Now more than ever, the performance of the vehicle battery is a key factor for the correct function of many of a vehicle’s critical systems. This means that assessing its condition should be a best practice principle adopted by every technician when a vehicle enters the workshop. 

This is the advice from battery experts Ecobat Battery who stress that both the state of charge (SOC) and state of health (SOH) need to be assessed.

While the SOC can be simply determined with a voltage measurement, to make a reliable statement about the SOH requires a complex test procedure, which among other things, considers the CCA, the residual capacity (Ah) and the charge acceptance (CA).

Just as vehicle technology has continued to develop over the years, batteries such as AGM and EFB (enhanced flooded battery) have also developed. Therefore, to obtain reliable test results, especially in regard to the SOH, it is essential to use modern test devices that are adapted for these new battery technologies.

Ecobat says a good quality tool, such as the EBT 780 it supplies, will provide the user with a headline result to allow them to decide the correct way to proceed.

When fitting a replacement battery in a start/stop equipped vehicle, another important factor is the need for technicians to use a battery validation tool, such as Ecobat Battery’s EBT 420, to ensure the new AGM/EFB battery is correctly assimilated into the vehicle’s battery management system (BMS). This vital element is an important step that is often overlooked and means that even if the battery is of the appropriate technology and correct specification, incorrect validation will result in the wrong charge algorithms being applied to the new battery via the BMS, which will considerably reduce its service life. In addition, the vehicle’s ECU will also need to be reset, otherwise the replacement battery could be under charged, leading to its premature failure.

There is also a significant additional benefit to fitting start/stop replacements, which helps both the workshop and their supplying wholesaler, and that is the fact that with each installation they are selling a more expensive battery, with a greater profit margin. On top of this, because they are fitting a battery of the correct specification for the application, rather than a familiar, but ultimately inappropriate SLI version, customer satisfaction increases and warranty claims are reduced accordingly.

To further encourage and assist workshops to introduce a battery testing culture, Ecobat Battery can, through its motor factor customers, provide them with point-of-sale support material that includes battery testing report cards, counter displays, A4 leaflets and A2 posters, as well as mirror hangers, which are available in a choice of Lucas, Exide, VARTA or Numax branding.

Further information can be found at: www.ecobatbattery.com