Keep it Charged!

Now that we're into the month of March some folks may be thinking about pulling their car, truck or boat out of storage in the near future. We're here to remind you that you should make sure your battery is fully-charged before you use it. Your alternator is designed to maintain your battery when it is fully-charged or close to it and they are expensive to replace. Don't put unnecessary strain on your vehicle's charging system, just use a battery charger before using the battery.

When batteries are discharged below 12.4 volts and allowed to sit, sulfation within the battery will begin to diminish both capacity and longevity. That makes regular use of a quality battery maintainer a good idea while your battery is in storage.

If that isn't an option, fully-charging and disconnecting your battery can also minimize the formation of sulfation. If your battery has been sitting all winter long, why not hook it up to a charger this weekend and give it a little juice? Fully-charged, RedTops (and the 34M BlueTop) will measure about 12.6-12.8 volts, while YellowTops (and all other BlueTops) will measure approximately 13.0-13.2 volts.