Battery Group Number

James from New York

Hi, I recently had to go and buy a battery for my car. I had no idea what to buy and pretty much had to rely on someone else to tell me what it was I needed. I don’t like feeling like I might be taken advantage of because I don’t know anything about what it is I’m after. I want to be more prepared next time. Could you explain to me what I need to be thinking about when buying a battery for my car?

Which Battery to buy?

Bestbatterytips.com

James, a lot of people have no idea what it is they need when it comes time to purchase a new battery. More times than not, they end up spending more money than needed.

Buying a battery for a car for the most part is pretty straight forward. However, if you don’t know what your after it can be very tiring. The four most important things are (Battery Group Number) (Cold Cranking Amps or CCA) (Reserve Capacity RC) and (Free Replacement Warranty).

Battery group size indicates the battery size that will fit the physical dimensions of your vehicle. Many vehicles can accommodate more than just one group size. However, that is where CCA and RC come into to play.

CCA is critical for good cold weather starting ability. It’s the number of amps a battery at 0 degrees can deliver for 30 seconds and maintain a voltage of 1.2 volts per cell or higher. Generally speaking, the more Cold Cranking amps the better.

RC is the power available to run electrical accessories if the alternator fails. It indicates the number of minutes a fully charged battery at 80 degrees can be discharged at 25 amps and not fall below 1.75 volts per cell. The higher the Reserve capacity the better.

Free Replacement battery Warranty is the amount of time you can use the battery and when it fails receive a new replacement at no additional cost. Keep in mind James that the national average for auto battery life is 40 months.

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Cold Weather

Tim from Maryland

I had lived in Florida all my life, recently I was forced to move to Maryland for my job. My question relates to cold weather being I have never had to deal with cold weather, and the affects it can have on automobile batteries. I no more and got up here and my car was dragging pretty heavy when i would go to start it. I assumed it was the battery because it worked fine before I left the warm temperatures. I went down to the local auto parts store and purchased a new battery and installed it into my car. Needless to say everything is fine now, and my car starts right up. My question for you guys is: Why do batteries seem to fail more often in cold weather?

Cold Soaked Car

Bestbatterytips.com

Tim,

Did you know that a car engine requires 3 times more power to start in cold weather versus warm weather. The motor oil in a car is a lot thicker in cold weather as opposed to warm weather. Think about it this way, take a bottle of syrup out of the refrigerator and try to pour it. Take the same bottle and warm it up in the microwave then pour it. There is a lot more friction involved in cold weather starts. The engine in your car has to circulate that thick oil when starting your automobile.

A battery in short produces electrons. The chemical reactions inside of a battery take place more slowly when the battery is cold soaked, so the battery produces fewer electrons. Producing fewer electrons results in producing less cranking amps. The starter motor for your engine on your car therefore has less energy to work with when it tries to start the engine, and this causes the engine to also crank slowly. A very common practice for people living in cold weather environments , is using synthetic motor oils. Synthetic motor oils do not thicken up  like traditional motor oils due in cold weather. The result in using synthetic oils is less friction during cold engine starts.

A battery that is nearing the end of its useful life may go unnoticed at first in warm weather. Take that same battery and put it in very cold temperatures and you have a battery that needs replaced.