SERVICE MANAGER’S VIEWS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 308, 20 March 1928, Page 5

SERVICE MANAGER’S VIEWS

CARELESSNESS WITH BATTERIES From the technical manager of one of the best known battery service stations, wc received much corroborative evidence of the manner in which private car-owners involve themselves in trouble and expense simply through thoughtless neglect of their accumulators. While it is conceded that most motorists try to observe a few rules-of-thumb regarding the upkeep of their accumulators, the critic in question laid stress on the damage which arises from an incomplete knowledge of the work which the accumulator has to do. Too often the amateur contents himself with an occasional filling up of the cells with distilled water, or he may even at rare intervals examine the terminals and see that they are clean. Frequently, however, the condition of the battery is never tested Until a dimming of the lights and the failure of the self-starter to crank the car urge him to action. Such signs of d€;fect almost invariably prompt him to take the storage battery to a garage and to give orders for it to be recharged. The garage man perhaps is busy and does not take careful hydrometer readings of all the cells both before and during charging, and the result is that a cell which is only slightly faulty because of a deposit of sulphate which could be removed by the proper means, or on account of a collection of sediment in the base of the container, is allowed to go without proper treatment, and merely receives a temporary lease of life from a bench charge. Even if the motorist is unwilling to take the trouble to use the batterytesting hydrometer at frequent intervals, he should at least make a rule of submitting the battery for examination by some competent professional as soon as there is the least faltering. It often happens that one cell only is at fault, and can be put in good order without much loss of time or money. If cells will not “hold the charge” and refuse to indicate good hydrometer readings after steady charging, then the case is assuredly one for the sercice station or a reliable garage which has a good name for electrical work. We have met seven-eighths mechanics who have in all innocence attempted to put new life into cells which would not “come up” by adding pure acid to the electrolyte; hence the need for caution and the selection of a reliable shop. Longer life will be obtained from storage batteries if they are handed over once a year to the service station for inspection or overhaul. Even if they are performing in a satisfactory manner it may be well worth while to give them a spring cleaning which will guard against future troubles.

There are, too, motorists who expect far too much from the accumulator. We know of one man who thought that a service station was trying to defraud him because, when his battery had suddenly failed him completely, and he had taken it to them for repairs, they extracted all the plates and then informed him that it was past redemption. Mutual questioning disclosed that the battery -was six years old, and had stood up in a remarkable manner against such heavy strains as having to turn the self-starter for minutes at a time on a cold morning.