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This article is something every motorist needs to know. Winter is coming very soon and many owners of a car with an old battery will be in for a surprise: when attempts to start their steel horse will not be crowned with success. As a result, the battery will be completely discharged due to these actions. Such a failure may well happen to owners of completely new batteries. No one is immune from this.
How to charge a car battery with a laptop power supply

It's good if you have a car charger on hand. But life often brings us to such situations when this device may not be at hand or, as luck would have it, it will fail.
If you are faced with a similar problem, then ingenuity will help you.
We will need a power supply from a laptop, which is usually found in every home and sometimes not in single quantities. They are almost all of the same type and run on a voltage of 19 Volts. Car light bulb 21 Watt (12V 21V). If you want to speed up charging, you can take two of these bulbs connected in parallel to each other, or take one 55-watt high or low beam lamp.If suddenly you don’t have an extra light bulb, take it out of any available flashlight while charging.
How to charge a car battery with a laptop power supply

We take the battery, unscrew the lids of the cans for better ventilation.
Then we take a block from a laptop and a light bulb and connect all these three elements, including the battery, in series using a wire.

Connection diagram.


How to charge a car battery with a laptop power supply

Connection to the power supply.
How to charge a car battery with a laptop power supply

The minus of the block is connected to the minus of the battery.
How to charge a car battery with a laptop power supply

How to charge a car battery with a laptop power supply

How to charge a car battery with a laptop power supply

Charging, of course, takes a long time, but it takes a couple of hours to refresh the battery a little.
In general, when my charger burned out, I left this circuit overnight - and in the morning I received an almost fully charged battery, provided that, of course, it was not completely discharged.
The current through one 21 Watt light bulb is approximately 1 Ampere. If you take two of them, it will be approximately 2 Amperes. In general, it is quite possible to charge a battery in a day, even from scratch.
If you have the opportunity to measure the battery voltage, then 14.2 is the voltage of a fully charged battery.
Yes, keep in mind that the load current of the unit, look at the housing and do not exceed it. Typically it is 3 Amps.
Do not forget that when charging, hydrogen is released from the battery cans - do not forget about ventilation of the room.
Use your wits, friends, and you will be able to get out of most seemingly hopeless situations.
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Comments (8)
  1. Alexander
    #1 Alexander Guests December 7, 2017 12:18
    1
    I've been charging batteries this way for a long time.
  2. Ivan
    #2 Ivan Guests 6 January 2018 15:02
    4
    One thing is not clear: how, by increasing the power of the light bulb, will the charging current increase?
    1. Pavel Skvortsov
      #3 Pavel Skvortsov Guests January 20, 2018 12:59
      3
      When the power of the light bulb increases, the current in the circuit increases, this is physics. Accordingly, the charging current increases.
    2. ozi
      #4 ozi Guests 29 May 2019 17:10
      1
      The light bulb limits the current through itself, such as a ballast resistor. Its resistance is lower, the higher its rated power. The lower the resistance, the greater the current. Without ballast, the power supply will most likely burn out, the battery may also boil or fail: practically a short circuit of 19 V at 0-14 V. Country option: get a diode or diode bridge for 500 volts or more and in series with a 220 V light bulb (the more powerful, the better) and plug the battery into 220. Before that, remove the battery and isolate it from people and wildlife. It will take a long time to charge, but 15-30 minutes will be enough to start the sniff.
  3. Ivan Konstantinov
    #5 Ivan Konstantinov Guests 6 January 2018 15:17
    2
    By turning on a light bulb in series, you reduce the voltage at the battery terminals and, as a result, the current. I think so.
  4. ve.29
    #6 ve.29 Guests 9 January 2018 13:00
    5
    For those who have an old battery, I advise you to recharge it for 15-20 minutes before starting the car in winter. Recoil will improve! And new batteries can be recharged, especially in severe frosts.

    The greater the power of the light bulb, the lower its resistance, the greater the charging current. Remember Ohm's law!!!
  5. Guest Oleg
    #7 Guest Oleg Guests 8 July 2018 17:49
    1
    not 14.2 but 16.2 for one 2.7 volt can. expert.
  6. Guest Ildar
    #8 Guest Ildar Guests 21 August 2020 23:49
    2
    I just came up with a similar design, installed two 55-watt lamps in series so that the current does not exceed 2 amperes (BP 2 A), otherwise one was 2.5 A, the unit gets noticeably hot. Once upon a time there was also no charger and I charged it with a Hitachi 12 V charger, where the power supply produces 14.5 volts.

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