How to Charge Car Battery While Parked?

Imagine one day you’re getting late for the office and you finally been able to get into the car and discover that your car battery is dead. I know, it is very frustrating especially if you’re already getting late in the morning.

But don’t worry because even if there’s not a single spark in the engine, you’ve still got something that you can do to get it back to life.

So just stay along with the article and see how to charge car battery while parked. It is not so difficult if you have all the equipment ready that is required.

How to Charge Car Battery While Parked?

Car batteries die because of a lot of reasons that we have listed in our previous articles.  You may find someday that you left your car for too long and that its battery died. Or sometimes people leave their lights, especially their headlights on while the car is parked and that drains the battery a lot faster.

Similarly, old batteries also do not hold the charge for as long as the newer ones. Whatever the reason your car battery died, now you have to recharge it.

Some people recommend jump-starting the car battery as a solution to the dead battery. This is a good solution for the short term if you’ve to go somewhere urgent. But if you have enough time to wait for your car battery to recharge, then we’d recommend charging it slowly the typical way.

It may take some time but it will not affect the battery’s health and timing and your battery will still be in good condition. Please read on to find out how to charge car battery while parked.

How to recharge a car battery?

To charge a car battery you need to carefully follow the steps given below.

• Check your vehicle’s battery type: Getting to know about the battery type is very easy. As a pet rule, a start and stop battery technology will either be an AGM battery or the EFB battery. But if your battery is either of these two, then the charger should not be a conventional charger. It’s because these types of batteries require a special kind of charger which is a “smart” charger. If you still did not get it, you can consult any nearest auto parts store or a mechanic’s garage for help.
• Check the terminals and connectors: Make sure that your car battery connectors and the terminals are clean. There are times when they, especially the battery terminals, get corroded because of their uncleanliness and the gases inside the battery. It also occurs because the battery is old to not hold the electrolytes inside for long enough.
• Disconnect the battery completely:Now you may be thinking that recharging a battery doesn’t necessarily require the battery to be completely disconnected. But just for the sake of added safety, you should disconnect the battery properly. And if you don’t know the proper way to disconnect a battery then let us make it clear to you.
• So when you disconnect the battery, always make sure that your negative terminal connector is disconnected first. After disconnecting the negative terminals which are usually denoted with the black colored wire or a minus sign aside from the terminal. Now you need to disconnect the positive terminal that is denoted with a red-colored wire or with a plus sign aside from the battery terminal.

Do not forget to follow the steps for disconnecting otherwise you will get shocked which will hurt a lot. Also, when you connect the battery after completing its charging, then make sure to connect the positive first and the negative at the last. This is for the same reasons why we disconnected the negative first.

Moreover, if your car has electrically adjustable seats and radio and all, make sure that you’ve got all their codes. Otherwise, you won’t be able to adjust them according to your preferences and the radio will need to be reset after that.

• Connect the charger: Now comes the time to connect the charger. In this step, you need an extra bit of safety for the process that the charger cannot be placed on top of the battery. In fact, the charger should be kept as far from the battery as possible depending on the length of your wires. To complete the connection, connect the positive to the positive terminal and the negative to the negative terminal. Then plug in the charger.
• Turn the charger on to start charging: Now before you turn the charger on, let’s make it clear whether the charger will turn off by itself or you’d have to turn it off. There are two main types of car battery chargers. One type is that typical charger that doesn’t turn off nor does it has any sensors or software algorithms to know if the battery is full or not. So it keeps charging the battery even if the battery is already full and you may know that overcharging the battery can cause problems afterward. But the other type is very smart which is the smart car battery charger. This charger charges the battery until it is full and when it assesses that the battery is full now, it will turn off by itself. This feature of the smart charger protects your car battery from a lot of problems in the future and helps a lot in prolonging the battery lifespan. Also, depending upon the battery condition, it sets the accurate battery charge cycle to not waste time and energy.
• Finally, remove the charger when the battery is full: Waiting for the battery to fully charge, now comes the time to disconnect the charger. If you used a smart charger, it will show on the indicator that the battery is full now and you can unplug the charger. But a typical old-school charger won’t be able to tell you this and you will have to asses this by yourself. But however you come to know that the battery is full, you should disconnect the charger. And when you connect the battery terminals to the engine wires, always remember to connect the positive first and the negative last.

Things to Remember

When you charge the car battery, it doesn’t require too much complex knowledge and you can do it easily by yourself at home. But whenever you do or undo the connections, always remember to connect the positive first and the negative at the last.

Similarly, disconnect the negative first and the positive last. Also, batteries give off hydrogen while charging. And if the battery is charging at a higher voltage, then it will spit hydrogen while charging so, do not put the charger or anything on top of the battery. Make sure that the charger is as far from the battery as possible.

As we mentioned above, a smart charger has a lot of visible benefits already but it also repairs if anything needs to be in the battery. It does that while charging and helps you prolong the battery lifespan.

So using a smart charger for charging your battery all the time will save you a lot of money in the long run.

Conclusion

How to charge car battery while parked? Charging a car battery while parked is very easy but you just have to follow the above-given steps carefully. It is not that you can’t do it or something, but staying focused on the process can save you from a lot of problems and potential shocks. It may take some time to charge the battery while parked if the charger is an ordinary charger, but it will be helpful if you don’t have to rush somewhere.

We hope that you liked this article. If you did, please make sure to share it with others and keep visiting this website for more related updates. Also, if you have any questions or suggestions about this topic, you can tell us in the comment section below.

FAQs – How to charge car battery while parked?

How do I change my parked car battery?

Charging a car battery is very easy. And if it is parked, then it won’t be charged in the conventional way in which you drive the car and the alternator charges the battery. In fact, you would do it with a car battery charger.

It will take some time to fully charge your car battery but you will be thankful when the battery health will not go down. We have instructed the complete process above in this article.

Can you recharge a car battery that has been sitting?

If you have nowhere to go in the next 24 hours, then you can plug the 4-ampere car battery charger after disconnecting your car battery from the engine. It is because when a car has been sitting for quite some time, the battery is still discharging because of the radio, alarm system, and all little electrical expenses.

And therefore, the battery dies. But don’t worry, the battery gets back to life after you buy an affordable car battery charger and plug it into the battery.

Does your car need to be moving to charge the battery?

No, the car doesn’t necessarily be moving to charge its battery. But fortunately or unfortunately, almost all modern cars come with additional electrical components. And they drain a lot of battery while the alternator of an idling car doesn’t charge the battery at the same voltage as when you are driving.

And because the voltage is low, the battery cannot be fully charged this way. Hence, eventually, you will have to drive it to charge the battery properly.

How long does it take to charge a car battery while parked?

Any normal car battery of the usual size will only require 2-4 hours to be charged completely if the charger is 20 amperes. And if the charger is much smaller like the 4 amperes, then the battery will need at least 12-24 hours.

These ranges are because of the variable condition of the battery that you are using. But if you need to start the car immediately then you can jumpstart the car and charge the battery while idling or driving.

How long can a car battery sit and still start?

Well, it depends on how good your car battery condition is, then on the electric components of your car like the alarm system, GPS, and the radio. And finally, if we consider any typical car, then the battery can sit and still be able to start for at least 1-2 months without turning on.

After that, you will definitely have to charge the battery first. But as a good practice, you need your car battery to get recharged after every week.