Nowadays, batteries are the main terminal and energy storage source to use in several equipment’s, gadgets and Cars. A 12-volt battery is a term used to distinguish between different types of batteries. A fully charged 12-volt battery shows a total read of 12.6; if it shows anywhere in between 12.4 to 12.8, then your battery health is perfect.
If your battery volt read is more than 12.8, like 12.9 or 13, then your battery is excessively charged. And If the battery charge read is less than 12.4 or 12.3, your battery charging is low; you need to charge it right away. The battery charging is higher than 12.9. You can use a high beam to consume or drain an excessive charge well; lower than 12.3 means you need to charge it. In both cases, the problem is caused by the alternator. It is the one responsible for charging and discharging energy in the battery.
Importance of Checking Battery Voltage:
It’s better and important to check battery voltage from time to time while using it. It helps to know the state of battery health whether we need to charge the battery or anything that needs to be set for the alternator. Checking of battery or proactively testing battery health can decrease the risk of battery failure. You can run a battery test on your own, or you can ask a mechanic to test the battery condition several times a year.
The voltage which your battery shows can determine the life cycle of your battery. A battery that is kept fully charged all time will have a longer life span than the battery that remains undercharge or is reduced charged. To check the voltage, you can buy a simple voltmeter as they are cheap, and you can check your battery voltage on your own.
Checking voltage can tell you your next course step to follow to save your battery from getting dead. We discussed a few essential parameters of the battery and did answer the query. That what should a 12-volt battery read when fully charged?
So in simple, we can 12.6 to 12.8, but there are still some other factors you need to be concern about while taking battery read. This will help you to tale a good read, and a good read means knowing the battery’s proper health.
Charge Type And There Functionality While Taking Battery Read:
1) Charge voltage:
Charged voltage means the state of battery charging or charges up. Normally when the battery is in charge voltage, its plates are polarized and start to develop resistance called surface charge. Due to this surface charge, the battery shows high voltage reading.
2) Discharge Voltage:
It is the opposite state of charge voltage in which voltage is decreased to a great level. This occurs when the battery starts to discharge voltage to its load. All the charge on the surface is now converted toward the empowerment of load. The load can eat away all charge of the surface along with the actual charge of the battery, also which cause the state of discharging a mean flow of energy outside the battery. At this time, the reading will be less than a normal healthy battery read.
3) Idle Or Rested Battery Cells:
When a battery is charged up and not in any use (no-load, no discharging, only resting stage), we call this a resting stage of cells. This is the best time to check battery reading. But before this, if it was charged up, you have to keep it in the resting stage for more than 4 hours to get an actual reading.
Four hours of rest can allow the battery to cool down to a certain neutral point allowing all surface charges to be dismissed within the electrolytes.
Relation of state of charge and battery voltage:
The battery’s voltage is used as a base to determine the state of charge, especially for battery type, which cannot be tested with the help of a hydrometer. But keep in mind that voltage can fluctuate, which does not make it a fundamental base to know the state of charge, whether high, low or in the resting stage.
The best way to take an exact voltage of a battery is with a battery monitoring system (BMS). Without a BMS, we can only have a relative or rough estimate of the battery state of charge because the voltage is the only base to check the state of charge without BMS.
Voltmeter To Determine State Of Charge Of 12-v Sealed Battery:
The best way to determine the real state of charge of sealed batteries is the thorough voltage as the basis because the hydrometer cannot read the specific gravity of a battery which can cause a rough estimate of voltage when we are using voltage as the base to take an accurate reading of the state of charge.
Be sure that it is necessary to keep your battery resting for more than 4 to 6 hours. Voltage testing of a battery immediately after charging can cause fluctuation of accurate reading. Thus the state of charge reading may show high.
At What Point Of reading Battery Is Dead?
In normal circumstances, your battery read when fully charged are 12.8 maximum and 12.3 minimum. Any point less than these readings can affect your battery status badly. If your battery volt is 12 volt or less than 12 volts, then you seriously need to charge it as soon as possible. But if you failed to charge, it means it is dead. Moreover, you charged it but showing the same reading of less than 12 volt means you need to buy a new battery. So do check your battery several times a year to help yourself by not buying a new expensive battery.
Summary:
A complete guide could be a lot to digest, but this information can surely help you save your battery from being dead. In simple terms, a 12-volt battery, when fully charged, should show a reading of 12.8 maximum. And any less than 12.4 means you need to charge it. The worst case is that if the battery voltage is less than 12 volt. It is dead or about to die
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