If you’ve used our Tom Dwyer Client Shuttle, you’ve probably met Jeff Anderson, the main shuttle driver. The shuttle van is often a source of lively conversation, about life, politics, and sometimes even cars, so Jeff knows what many of our clients have on their minds. He recently heard from one client about an experience with her 2001 Honda Civic. She pulled over to take a cell phone call while on the road, and ended up being there about 45 minutes with her lights on and engine off. When she tried to get back on the road her battery was dead. A jump start from a Good Samaritan got her on the way to a discount battery store, where she was a little suspicious of their explanation of why they thought she needed a new battery. She ended up bringing it back to us for advice she felt good about. Jeff mentioned that he’d heard similar questions about their batteries, so rather than let our clients go unarmed into a dangerous world, we decided to give you the basics on batteries, what they do, how they’re checked, and what happens to them when they die.
What it is
A battery is a device that stores electrical energy as chemical energy. Most modern automotive batteries use a stack of lead plates held in a bath of acid. A standard automotive battery in new or excellent condition should supply 12.6 volts of power. Automotive batteries have six separate cells that each contains 2.1 volts. A fully charged battery would read at 12.6 volts on a voltage meter.
What it does
The battery supplies power the ignition and accessory systems to start your vehicle when the engine power is off. An automotive battery also acts as a voltage regulator, to even out spikes and drops in voltage when the vehicle is running; this prevents damage to computer control systems. The automotive battery is the most important component to prevent failure during start up.
What happens when it gets old or weak?
In general, automotive batteries have a life span of about 4-5 years. Over time, a battery loses its ability to hold a charge as internal components age and internal electrolyte liquid dissipates. There are three signs that your battery may be reaching the end of its lifetime- age, cranking amps, resistance, and voltage.
AGE
Batteries are rated in terms of months (usually 12-48 months). Older batteries many show signs of age like corrosion around the terminals or white caking on the sides; good indicators the battery needs replacement or maintenance. Factory original batteries are usually rated for 3 years (the warranty period of the vehicle) so we recommend replacing them at 2 years. The batteries we supply are warrantied for 6 years, and we recommend replacement at 5 years.
COLD CRANKING AMPS
(CCA) is a numeric scale that rates to what temperature (high or low) the battery can provide a consistent surge of voltage to start the vehicle. A battery with low cold cranking amps will not reliably start your vehicle and will not easily hold a charge. We generally recommend replacing a battery when it falls below 75% of its CA capacity.
RESISTANCE
Resistance testing has replaced the cold-crank testing for most battery service. Resistance testing can be done quickly and accurately using a hand-held unit, and is not as elaborate as CCA testing. Resistance testing depends on the relationship between the internal electrical resistance of a battery and its electrical capacity. Because the relationship is not linear it can’t be used to predict when the battery will fail, but if the resistance increases to 25% above its base line value you know it’s time to replace.
VOLTAGE
A fully charged battery would read at 12.6 volts under load on a voltage meter. Anything that reads lower than 10.5 volts under load needs replacement.
(As it turned out, our client with the Civic did indeed need a new battery. Her old one showed signs of terminal corrosion, failed the voltage test, and although it was rated at 55 months it was already more than 4 years old. The battery had reached the end of its service life, so a new Interstate replacement was installed and the old one was recycled.)
What batteries do you recommend?
We heavily recommend Interstate batteries. Interstate is a long-standing industry leader and the top rated replacement battery available. We also offer Delco or various OEM (Originial Equipment Manufacturer) batteries for specialized applications or to suit our client’s preference. All our recommended batteries are new, never remanufactured or “comparable new quality” like many discount exchange retailers. In addition, we recycle all decommissioned automotive batteries.
Where do batteries go when they die?
Because automotive batteries generally have a low life span, 2-4 years, close to 99 million are decommissioned each year. Our used lead acid batteries, regardless of manufacturer, are collected by our Interstate Battery representative. Interstate Batteries is the top automotive recycler in the country, with more than 850 million pounds of batteries recycled last year alone. Recycling automotive batteries is beneficial both to the manufacturer and the environment, because it’s a great way to meet industry demand for raw materials and keep waste out of the landfill.
Used batteries slated for recycling arrive at a processing center, where they are feed into a large machine called a hammermill. It crushes the battery and its contents and into small uniform pieces, which are then dumped into large sorting tanks along with its internal fluid – Sulfuric Acid. The material then separates by either floating or sinking in the tank. Modern automotive batteries have three main recyclable components, the outside case (plastic/polypropylene), internal battery liquid (sulfate electrolyte), and the internal metal components (lead). Just one battery contains 21 pounds of lead, three pounds of plastic and one gallon of sulfuric acid, all of which can be reprocessed into new batteries.
PLASTIC
The buoyant plastic material (polypropylene) is skimmed off and collected. The pieces are washed and dried and are sent to a refining facility. The plastic pieces slated for recycling are sent through a massive machine called an extruder, which uses heat and pressure to melt the plastic and cook off impurities. The molten plastic is then formed into small uniform pellets and packed in shipping containers. It is sent back to the battery casing factory, or sold as raw material to other plastic manufacturing facilities.
Older battery cases were made from hardened rubber, the same material popularly used to make bowling balls. Typically, this material is recycled in the smelting process as a carbon source when making new lead ingots.
METAL
During the sorting process, lead pieces sink to the bottom of the collection tank. The metal is cleaned and melted in large smelting furnaces. Impurities are burned off during processing and any visible particulate is skimmed off. The molted lead is poured off in large ingots molds. After the ingots are cooled, they are removed and shipped to make new batteries at other manufacturing facilities.
ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION
Lead Acid Batteries often use a sulfate solution that can be recycled in two ways. One way is to chemically neutralize it with an industrial compound similar to baking soda. After chemicals are added, the battery acid is turned into a benign substance of water and salt compounds. After passing clean water standards, it can be sent to a water treatment facility for further purification. Another processing method is to crystalize the electrolyte solution into a concentrated powder (sodium sulfate). This industrial commodity is then sold to other consumer product industries, such as laundry detergent, glass, and textiles
It is very important to recycle your decommissioned car battery. When they are disposed of properly, automotive batteries can have a low environmental impact. According to the U.S. EPA, 99 percent of automobile batteries were recycled in 2006. Here are some other interesting facts about battery recycling:
- Car batteries have the highest recycling rate out of all recycled materials.
- About 60 percent of the world’s lead comes from recycled car batteries.
- Lead-acid batteries use over 80 percent of the lead produced in the U.S.
- New lead-acid batteries are composed of 60 percent to 80 percent recycled lead and plastic.1
