Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff from house stuff Works dot com where
Speaker 1: smart Happens. Hi. I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, what
Speaker 1: is the battery light on your car's dashboard actually mean?
Speaker 1: Almost every car on the road today contains a rechargeable
Speaker 1: twelve volt battery. This battery powers everything electrical, the ignition system,
Speaker 1: the engine's computer, the radio, the headlights, so the battery
Speaker 1: is vital to the car's operation. Like all batteries, a
Speaker 1: car's twelve volt battery would eventually go dead if it
Speaker 1: were not recharged, so your car has a built in
Speaker 1: recharging system. Most cars have an alternator along with a
Speaker 1: voltage regulator that keeps the battery charged and also provides
Speaker 1: electricity to the vehicle when the engine is running. A
Speaker 1: typical alternator can put out between five hundred and a
Speaker 1: thousand watts when necessary. Because your car is so depend
Speaker 1: ended on the battery, all cars have a battery light
Speaker 1: on the dashboard that's designed to warn you if that
Speaker 1: recharging system fails. A simple circuit looks at the voltage
Speaker 1: that the alternator is producing and turns the battery light
Speaker 1: on if it's too low. The battery light indicates a
Speaker 1: battery charging problem if the battery light comes on and
Speaker 1: stays on while you're driving. The most common cause is
Speaker 1: a broken alternator belt. Total failure of the alternator is
Speaker 1: another possibility. The reason why your car can operate normally
Speaker 1: even though the battery light is lit is because your
Speaker 1: car can run off the energy stored in the battery
Speaker 1: for a little while. Your car will run fine until
Speaker 1: the battery goes dead. At that point, nothing in your
Speaker 1: car will work. When the battery light is on. You
Speaker 1: can still drive your car to the garage. You'll not
Speaker 1: damage anything, but you want to get to the garage
Speaker 1: before the battery fails and your car dies. Be sure
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