You might think your car battery is dead, will it recharge by itself? Thinking about recharging a dead car battery is completely normal and very common.
The battery provides electricity to the car’s electrical components, so it’s essential to keep a car battery from dying in every situation.
When you have a flat car battery on your car, you need to find out how you charge a dead car battery. Also, the question is will the dead battery recharge itself?
To find out whether a dead car battery recharges itself or not? You need to know more about automobile batteries.
Car Battery Dead Will It Recharge By Itself?
If your car battery dies, it will not recharge by itself. The car’s alternator cannot recharge a dead car battery. The dead car battery will need external electrical power, such as a jump-start, to be charged. So, instead of letting your dead car battery set, you should recharge it by yourself.
As we all car owners know, the battery is the only component that is responsible for starting the car engine. So, when your car battery is completely dead, then it gets hard for the battery to start the engine.
We also need to know that all automobile batteries are capable of storing energy, but the battery is not capable of producing that energy by itself.
Each car battery cell is filled with a sulfuric acid solution which is an electrolyte, but battery cells cannot charge themselves. Battery cells need to get a charge from an external mechanism.
A car’s alternator plays a major role in providing energy to the battery cells. That’s why if your car battery dies, it cannot recharge itself.
Related: What To Do When Car Battery Dies
Why Can A Dead Car Battery Not Recharge By Itself?
Your car battery stores electricity and provides that energy to operate all electrical components in your vehicle.
The point to be noted is that your car battery gets electricity from an external source, and your car battery does not provide electricity power by itself.
So, while your car battery dies completely, it runs out of all stored electrical power.
The electrical power should go from the external mechanism to give electricity to the dead car battery. This is the reason why a dead car battery does not recharge by itself; it needs an external source.
An alternator is not designed to charge a dead car battery. An alternator is only responsible for providing electrical power to the car’s electrical components.
Therefore, while your car battery is dead, you must recharge your dead car battery by yourself.
Related Article: Why Car Keeps Dying But Battery And Alternator Are Good
Can An Alternator Charge A Dead Battery?
Alternator’s magnets generate alternating current (AC) that is channeled to the alternator’s rectifier. After that, the alternator’s rectifier converts AC power to direct current (DC).
The direct current (DC) eventually operates a car’s electrical system. This is how the car’s alternator recharges a vehicle battery.
The alternator only can charge the battery when the car is running. But, if you have a dead car battery, your car won’t be able to start and run on the road. So, the alternator also cannot recharge your dead car battery.
See Also: Who To Call When The Car Battery Dies
How To Recharge A Dead Car Battery
A dead car battery is rechargeable, but the options are limited. To charge a completely dead car battery, you are going to need an external power source.
When you detect your car battery is dead completely, that means your car battery is out of electricity or has no more electricity left.
The voltage of a dead car battery also reads below 12v, which is not the ideal voltage to start the car engine and operate the car’s electricity system.
As you already know, if a car battery dies, it will not recharge itself; that’s why car owners need to recharge the dead battery.
To recharge a dead car battery, you need to jump-start your dead car battery. You can also utilize a portable jump starter to instantly charge your dead car battery.
Jump-starting is the most efficient method to recharge a dead car battery. But, you must know the process of jump-starting first.
You are going to need another car with a functional battery on it. And a jumper cable is also required to jump-start a dead battery.
Ask for help from strangers because you must need another car to jump-start your dead car battery.
Another useful way to recharge a dead car battery is a portable jump-starter.
Portable jump-starters do the same thing as jump-starting with the help of another car. A portable jump-starter is a device that also allows a dead car to jump-start.
The size of a portable jump-starter is quite small, so you can carry this device on your vehicle.
For those who are new owners of cars and don’t know what to do when the car battery is dead, getting help from roadside assistance is going to be a better option.
Roadside assistance jump-start a vehicle and also provides various other vehicle services.
Check Out: Top 10 Dead Car Battery Tricks
How To Tell If A Car Battery Is Dead
By knowing the signs of a dead car battery, you can detect whether your car battery is going to die or not. Dead car battery signs are also easy to notice.
Here are some most common signs of a dead car battery:
1. Engine Cranking Slowly
The battery is directly responsible for cranking the engine of a car. The car battery provides electrical power to the engine to start.
When your car battery is going to die, the battery cannot supply enough power. While the engine is not going to get sufficient power, it cranks slowly.
Sometimes, you will need to try several times to crank the engine if your car battery is going to die.
2. Car Dies Immediately
If you notice your car is starting, but the car dies immediately, then this is a strong sign of a dead car battery.
A functional battery consistently supplies energy to the car engine. But, a dead battery does not hold enough charge; that’s why when the dead battery stops supplying power, the engine dies immediately.
3. Headlights Dim
A car’s headlights dim is the most common symptom of a flat car battery. Headlights are the major components of a car’s electrical system.
When your car headlights start to dim or flicker, you need to check your car battery voltage.
4. Excessive Corrosion On Battery
Corrosion is the number one enemy of a car battery which can make a car battery obsolete so fast.
If your car battery has a huge amount of corrosion on it, then your car battery might be dead by now.
Corrosion prevents the battery from supplying current through terminals; eventually, the car’s electrical system doesn’t get any power.
5. The Battery Needs Frequent Jump-starts
We perform a jump-start only if the car battery is dead completely. Multiple jump-starts in a week is a sign that your car battery is dying.
When you need to jump-start your battery several times a week or even in a day, you really need to run a parasitic draw test on your battery to see what can drain your car battery when the car is off.
6. A Rotten-Egg Smell From The Battery
A car battery should not have any type of smell. A car battery only smells when something is not right.
After opening the hood of your car, if you get the smell of rotten eggs or burning sulfur, that is a sign that your car battery is leaking acid, which is dangerous.
How Many Times Can A Car Battery Be Recharged?
A car battery can be recharged thousands of times in its lifespan. Depending on your care, your car battery can be recharged until the battery is completely dead.
Poor quality or dead car batteries can be recharged a lot fewer times than a functional car battery.
An Electric car battery can be recharged more times than a gas car’s battery.
On average, we can say a car battery can be recharged at least five to six years easily and on a regular basis.
Your dead car battery will not recharge by itself; a dead car battery requires an external energy source to get charged again.
Whether you have a brand new car battery or an old one, the battery needs an alternator to assist in getting a charge while the vehicle is running.
An alternator won’t recharge a dead car battery. That’s why to recharge a dead car battery; you must perform a jump-start with the help of another car battery.
So, as an auto mechanic, my recommendation to all car owners is if your car battery is dead, please don’t leave it and think it will recharge by itself.
Instead, you need to provide charge to your car dead car battery from external sources.
Here Are More About Dead Battery:
- Can A Completely Dead Battery Be Recharged?
- 7 Reasons Why New Car Battery Dead
- Reasons Your Car Battery Keeps Dying
- How To Move A Car With A Dead Battery
How is it going?
I’m Meraj Sarker. I am a Car Mechanic and a student of Automobile Restoration here in Florida, USA. I’ve been studying automotive for around 9 years now. So you can rely on my recommendation. For me, studying and getting knowledge about automobile it’s really fun and entertaining. I will help you to get solutions for your car through this website. If you need any help let me know.