Batteries

Your car’s battery stores the energy needed to start the engine. If your battery fails, your car won’t move. Batteries often fail without warning, under the worst weather conditions, and almost always when you can least afford to be stranded. A well-maintained battery lasts for about five years. After this period of time, its best to consider replacing your car’s battery. When purchasing a new battery for your car you should have an understanding of a few key concepts:

The most important consideration is sizing the battery’s CCA (Cold-Cranking Amps) rating to meet or exceed, depending on the climate, the car’s OEM cranking requirements. CCA’s are defined as the amount of power that a fully-charged battery can deliver for 30 seconds at 0°F. In other words, CCA is how much “juice” the battery is going to put out on those cold winter mornings when you’re running late for work and can’t find another ride in. As batteries age, they are less capable of producing CCAs.

The Reserve Capacity (RC) rating is the second most important consideration while buying a battery. Reserve Capacity is the number of minutes a fully charged battery at 80°F voltage falls below optimum levels. In other words, how long your battery will stay good when you’ve left the dome light on out in front of your house.  More RC is better in every case!

The service experts at Piasecki’s can replace your vehicle’s battery for you to ensure that your car will start every time even if you do leave the dome light on. Don’t get caught without a ride when you need it the most. Stop by Piasecki’s and have us check your battery and charging system to make sure everything is running at peak performance. You’ll have the peace of mind that your car will start without problems…and your family and friends will have the peace of mind that you won’t be calling for a jump-start in the middle of some cold, winter night!

One other note: 
Batteries contain sulfuric acid, a highly corrosive poisonous liquid. They can produce gasses when recharged or jump-started, and will explode if these gasses ignite. When working with batteries, you need to have plenty of ventilation, remove jewelry and exercise caution. If you can, you should wear protective clothing and safety glasses, too.