Car batteries

There are a variety of Car Batteries currently available, Wet Cell, Calcium and AGM to name a few, each needing to be maintained in a slightly different manner.

Wet cell, Calcium and Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) are all various versions of the lead-acid battery that have different advantages, disadvantages and maintenance requirements.

Wet cell Car Batteries, or flooded battery as its also known, still dominates a large proportion of the car battery market. Despite the first wet cells typically being fragile glass containers with lead rods hanging from an open top, developments in manufacturing, and of course safety, techniques have seen the wet cell progress in to an affordable, reliable and, if recharged and maintained correctly, long lasting vehicle battery.

Calcium batteries also take up a large proportion of the battery market and have the same generic make-up of wet cell batteries except both the positive and negative plates are replaced by calcium alloy. By doing this, the fluid loss is about 80% lower than that of a normal wet cell battery and the self discharge rate is also considerably lower which, in turn, provides huge advantages to those storing the units.

Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) or ‘dry’ batteries as they’re also known are the latest step in the evolution of lead-acid batteries. Instead of using water or a gel, an AGM uses a fibreglass separator to hold the electrolyte in place.

All of these Car Batteries possess different technologies that are going to suit the differing needs of the vehicle however, they all have one thing in common in that they need to be carefully maintained to ensure once in use, they provide the energy needed. None of them are free from self discharge and all will therefore require a charge at one point or another.

Unlike many battery chargers available on the market, CTEK’s smart chargers react only to the needs of the battery meaning that every CTEK charger is suitable to charge, condition and prolong the life of all of the above Car Batteries.