car battery rechargable?

[me88]

i was told that if i plug in my phone or ipod in to my car while the car is on and moving it won't drain the car battery and that the car battery is recharging when the car is started and moving

 

[ThatVietGuy]

That's the purpose of the alternator in a car - the battery is only needed to turn on the starter in order to get the car running. However, once the car is running it will also drive the alternator which will supply electricity to the electrics of the car (interior lights, brake lights, dash gauges, etc.) as well as keep a charge going to the battery.

 

[Mark RM]

Yes that's correct, the car has an alternator which charges the battery and supplies power for lighting and fan motors etc...

 

[me88]

That's the purpose of the alternator in a car - the battery is only needed to turn on the starter in order to get the car running. However, once the car is running it will also drive the alternator which will supply electricity to the electrics of the car (interior lights, brake lights, dash gauges, etc.) as well as keep a charge going to the battery.

so i can keep my stuff plugged in and it won't drain the battery? what would cause the battery to die?

 

[me88]

Yes that's correct, the car has an alternator which charges the battery and supplies power for lighting and fan motors etc...

so i can keep my stuff plugged in and it won't drain the battery? what would cause the battery to die?

 

[ThatVietGuy]

That's the purpose of the alternator in a car - the battery is only needed to turn on the starter in order to get the car running. However, once the car is running it will also drive the alternator which will supply electricity to the electrics of the car (interior lights, brake lights, dash gauges, etc.) as well as keep a charge going to the battery.

so i can keep my stuff plugged in and it won't drain the battery? what would cause the battery to die?

The battery will die if you leave the car on, but the engine not running. Or like how some people do it, leave the headlights on overnight.

 

[Solandri]

If the car battery is draining, either something has been left on, the car's electronics have a short circuit somewhere which is constantly draining charge, or the battery is close to dying and needs to be replaced.

A decent service station or auto store will have a device which can test the battery to see if it needs to be replaced. If the battery is fine, you're going to have the difficult task of figuring out where the short circuit is.

If the car battery is not charging or not charging quickly, either your battery is dying and needs to be replaced, or the alternator is malfunctioning.

It is highly unlikely that your cell phone or iPod has anything to do with it. The typical car battery is 12V 45 amp-hours. Or about 540 Watt-hours. The typical cell phone battery is about 3.7V 2500 milliamp-hours. Or about 9.25 Watt-hours. Charging your phone from a car battery isn't going to make a dent in the car battery's charge even when the car is off (and not recharging).