The cold time of year is coming up, and even though you’re excited about the holidays, you might not be too excited about the snowstorms. Our temperatures here in Warwick tend to stay in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, which is a heck-of-a-lot better than below zero, but the winter weather can still give your car battery a hard time. J&S Auto Repair explains why below.
How Vehicle Batteries Work
Car batteries are somewhat different from the batteries in your handheld devices, flashlights, and household fire and carbon monoxide alarms. Vehicle batteries have four cells that are made up by putting two lead plates together. One car battery has eight lead plates that add up to four cells, but it’s important to take into account that car batteries are not universal.
The plates are put together to create each cell because they interact with battery acid, sulfuric acid, and water. When surrounded by this solution, the lead, acid, and water create what’s called a double-sulfate chemical reaction. The lead and lead dioxide in the plates combine with the battery acid to create lead sulfate. This is what allows the battery to generate power.
Cold Weather and Chemical Reactions
Cold weather can affect your vehicle in many ways, as we discussed in our previous blog post. One way it does so is in the battery. When the winter temperatures begin to drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which is considered freezing on the Fahrenheit scale, the chemical reaction inside the battery between the lead cells and the battery acid and water slows down.
This kind of makes batteries cold-blooded, if you think about it. Much like how blood circulation slows down in cold-blooded animals and insects when they get too cold, cold weather can also slow down your battery. This results in the performance issues or even death that many automobile drivers suffer from when they try to start their car, truck, or SUV on a freezing morning.
Because the chemical reaction is slowed, the battery’s power production is slowed or, more technically, reduced. The faster the chemical reaction, the more power; the slower the chemical reaction, the less power, and when the outdoor temperatures reach freezing or below 32 degrees, your battery loses 30 percent of the power it’s capable of producing.
This is why batteries die in the winter, especially if the battery is old. Do you need a new car battery? If it’s older than three years, you just might. Contact J&S Auto Repair in Warwick, RI, to set up a battery test before our outdoor temperatures feel like your household freezer.
