New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-08-12
SIGNS POINTING
TO BAD BATTERY
Practical Hints on What to Do
to Get Long Life and Good
Service From 'Juice" Box.
WARNING WILL Be ADEQUATE
II Car Is Run Much at Night Current
May Not Be Sufficient-When
chafging System Fails Have
Il Attended to.

Sooner or later your electrical
system will fail to charge the battery.
When that happens your engine will
begin to miss explosions and shortly
after will refuse to run. Before this
calamity overtakes you there will be
plenty of warning. The lights will go
down more than usual when the
starter is used. They will brighten
when you speed up the engine and
signs point to a weak battery and
should not be disregarded. II you
have been Observant you will have
noticed that the ammeter registered a
low charging rate. This indicates that
the generator is not charging as 1t
should. But the fault may be in the
driver and not in the generator at all.
If the starter or the lights are used too
much the current will be drawn from
the battery faster han it is being
charged. SO note that your battery
gets the proper balance. If the car
Is run much at night the battery may
not receive enough current. Run the
engine more during the daytime, so
as to replace the current that has been
drawn from it,
When Charging System Fails.
If the charging system has failed,
due TO some defect. have ii attended
to at a service station, and have the
battery charged Immediately. Some
rvaAp ppAf.r 20 nhnrrA thnir nuTn
batteries from the lighting system in
the house. This is a practical method
and one that will grow, especially
whore service stations are not avail
able.
Special apparatus is required. hut
It is moi expensive. II may he CON
nected IA any lamp socket using 10
volt current. This may be direct or
alternating. the apparatus differing
according 70 which current Is used.
For direct current a rheostat is en-
plOypd which brings the current down
10 the right amperes. usually ten
amperps for the average battery
used on a starting and lighting system.
For alternating current a rectifier
must he used to give direct current
and 10 give the right amperage, The
positive of the battery must be o n
nected 10 the positive lead from the
apparatus and the negative of battery
10 tho negative lead. This runs the
charging current into the positive Of
the battery, reversing the chemical
pnp,nAGitinp 90 fbn nIataS Than v-bap
the change is complete. charging Is
stopped and the current may he drawn
from the positive In the usual manner.
Prepare for Charging.
Before charging you must see that
the electrolyte covers the plates. Moth
ing hut distilled ~ater should ever he
added for this purpose, and then only
after the battery is charged. The cleo
trolyte should cover the plates at least
q quarter Of an inch at al times. Hav-
ing inspected and corrected this condi-
tion. the filling caps should be re-
moved TO allow the gas to escape.
Then adjust the amperage according
to the capacity Of the battery. A
discharged battery should start charg-
Ing at one-tenth capacity. Thus a 100
ampere-hour battery should start at
ten amperes; a sixty ampere-hour at
six smperes. In an hour or so the
hydrogen gas will start to come Off
very freely. This Is known as gassing
or boiling. When ii gases freely you
diminish the charging rate one or two
amperes. The battery will he fully
charged when the electrolyte reads
1875 10 1900 on the hydrometer. This
will take about ten hours. The volt
meter reading will he about seven
volts. but the hydrometer test is more