Batteries By Application Car

There is only one fool proof way to check whether your vehicle is in need of a replacement battery, and that is to have the battery tested.

However, you can often make assumptions as to whether you need to buy a car battery based on a range of symptoms. These include:

 Sluggish engine turnover
 Clicking noise on turning the ignition
 Vehicle not starting at all
 Loss of power to the electrics, e.g. windows, lights and heater
 Battery warning light appears on dashboard
 Battery is approaching the end of its usable life

CCA stands for ‘Cold Cranking Amps’. This represents the measurement of the starting performance of a car battery in cold temperatures. The higher the CCA, the easier it will be to start the vehicle. Smaller vehicles can be started with lower CCAs than larger vehicles.

Generally, the higher the CCA, the better overall capacity the battery has, and the greater its ability to withstand extreme weather conditions.

CCA can be measured against the EN European standard, or SAE, the American standard. If you live in a cold climate, the CCA is more important than if you live in a warmer zone.

If you are local to our Tewkesbury HQ (GL20 8NB), then you are welcome to drop in your old car battery and we will safely dispose of it for you free of charge.

If you are not local to us, unfortunately we are unable to dispose of your used battery. Instead, we recommend you take it to your local recycling centre which you’ll be able to find online.

We appreciate that when you go to buy a car battery, it can be very confusing due to the sheer volume of choice. Different brands, a range of technologies, varying capacities and voltages… making sure you are buying the right battery is not always easy. And if you get it wrong, then the vehicle may not receive the correct charge voltage.

This is why at BMS Technologies, we have made it easy for you to buy the right car battery for your vehicle.

The easiest way to check you have the correct battery for your car is to use our Registration Finder tool.

We would also recommend measuring the battery you currently have installed and checking this matches the dimensions in the specifications to double check it is the correct one.

If you are still unsure, you are very welcome to contact our technical support team where one of our experts will happily give you the advice you need.

Start-stop technology detects when a vehicle comes to a halt, and stops the engine automatically, only starting it again when you press the throttle. The technology was designed to reduce needless pollution when cars are at a standstill. It also reduces fuel consumption.

A start-stop car battery differs from a regular car battery in that it has enhanced cyclic performance, giving it the ability to discharge and recharge over and over. So, when you buy a new car battery for a start-stop vehicle, you’ll need to make sure you choose one that supports this technology.

A starter (car) battery and a leisure battery are two very different sources of power, producing energy in different ways.

A starter battery is designed to do just what its name suggests, start a vehicle. This type of battery will provide a burst of energy to start the engine when required, as opposed to a leisure battery, which stores and then releases a lower level of energy over a prolonged period of time so that it can power onboard appliances in the likes of caravans, campervans and motorhomes.

When you leave a vehicle for a prolonged period without starting it up, for example a week or more, then ‘parasitic drain’ can lead to the battery falling below the 50% capacity that all car batteries must be kept above. A drop below 50% can lead to sulfation, which can prevent the necessary chemical reactions taking place that accept and hold the battery charge.

Parasitic drain basically means anything that is using the battery whilst the engine is off, for example a car alarm. This is why it is recommended that vehicles left for a prolonged period without starting up should be hooked up to keep the battery trickle charged and above the 50% threshold.

A smart charger is usually the best option for this purpose. The reason for this recommendation is that smart chargers are able to detect when a battery is fully charged, automatically cutting off to prevent overcharging.