Can You Charge The Battery While It's Connected To The Car?
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- Content of this video:
00:00 Intro
00:30 Disclaimer
02:06 About the problem and recharging the battery
03:18 Safety precautions
05:45 How to connect the battery charger?
07:49 Tips for recharging the battery
08:58 How to disconnect the battery charger?
09:53 Conclusion
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One of the most popular solutions for a flat battery problem is to connect the battery charger while the battery is still in the car.
This, in most cases, is the quickest and most simple solution which comes in handy especially if you're in a hurry and don't have the time to take off the battery completely.
But the most commonly asked question is can you charge the battery while it's connected to the car?
This video will give some insight on this topic and also show you how other useful things like how to properly connect the battery charger, disconnect it afterward, and more.
Hope the video helps!
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Thanks for your time and thanks for watching!
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56 years of vehicle ownership and charging multiple family vehicles, I've never removed the battery from the vehicle or disconnected the battery from the vehicle to charge it. Never seen a service garage or a roadside tow truck do it either. With modern vehicles, disconnecting the battery, without an auxiliary power source will delete the data from multiple computers in the vehicle.
Hi, thanks for watching and for sharing! From personal experience it all depends on the car but you're right as the cars get more high-tech even disconnecting the battery has become a risk 🙂
Most vehicles will maintain memories for short periods enough time to replace the battery, but not likely long enough to charge the battery by removing it from the vehicle.
@@matthewhuszarik4173 hi, thanks for watching and for sharing!
Well, personally I'm a fan of taking the battery out and charging it but with modern complicated systems even that seems to be a challenge 😞
@@DespairRepair I am sixty-five and in the era before electronics in cars we routinely pulled the battery to charge them, it made it easier to monitor the water level and add water as necessary. But I haven't charged a vehicle battery in years. I just replace them every five to seven years whether they are failing or not and you don’t have to deal with it. Thankfully alternators have gotten better so they keep batteries consistently charged.
The difference in how often I change batteries is the application, high performance and large engines get a new battery every give years with their higher than average draw for starting. For regular vehicles like our routine Toyotas every seven years appears to be more than frequently enough. I had an manual Corolla I allowed to go to battery failure because I could easily push start it and it went over ten years before the battery started to have problems. Of course I now live in California and my car batteries rarely face freezing temperature much less sub-zero ones. But my battery replacement guidelines I use originated when I lived in Michigan and up State New York where it gets plenty cold.
@@matthewhuszarik4173 yes, I agree with you. Taking out the battery was always the best thing to do when charging.
I worked as a technician in the latter part of that era you mentioned and to be honest, it was a lot more simple and you could reuse and repair lots of parts.
The batteries were meant to be maintained (you could add distilled water and acid), recharge them and they were good to go.
With newer-generation batteries, you can't even access the cells to check them and try to revive it (on most types).
So, as you've said, buying a new one is the best and probably the only solution.
Then you have situations where you have to reset the car's computer when disconnecting the battery, start-stop systems, etc.
It only gets more complicated over time which leads to making such a basic procedure like recharging the battery while in the car a matter for second questioning.
By the way, nice to meet you, much respect for your comment and thank you very much for watching us.
Hope it's worth your time 🙂 and some envy to you for living in California 🙂🙂.
All the best!
Thank you for this. Easy to understand and responsibly done.
You're welcome and thank you for watching!
How you’ve made an 11 minute video out of this is beyond me. Takes 10 seconds to answer this question
It's magic 🙂. Thank you for watching!
And hoping to cut to the chase, I'm on the edge of my seat, reading your comment, hoping you wou- oh.... I guess not
@@someotherdude thanks for watching!
🤣
You have stated what I was thinking. What an utterly useless video!
I have a different question about this. If i’m leaving the car for a few days on some really cold days (say a trip and i’ve parked the car in an airport lot). Can i connect the keep the car charged by using a solar panel on the dashboard, connected to a power controller then to the cigarette lighter outlet? And of course, if possible, how?
Excellent video! Thank you very much for a very complete explanation of the process.
You're welcome and thanks for watching!
Thank U! It's been a while since I've done this!
You're welcome and glad if the video helped!
Two days ago it was 15° below zero and I charged my battery outside and 3 hours later it started right off. Taking the battery off the car at -15° and blowing wind would have been hazardous to my health.
Thanks - helpful!!
You're welcome and thanks for watching!
With all the computer stuff in these news vehicles, I'm afraid to charge it while it's hooked up to the car. In fact, last year I changed the battery in my 2017 Ram. Sure enough for about 3 weeks, weird stuff was happening when driving. Radio would come on when off, blower fan would go to high when on low and the remote start didn't work. It took at least 3 weeks for everything to work the bugs out. Like I said, who knows what possible damage could occur when charging in the vehicle. Nope, I'll take mine out and do it. Good video, though. Thanks for posting!
Hi, you're welcome, thanks for watching and for the kind words!
You're right, if there's any risk of causing problems, it's better that way, especially with more modern cars.
With today's complicated electronic systems, you never know.
Added to that on some cars you have to hook up an OBD tool and do certain resets to make everything function properly (like with a start-stop system for instance).
All in all, everything is becoming more complicated, even a simple thing like recharging the battery.
More issues occur if you do actually remove the battery, unless you use a memory keeper as I do, it works well then
Thanks ! Very informative and concise !
Hi, thank you for watching and for the kind words 🙂
Concise it is not! he could have just said yes or no! 5 second job!
Have always charged in the car and my stop/start car has had no issues with it.
Be Driving 45 years. One of my chargers is almost 45years old and I still use it in both of my cars.
Hi, thanks for watching and sharing the information!
Thank you for your video. After charging and starting the car, or van in my case, how long should I let the engine run so the battery will startthe next time?
Hi and thanks for watching!
If the battery is OK, about 10 minutes should be enough.
While the engine is running, if you can, turn off the lights, a/c, and other appliances, this will help recharge the battery faster.
Sir can I used a battery charger for jump start, means while the battery charger is plugged to an outlet and both positive & the negative cables are properly placed to its corresponding battery terminals then start a car?
I’ve never encountered any problems charging car batteries while they are still connected to the car in over 30 years of owning cars. But with todays new cars I wouldn’t be so sure,they are so complicated it’s ridiculous.
Hi and thanks for watching! Yes, you're right, you have to think twice before doing a simple thing like that.
@@DespairRepair exactly, im glad I don't own a new car. 95% of new cars are garbage, overpriced piles of junk.
I have charged my car battery several times without disconnecting it and never had a problem.
Hi and thanks for watching! Same here, just don't how the latest car models react to this since they're packed with various electronic systems.
Yeah but have you started the engine while u did. Or left it overnight and forgot to remove the charger and started the engine
Thank you
I have trickle chargers and trickle chargers that came from with the vehicle new. Never was it recommended to disconnect a cable. Disconnecting the cable actually would cause a problem that the car would have to be flat bedded to the dealer. (The battery died and it had to be flat bedded because it locked everything up) I also asked at my local GMC dealer and they do not disconnect a cable. My charger is big and heavy on wheels and I used it on Class 8 trucks.
Thanks for watching and for sharing!
You should make sure there is an inline fuse fitted to the live wire from charger / tender to live on battery terminal .
Thank you sir ❤
You're welcome and thanks for watching!
Dont you love those cars where you have to take the tire off to change the battery? Lol
Must be a Chrysler.
I’ve just got myself battery charger for mine as I hardly use car so it’s always going flat. I’ve always had a portable power pack though that can jump start cars they are super handy especially if you have to jump car and get somewhere but can’t restart. I will sit mine inside car then run wire out doors and into the front while mine charges thanks for the video was a little clueless
Get a Battery Tender not a charger. This charger will never over charge your battery.
So disconnect both terminals and charge in situ.? Takes longer to take off and then replace the battery clamp than anything else.
Thanks for watching and for sharing!
i wish to charge my car battery while it is connected with a car charger. i got an issue: do i connect the negative plug on negative or do i have to plug it in chassis or metal bolts?
Hi, thanks for watching and sorry for the late reply.
Connect directly to the battery if possible, that's the best way.
Many modern vehicles do not have the battery in the engine compartment, and the manufacturer states to charge the battery using the earth and positive fittings under the bonnet and do not charge the battery directly. Modern automotive electronics control battery charge state, and this cannot be monitored/controlled if you hook the charger direct to the battery.
Thank you, for NOT having, useless noise : ie) 'music ' . GOOD FOR US....
You're welcome and thanks for watching 🙂
I charged a Peugeot before without disconnecting the battery and after i started it there was miss fire. Maybe it affected something in the cars computer or something. Lucky after i stopped and restarted it ran fine. I never done this again. Luckily my old Peugeot has clamps which hold the terminals on the battery and u don't need a spanner, its a great Idea and i haven't seen that before, so now i just unclip the terminals when charging but don't need to lift out the battery.
I have CTEK chargers and i use them anytime i feel the vehicle/motorcycle needs a top up and have done this for 30 plus years,without removing battery terminals ,plus it doesn't hurt to give batteries a top up especially if there continually doing start/ stop driving or sitting around as the newer vehicles have quite a bit of draw from battery while not being used .
Thanks for watching and sharing your experience!
Why does my battery charger say to use a chassis ground for the negative and positive to positive terminal when charging with the battery installed?
Same rules apply to "jump starting" with leads. Discharged batteries may emit hydrogen gas and a spark caused by final connection via terminals can cause explosion.
a 12V charger will charge it without much of an issue, because the alternator pushes 14v+ when it's running to supply the power and recharge the battery. if you are concerned you can use the 2a setting to reduce the surge. It will take longer but the idea is getting it to start and let the alternator take over.
Thanks for watching and for sharing!
Kindly note that your use of "your" should be "you're" as in "you are".
@@Russell-rc6qq thanks 🙂, noted
Just connect a battery tender to the battery. They only put out about 3 to 5 amps, and they are meant to keep the battery maintained over night or when in storage.
Hi Duke, nice to meet you, and thanks for watching!
Yes that's also a very good option and I think they significantly prolong the life of the battery.
Much respect for your skill, repairs, and videos 🙂
If your car has stop/start and a battery monitoring system (BMS) it's worth connecting the negative connector the otherside of the BMS sensor so the BMS knows the battery is getting charged (an earthing point is fine).
Thanks for watching and for sharing this valuable information!
Yes! Routine. Otherwise, if you feel you must disconnect, you are possibly going toward a much more involved job plus new connectors/cables which could a more efficient charging system, but a very unhappy customer when you hand him the bill. Just charge the battery as the owner asked for, then, as you see weak spots, point them out and seek owner's approval to proceed.
Thanks for watching and for sharing!
I left the charger - which is quite old with a metal case - charging the battery and turned the engine over; car didnt start, nor crank, and blew the battery fuse, i found later - which is quite hard to find and is expensive to replace, a fuse of 80 amps -- don't risk it! I think the battery isnt in good shape now either - dead flat, wont take full charge
worse it destroyed the charger - i wonder if the metal case of the charger made a short, as i placed it on the engine bay. smoke was pouring from the charger even when the wires remomoved from bat.
With a 2016 Buick verano the battery was dead and I had a jump start it when I did the jump start setting on the battery charging unit that I had plugged in It made the car go honky and make audible hum noise I quickly disconnected it, and then chose the non-jumpstart 40 amp fast charge method and just sat there for a few minutes until it started so yes the high enough voltage can mess up a lot of stuff I'm glad I was there to quickly disconnect it in less in a second
So yes even when trickle charging at 2 amps I just disconnect the negative from the battery and then connect the charger to the positive and negative of the battery and then go about it just to be safe this car is full of gadgets lots of modules would hate for it to have issues due to something I did.
I already had to disable the blind spot monitoring and the lien departure stuff it had because it was taking the voltage too low and causing issues with electric steering locking up while in the middle of a turn very dangerous so yes these modules are made very cheaply and can cause serious problems especially when they suck too much energy so if it's something that you don't use just go in the options in the menu and turn it all off everything can be turned off including background backup sensors the lines, lane departure warning, accident emergency braking warnings ETC ETC
Turning the stuff I don't use off stopped my car from having any issues with the power dropping too low
Modern smart chargers may damage the cars electronics, like the engine management system. The reason? Smart chargers provide a higher voltage to breakdown the battery's chemistry in order to revive it. So it charges at a higher voltage than your 20 years old charger. Typical exceeding 16v so could damage or reduce the life of the cars electronics.
Excellent . well explained . Thank you .
You're welcome, thanks for watching and for the kind words 🙂
our mechanic said to charge a dead battery with a good charger and not rely on the alternator to bring it up to full charge because it is only a trickle charge. what do you say?
Hi and thanks for watching! I think the mechanic is right.
Good video , but with battery management and stop start systems with AGM battery always take battery out and use smart charger, regards
Thank you for watching and for sharing!
Showing what the meter on the charger would look like when fully charged would have been nice.
Anyone who can read would know !!
read what?@@gordonduke7174
How do I check the alternator volts
Hi, and thanks for watching! Best use a multimeter, if you're interested we've made a video specifically on that topic.
Search for alternator voltage on the channel.
Always keep a spare battery with 800cc and up and a battery charger you can get from Autozone or Advanced Auto Parts even Wal-Mart and some cables
Thanks for watching and for sharing!
Seriously? Keep a spare vehicle battery with you? I've never heard of anyone doing that. Maybe racers or something but no normal, sane person does that.
You also should not leave the battery directly on the ground/floor. It will eventually slowly discharge given enough time. A milk crate or non grounded/conductive box works great for this...
This man knows how to explain.
Thanks for watching and for the kind words 🙂
Lol no.
How about with newer cars? For some like Fords, you can program certain things. However, it's suggested to connect a battery charger to maintain voltage. Otherwise you can brick certain modules.
Hi and thanks for watching and for sharing!
To be honest, regarding the latest car models, I would be careful and look at what the manufacturer recommends regarding the charger voltage and amperage.
I think that a universal charger, widely used like the one in the video shouldn't do any harm.
But again, best to check it out.
From what I've seen, modern cars don't have good resilience to power losses and it seems best to avoid it altogether.
@@DespairRepair may depend on the charger too. I bougt a Noco Genius 10 smart charger myself. Seems to have a lot of safety features.
@@jasonashley9853 I don’t think it’s possible to ‘brick’ modules without power supply. That would be way to risky for the producer itself as well as for the dealers. Batteries get disconnected and go bad very often…
diesel engine but it has 60% battery life (but it is discharged). When try to jump start it to another car it took only a minute to start my suv
So does this mean I can charge it without connecting the battery terminal? I can’t find a straight answer
This guy is like Tony Blair wont answer the question directly!
@@binagarten4667 I’m American but I guess that goes for any politician 😅😂
I often recharge my car battery due to very short Winter journey,s,I just slow charge on th car and still connected,my car is a 07Ford Fiesta.
Thanks for watching!
With a Chrysler you cannot take the battery out so the only option isvto charge it while it is connected to the vehicle
Why would you do this rather than simply jump start the car and let it run for ten or fifteen minutes so the alternator can charge the battery?
I understand that the battery can fail but of course then you would remove the dead battery and charge the brand new battery before putting it into the car. But I don't know why you would charge an uncharged but functioning battery instead of simply jump starting the car.
I park outside in a part of Canada where it is common to get -35° or colder in January. I am currently only driving for short local trips. So I have a trickle charger under my hood attached to the battery. I plug in when I park and keep the battery topped in the extreme cold. But if I had lost all (or most) of the battery battery charge then I would simply jump start the car.
What am I missing?
Hi, thanks for watching and sharing your experience.
The point of the video is to provide a quick alternative to having to remove the battery, in case you don't have jump start cables available, a new battery to replace the depleted one, or else.
Also, if the charger is good, it will revive the battery much faster and more effectively than the alternator.
At least this is what I've experienced.
My 260a Craftsman charger on wheels will not charge a COMPLETLY DEAD BATTERY ! It's the way they work..... I spent $239,00 on it... So , I bought the same one like you got for $29.99. Charges even dead dead dead batteries. for 3 1/2 years.
Some cars will refuse to start if the system battery voltage is even just slighly on the low side. Your power door locks not unlocking while using your remote is a good initial hint that your car is sulking.
I have an old Volvo with the battery in the rear of the car….for convenience I wanted to charge the battery while in the car.I telephoned our local Volvo dealership to check this would be ok they said yes .So I proceeded and charged the battery.A short while later my instrument panel completely failed. A short period later my engine cooling fan started to play up (comes on for long periods even when engine is stone cold) an ECU problem was diagnosed.Then the cabin heater control regulator failed.Now maybe all these failures were a coincidence. But it might be that as electronics get older they get a bit more fragile to electrical surges. All I know with the cost of all my repairs I would not risk it again.The battery charger I used was a modern smart charger and of a well known make. It has been used with no problem to charge Batteries disconnected from cars.
Hi and thanks for watching! To be honest, I haven't seen that recharging the battery this way causes that kind of havoc to the cars electrics, and electronics.
But you never know, it's always best to disconnect the battery and then charge or at least disconnect the minus battery terminal.
It all depends on the situation, if you're in a tight spot and do not have the time or possibility, then this is certainly worth the try.
Hello. What charger are you using? It looks like it is a high amperage dumb charger. I guess it would be better to use a multi step Smart charger because smart chargers are safer
Exactly. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the multi-step chargers are about $30 and do not require battery disconnection or any expertise. They even tell you when the battery is fully charged. They can even mitigate sulfur problems automatically.
surely you can as long as the charger voltage is below 14V or better 13.8V, there is no need to disconnect the battery at all.
i i eat the battery charger does it charge me
That’s not how you do it! The negative clamp still goes to an unpainted metal in the vehicle.
Thanks for watching, it goes on the battery clamp, much safer
I always thought leaving a battery on concrete drains the battery over time such as improper storage.
i always heard that too.
It’s the rising cold from the concrete (cold temperatures kill batteries) have you stood on a cold concrete floor with bare feet , your feet start to seize up , well the same with a battery.
that sounds right.@@gregreed402
10-Amp automatic battery chargers do not require any disconnection of battery from car and only cost about $30.
Thanks for watching and for sharing!
I watched 10 seconds... yes you can
When charging my battery the charger never goes to zero and battery is disconnected from car..wonder wtf that means
Get a Battery Tender it will shut down, and restart when the voltage drops. They work great.
Yes you can change the battery but not recommended because you will damage the cpu 77 years of experience i downot recommended it the ford doz not like it the cpu will go out
but I want to run car audio for days. Can I do it with these old dumb chargers?
No. They are to crude for todays electronics. Get a Battery Tender.
@@tomking1890 I already got one and it was cheap. 10 amp Parkside charger has this function
YES ,of course you can. done it many times. WHY should it cause problems.
Thanks for watching and for sharing!
A simple yes or no would have done lol
I thought it was dangerous to hook the negative clamp from the charger to the negative post of the battery?? I thought you had to hook it to the chassis of the engine or someting on the frame of the car??
Hi, and thanks for watching! Nope, at least from what I've seen and done, the correct way is to connect the charger to the battery terminals.
Never charge batteries the ground, charge in car just and disconnect neg cable.
YES, charge it in the car
Thanks for watching!
Listen up people you dont have to remove battery out of the car. just take negative lead off and charge.
A small point I feel is worth mentioning , it's not + plus and - minus , these are mathematical terms . The correct terms for batteries and dc voltage is + positive and - negative .
Hi, thanks for watching and for sharing! You're right, I used the plus and minus terms as they are frequently used when working around cars, at least here 🙂. So it sort of rubbed off 🙂
@@DespairRepair No problem , I enjoyed the video , have a great Christmas and New Year 🙂
@@Gordon_L🙂. Thank you very much and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too and all the best 🙂
NOT a good idea. Can't be good for an alternator to run power backwards through it.....why chance it ?
Can you get to the point already
Make your own video then 👌
I did this yesterday and now my engine light is on. Anyone who could know why my engine light is on?
Most probably system detected loss of power and reports an error. It should be safe to start the engine and drive to a garage in order to check the error and fix it.
That ever happens again just take your car to an autozone or advance auto. They will scan your car for free and tell you what caused the CEL. If they can’t diagnose it, then take it to a mechanic. No sense throwing your hard earned money away.
Short answer - yes you can. How do you think trickle chargers/booster packs/jump leads work. SMH
Thanks for watching and for sharing!
Thanks for watching and for sharing!
so i been taking batteries and putting under 300 amp loads 5 mins up to 15 mins ...5 times and bringing old batteries back to life it burns off the sulfer deposits and little shorts that drains and weaken batteries it does not work if battery has froze.just saying so a person isnt constantly putting the charger on thier car or buying a new battery when there is not a need.
Thanks for watching. You're right and thanks for sharing
This is definitely not an information dense video. Even watching at 2x speed I was dozing off in the middle.
Not aplicabile for cars of 5years of age or less!
This guy is milking it for petes sake this could have been answered in 5 seconds.
Thanks for watching!
Way too long.
Thanks for watching 🙂
stop talking NONSENSE !
Thank you for watching!
This guy is annoying
Thank you for watching!