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RIP Kanata/Stittsville Battery: I Thought We Would Be Together Longer

Everything has an expiration date, even your Kanata car battery. No matter whether you have ever needed a jump for your batter or drained your battery on accident, you will still need to replace your Stittsville car battery.  Of course, these things don’t help and will accelerate your Kanata car battery’s permanent death.  Proper care and maintenance of your Kanata/Stittsville car battery can help it last longer than it might otherwise.

The lifespan of a car battery is typically expressed in something called duty cycles. Some batteries (your typical AA or AAA battery) are designed to be completely discharged, while others are designed to always have some level of charge (a car battery). Under normal circumstances, starting your car will drain the battery a little, but the alternator will charge it back up as you drive. If your alternator of other areas of your engine are not working properly

When things aren’t working properly, and the battery discharges more than it is designed to, that is when issues arise.  If you leave the keys “halfway” on to listen to the radio for a long period of time… if you leave a dome light or your headlights on… your car won’t start because your Kanata battery has been discharged too far. In other instances if you notice your headlights or dash lights dimming, a charge warning light flicks on, or the voltage meter on your dash drops below 14.2 volts, those are all indicators that the alternator isn’t charging your battery the way it’s supposed to which will lead to your battery being drained and you needing to jump it over and over again, which will simply kill it eventually.  Get into a Kanata/Stittsville garage to have both your alternator and battery checked out.

The best way to avoid draining your battery to the point of damaging it is to perform regular care and maintenance, which will often allow you to catch problems before they have a chance to snowball. Fixing it before the battery goes dead—or before the battery goes dead multiple times—will save you money in the long run.