How To Charge a 12V ATV Battery

Your ATV requires a 12 volt battery to work; this battery will often become dead in between uses and will require you to charge the battery regularly. Becoming familiar with this process will help you to enjoy your ATV, and will take no time at all once you know how to do it. With a little time and effort you will be riding your charged ATV in no time.

1. Place your ATV near a power outlet before beginning the process of charging your battery. You may need to push your ATV to an outlet in order to charge the battery.


2. Remove the bolts that secure the seat to your ATV. You will probably need to use a socket wrench to remove the bolts that are holding the seat to your ATV. Place bolts in a safe place so that you have them for later.


3. Remove the seat from your ATV. This can be done by sliding the seat backwards, and then lifting up on the seat. Place the seat aside for later.


4. Remove the battery mount covers from your ATV's 12 volt battery and place in a safe place so that you do not lose them. You will need to replace these as soon as you finish charging you battery.  


5. Place the clamps from your standard battery charger onto the corresponding battery posts on your ATV's 12 volt battery. Be sure that you place the red cable onto the positive battery post and the black cable onto the negative battery post before turning on your battery charger. Most battery chargers and batteries are color coded with red and black so that you can easily tell which post is which.


6. Plug in your battery charger and set it to a 12 volt output setting. This is very important or you will not get the right amount of voltage to your ATV's battery which will either damage the battery or cause it not to charge correctly.


7. Leave the battery attached to the charging unit for one hour. You should be sure that it is in a safe place away from children or pets during the charging process.


8. Unplug the battery charger after one hour has passed, and then remove the clamps that are attached to your ATV's battery.


9. Replace battery mount covers, and place the seat back onto your ATV. Reinstall the bolts that you removed when you began the process to secure the set back onto your ATV.