How Long Can Hazard Lights Stay On Before Battery Dies?

November 2022 · 4 minute read

Hazard Lights & Car Batter Dying

This is an open-ended inquiry. The period can range from overnight to an hour or less, depending on the car and the status of the battery. Current cars equipped with LED warning lights should be able to operate for several hours without completely depleting the battery to the point where the engine will not start. Naturally, if the vehicle is older and the battery was not fully charged to begin with or is towards the end of its usable life, the useful time for warning lights will be decreased, maybe to less than an hour. 

Silky Terrier Dog Breed Playing Aro...

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Silky Terrier Dog Breed Playing Around

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Silky Terrier Dog Breed Playing Around

If you also turn on your headlights, you will have only 60 to 90 minutes until you are unable to start your vehicle. As previously indicated, you’ll have approximately 4 to 5 hours of dangerous light operation before your battery is unable to start the engine.

To summarize, vehicle batteries are rarely certified in amp hours and can only be tested in Reserve capacity or cold-cranking amps. When the amperage of the load is known, these ratings are meaningless for determining the duration of a battery’s charge. The exact amperage that should be placed in your battery is decided by the number of lights that are illuminated and the type of bulbs that are illuminated. Essentially, I reverse engineered a battery manufacturer’s charging schedule and applied it to all of the various types of automotive batteries to determine their amp-hour capacity. It won’t be perfect, however, it will be close.

The chart below shows the various battery sizes in the left-hand column, followed by the amount of time remaining until the battery reaches 50% charge when only the danger lights are on, as well as when the hazard lights are on in conjunction with the headlights. Allowing the plates to sulfate, reducing their ability to accept a charge and also to discharge power, will begin to harm your car’s battery if you leave your warning lights on for long periods of time while the engine is not running. The duration of time your hazard lights remain illuminated is a factor to consider while calculating the correct response to this question. If you happen to turn on your hazard lights for an hour or less, then start your car and drive for 30 minutes, you haven’t done much to improve the condition of your battery if anything at all. If, on the other hand, you leave your warning lights on for four hours or longer and subsequently require a jump start to start your car, you have just accomplished a deep drain of your automotive battery. The issue with deep discharging your automotive battery is that it was built to be a starting battery, and emptying it to 50% or less drastically reduces its longevity.

Internally, marine deep cycle batteries, also known as golf cart batteries, are built to resist substantial discharges and hundreds of recharge cycles. An automobile battery, on the other hand, is limited to a dozen or more complete deep discharges. If you only get to about 50%, you’re likely to obtain a couple of dozen. When a car battery’s charge level falls below 75%, the possibility of sulfation rapidly increases. This is a white coating that attaches to the lead plates inside the battery, preventing them from accumulating charge and generating the high current burst that occurs when your automobile starts. If your hazard lights have been left on for an extended period of time. When you get home, it is recommended that you either drive your car for 30 to 60 minutes or connect it to a specialized battery charger to break up any sulfate crystals or blood plates before they set and become difficult to remove.

 

ncG1vNJzZmijqaG8r7zOsJylpF6YvK57x6iuZqSfo7Rur8CnZKGZqpa%2FpXnLop6hrKNiwLWt2Gamp2WSmrOwvsRmmZqspJq%2FunnDopysZw%3D%3D