I wasn't sure where to put this question, so I hope it would be okay to ask the mods to move it to a better forum if it has no place here ^__^ Please. Okay so here is my question. If you have a car battery that is kind of low, but not so low you need a jump start, can driving your car around FULLY recharge the battery (assuming you don't run the radio/ac/etc)? If so, how long would it take? I just had a crazy stoned idea that involves powering your grow room with car batteries recharged (in a rotation) in your car while you do your everyday driving. Am I crazy?
your alternator charges the battery. if you battery is low i would drive the car. at highway speeds it should charge it up. just drive about a good 5-10 minutes on the highway and it should charge the battery. if the battery is not charged, then its either old, or the alternator is weak and you need a new alternator. you can go to your local "auto zone" to get the battery and alternator checked, but you will need to take them both off the car to have them checked. but they should have a voltage meter. also your theory is possible but you would need to convert from the DC(direct current) to AC (alternating current) you would need an inverter for this.
or you could just check the water level in the battery? 9 times outa 10 that's what it is. op dont go and spend 100$ for a new battery. so many people make this mistake and it just saddens me how dumb society can be
If i remember right. car batteries are enclosed, no way of putting water in the battery. ive only mixed acid/water in a motorcycle battery. i had a dried up MC battery before and i filled it with water and it only half charged it. save yourself the headache and buy a new battery. not worth the time IMO
It all depends on the battery. Some are sealed and some aren't. Usually the cheap ones aren't, but any of the top batteries are sealed.
eh i highly doubt the op has a battery to where it has to be filled. most car/truck batteries are sealed. motorcycles seem to have both. thats all thats here in my town. id never have a battery id have to fill specially if it was for a car. both my bikes ive had to fill my battery myself.
If your battery is low due to a discharge then yes driving will recharge it. Car batteries last an average of 5-7 years. If it just won't hold a charge then it's toast unless there's some kind of drain on it from your car while turned off. You could charge and use car batteries to power your grow room but charging your battery takes power from your car so you will be using more fuel to charge those batteries. Why not just use household power? it's much cheaper than gasoline. Also car batteries are not made to be deep cycled which is what using them for your grow room would do, there are special batteries that are used in solar systems and RV's that are designed to be deep cycled.
Get an old school car jump box. As long as it doesn't have any built in circuit testers than you can plug it in and use the clips as battery terminals. Constant source of 12v power from ur house. Low consumption, quiet, and IMO it would work beautifully if u know how to do 12v wiring.