While many motorists prioritise car maintenance for winter, summer heat can be just as damaging to your car battery.
High temperatures accelerate the rate at which a battery loses its charge and can cause internal corrosion. This can lead to a flat battery when the weather cools down.
Here’s how to protect your car battery during the summer months:
- Understand the impact of heat: At higher temperatures, batteries discharge faster. For example, a battery stored at 27°C loses 4% of its charge per week, compared to only 3% per month at 18°C.
- Maintain battery voltage: A battery with a voltage below 12.4V is at risk of sulphation, a process that reduces its capacity and cranking power. Even if your car starts easily in warm weather, a degraded battery may fail later.
- Avoid overcharging: Excessive heat can cause a battery to boil over, rendering it unusable. In hot weather, use a charger with built-in temperature compensation to prevent overcharging.
The CTEK CT5 TIME TO GO Charger:
This automatic charger protects your battery from overcharging and undercharging. It also features:
- Temperature compensation: Adjusts charging based on ambient temperature.
- Three charging programs: Normal, AGM, and Recond for different battery types.
- Charging time prediction: Displays the estimated time remaining until the battery is fully charged.
- Safe start indication: Lets you know when the battery has enough power to start your car, even before a full charge.
By taking these steps and using the right battery charger, you can ensure your car starts reliably all summer long.
For more information on the CTEK CT5 TIME TO GO charger, click here.
