cars these days are very advanced and they don’t just come with a radio and an AC unit other than the headlights. There are a lot more functional features and electrical components of a car today than ever before.
So you have to factor in those components as well. Hence, when you charge your car battery with the idling method, you’d need to make sure that all the electrical components of your car are turned off.
Otherwise, you will keep charging the battery and it will keep discharging. Also, the charging speed and the discharging speed difference will lead your battery to go flat. This is not a sustainable power-saving method so to say.
Who gets benefits from charging their car?
Anyone having a car that they had parked for a very long time can benefit from this article as they used to call for professional help in this matter. Sometimes people have multiple cars, even more cars than the people in their homes just because they are fond of cars.
So unfortunately in that situation, they cannot drive all the cars every day. Therefore, they need to abandon one car or the other for some time and that brings that car’s battery to death.
But you can save your car battery by keeping it charged after every week because driving your car for like half an hour will be enough for it. Also, if you don’t want to go anywhere, or you have to keep your car in its place, then you can go for idling in that matter.
Idling charges your car to the extent that it will turn on the ignition of your car the next time you drive. And if you drive it for a little bit after idling for 10-15 minutes, it will be charged enough to survive more.
Let’s see what’s inside a car battery.
Wait! Wait! There’s no need to cut open the battery to see what’s inside it. You only have to read this information ahead. So there are cells in a car battery that produce electrons which eventually produce electricity.
There can be multiple cells in a battery and the number of cells might change depending on the battery size. But all car batteries have the same goal of powering the engine and the ignition system and all of them do it.
A traditional 12V battery will usually contain 6 cells inside with some chemical fluid and gases to become the electrolytes. And this explanation is about lead-acid batteries.
Even though there are many types of batteries but today we will just revolve around the most common; lead-acid batteries.
Construction of a lead-acid battery
Each cell in a lead-acid battery then has two plates submerged in sulphuric acid. This sulphuric acid makes the batteries perform better and the processes go faster by becoming the electrolyte. Then each plate is different because one is positive and the other one is negative.
Both the plates, then, are separated by a divider that keeps them from malfunctioning.
The plates, the acid, electrolytes, and the cells overall act upon the electrons to help them flow. And that’s why the electrons can move in any direction. Now you must be asking what does that mean? This means that the electrons can either go out of the battery to power up the system.
But they can also go into the battery which is called recharging the battery. And that’s how the car battery charge in idle?
How long should I idle my car to charge the battery?
If your car can run after turning on, then there’s no need to leave it idle because you can just drive it and it will keep charging. But since idling is the only option that you may have, so you should at least leave your car idle for at least 20-30 minutes.
Is it better to idle or drive to charge the battery?
Well, there are different opinions on this topic. But since we have tested both ways multiple times so we can tell you about our experience. Idling your car in our experience is the worst you can do to your car and the battery. Driving your car to charge its battery is the most effective, healthy, and efficient way of doing it.
Does a revving car charge the battery?
Yes, revving charges your car battery very quickly. It is because there’s a fixed mechanism behind this statement. When you rev the engine, the crankshafts run faster and that turns the serpentine belt faster. The belt turns the alternator faster and eventually, the alternator produces more energy when turned faster as compared to idling or not revving.
Will idling drain the car battery?
When you leave the car idle, it costs you more than you should bear just charging your car battery. It is because when you idle the car, the car consumes fuel to run the engine. Other than that, the car takes electric power from your battery because it has to keep some features of the car turned on. Hence, yes, idling drains your car battery as well if the electric components of your car are more in number.
Does the alternator charge the battery when the car is off?
No, the alternator doesn’t charge the battery when the car is off. This is because the alternator needs to be turned at a certain speed. And that is only possible if the belt is running that turns with the engine on. So the alternator doesn’t charge the battery when the car is off.
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