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How to Charge Your Car Battery Without a Charger?

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A Flat car battery is one of the most common car-related problems there is and unfortunately they occur when you least expect it. Some times you may not have access to a battery charger but the great thing about car battery's is that you can charge your battery without needing a specific charger.

To charge your car battery without a charger, you can jump start it using another vehicle or a portable jump starter. First, make sure that both vehicles are turned off and in close proximity to each other. Then, connect the positive terminal of the dead battery to the positive terminal of the good battery using jumper cables. Finally, start the good vehicle and let it run for a few minutes to charge the dead battery. Alternatively, you can remove the battery and bring it to a local auto shop or battery store to charge it professionally.

By knowing how to properly charge your car battery without a specific charger, you can get more use from the life of your battery and extend the number of times you can drive before needing to recharge again. Lets explore some of the ways we can charge your car battery without a charger.

Table of contents

How to Charge a Car Battery Using Another Vehicle

If your cars alternator has failed and is not charging your car battery, then you can manually maintain your batteries charge by using another vehicle and a set of jumper cables.

To safely charge your battery manually please following these steps.

  • Disconnect the cables from the battery you wish to charge, this will make sure you don't accidentally damage any of your cars electrics.
  • Position the other car so that you can easily connect the jumper cables.
  • Connect the 2 car batteries together via the jumper cables, paying close attention to connect polarity, positive to positive, negative to negative.
  • Start your other vehicle and use its alternator to provide power to your car battery.

You can do this for a few minutes every few days to keep your battery charged.

How to Charge a Car Battery Using a Battery Isolator

If you have a dual battery setup in your vehicle then you can use this to keep any 12v battery that you want charged.

May people with RV's, trades people or even off roaders have their vehicles fitted out with a second battery and a battery isolator. This setup allows that to run a second power source to either run 12V devices or even provide emergency jump starter capacity.

Through the use of a battery isolator the alternator in your vehicle can keep both batteries charged while keeping them separate, meaning that one battery can be drained without effecting the other battery.

So if you have access to a vehicle that has been setup with a battery isolator for dual batteries you can keep your battery charge.

How to Charge a Car Battery Using a Solar Panel

Using a solar panel is a very common method of keeping your battery charged, and is especially useful in areas where mains power is not available.

Car batteries produce lot's of power in the form of direct current which can cancel out the power being produced by a solar panel, because of this it makes it unsuitable for directly charging your car battery.

In order to use a solar panel to charge your car battery successfully you’ll need to charge your car battery by using a charge controller. Charge controllers can either be purchased as separate device's or you can buy solar panels specifically designed for charging vehicle batteries which have charge controllers built into them.

How to Charge a Car Battery Using a Home UPS Inverter

A UPS, or uninterruptible power supply (UPS), is designed to protect the electronics in your home if the power grid goes out for some reason. A UPS uses mains power to charge a 12V battery, the power from this 12V battery then uses an invertor to change it back to mains power.

The portability of the UPS allows you to disconnect it from the mains power and take it to your car allowing you to charge your car battery. The trick though is to find a way to take the alternating current (AC) and convert it to direct current that your car battery can use.

This can be done with a portable car battery charger. How effective this method is in charging you vehicles battery will depend upon the size of the battery in the UPS, but most UPS should enable you to get some charge into your battery.

Put Battery Into Another Vehicle to Charge

One of the simplest ways to charge your battery, and keep it maintained, is to put it into a second vehicle. Putting your battery into another vehicle allows you to utilize the alternator from this vehicle to keep your battery topped up.

Although it may be inconvenient to have to swap batteries in and out of the second vehicle, doing so will enable you to maintain the health and charge of your car battery.

How to Charge a Car Battery Using a Portable Jump Starter

Portable jump starter are becoming very popular device's these days and if you have access to one then you can charge your car battery. By hooking the jump starter up to your car battery it will supply power that will charge your car battery.

There are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind when using a jump starter to charge your car battery.

  • First you’ll want to make sure your jump starter is designed to safely charge a car battery.
  • Secondly you will also want to make sure that you are connecting the jump starter to your car correctly, with some cars you do not want to directly connect a jump starter to the vehicles battery as this could damage the electrical components in the vehicle.

If all you are looking for is a top up to your battery then being able to use a portable jump starter can be a very convenient option.

7 Tips for Getting More Life Out of Your Battery

  • Don’t let your car battery completely discharge. All batteries have a charge cycle, which is the amount of times the battery can be discharged and recharged. By maintaining the charge in your battery you will extend the life of your battery.
  • Don’t over charge your car battery. If your battery charger does not have overcharge protection make sure you turn it off when your battery is fully charged.
  • Keep your car battery clean and free of corrosion. Battery terminals can build up corrosion which will be seen as a white powder, using a wire brush to remove this corrosion will enable your battery to receive the maximum amount of charge.
  • Keep your battery well-ventilated. Poor battery ventilation can cause a battery to become pressurized, being pressurized can cause corrosion to build up faster in the battery.
  • Make sure you create a battery maintenance schedule.
  • Make sure you check your car battery at least once a year.
  • Check your battery's current output. You can perform a test by connecting a car battery charger to the battery and measure the amount of current being produced.

Final Thoughts

A flat battery is frustrating. They happen when you least expect it, and you’re completely out of luck when it happens. You could try to jump-start your car battery, but if connected incorrectly you could end up causing damage.

This is why it's always better to try and keep your battery fully charge, and as we have shown there are ways that you can keep your battery in tiptop condition even if you don't have access to a battery charger.

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