Charging Your Battery

Written by Lee Wyatt (last updated May 28, 2010)

One time, when I was out on a date I ran into a little mechanical trouble. We came out of a movie and the car wouldn't start. Talk about embarrassing. At that time, I never realized that charging your battery was so easy. It turns out that there are several ways that you can charge your battery.

  • Jumping. This is the old stand by that pretty much everyone knows about. You only need a set of jumper cables and another car or truck. Park the working vehicle close to the battery that needs to be charged. You need to connect the batteries with the cables but don't let the cars touch. Connect the two batteries by attaching the red cables to the red (+) posts, and the black cables to the black posts (-). Start the car that works, and then wait for a couple of minutes. Start the inoperative vehicle. It should start right up, if not, then wait a few more minutes.
  • Battery Charger. A battery charger can be plugged into a regular wall jack and uses the electricity from your house to charge the battery.
  • Solar Charger. Similar to the plug in battery charger, but a piece of equipment that works off of solar power. This is something you can hook up to your car while you are at work, or doing something else and as long as it is not too cloudy or dark can charge your battery for you.

Once you have started through the car, it should start recharging the battery again. If this is not the case, you will need to replace the alternator or alternator belt in your car.

Author Bio

Lee Wyatt

Contributor of numerous Tips.Net articles, Lee Wyatt is quickly becoming a regular "Jack of all trades." He is currently an independent contractor specializing in writing and editing. Contact him today for all of your writing and editing needs! Click here to contact. ...

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