Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1921-08-11
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 suffcient-When
Charging System Fails Have
1t 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
grow dim when you slow down These
signs point to weak battery and
should not be disregarded. If 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 than 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 1t.
When Charging System Falls.
If the charging system has failed,
due to some defect, have 1t attended
to at service station, and have the
battery charged Immediately. Some
owners prefer to charge their own
batteries from the lighting system in
the house. This is practical method
and one that will grow, especially
where service stations are not avail
able.
Special apparatus is required, but
1t is not expensive. 1t may be con-
nected to any lamp socket using Ito
volt current. This may be direct or
alternating, the apparatus differing
according to which current Is used.
For direct current rheostat is en-
ployed which brings the current down
to the right amperes, usually. ten
amperes for the average battery
used I'm starting and lighting system.
For alternating current rectifler
must be used to give direct current
ard to give the right amperage. The
positive of the battery must be con-
nected to the positive lead from the
apparatus and the negative of battery
to the negative lead. This runs the
charging current into the positive Of
the battery, reversing the chemical
composition Of the plates. Then, when
the change Is complete, charging is
stopped and the current may be drawn
from the positive in the usual manner.
Prepare for Charging.
! Before charging you must see that
the electrolyte covers the plates. Moth
ing but distilled water should ever be
added for this purpose, and then only
after the battery is charged. The cleo
trolyte should cover the plates at least
quarter Of an inch at all times. Hav-
Ing inspected and corrected this condi-
ton, 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 100
ampere-hour battery should start at
ten amperes; a sixty ampere-hour at
six Rmperes. In an hour or so the
hydrogen gas will start to come off 4.
very freely. This is known as gassing
or boiling. When 1t gases freely you
diminish the charging rate one or two
amperes. The battery will be fully
charged when the electrolyte reads
1875 to 1900 on the hydrometer This
will take about ten hours. The volt
meter reading will be about seven
volts. but thehydrometer test is more
satisfactory.