Its best to measure voltage directly at the terminals and most auto parts stores sell voltmeters for less than 10. The first thing you need to do if you think your battery is going bad is to figure out the voltage level of the battery.
How Do You Know If Your Car Needs A New Battery
How to tell if an optima battery is bad. As we talked about the battery in the nissan i decided to run home and get my optima digital 1200 and an extension cord to try and recharge the battery. Once any battery is discharged below 124 volts sulfation begins to form inside the battery which diminishes both lifespan and capacity. Hook the optima to the regular battery in parallel with the jumper cables. A fully charged battery typically measures at least 126 volts and a completely discharged battery typically measures somewhere below 113 volts. Also keep this process monitored. If the batteries start getting excessively hot or if the lead acid battery starts gassing indicated by a hiss from the safety valve unplug and disconnect everything immediately.
Positive to positive negative to negative connect the charger to the regular battery and turn it on. There are a few things to inspect such as. There are some sure ways you can tell if your battery is bad by simply taking a good look. Heres how to do it. 1 inspect the battery. Of course an optima charger will jump through all these hoops for you and charge up your agm battery just fine.
If its hot to the touch or gassing out the vents shut it down. Wait and hour and check the optima. A broken terminal bulge or bump in the case crack or rupture of the case excessive leaking and discoloration.
Gallery of How To Tell If An Optima Battery Is Bad
