Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-24
CAR OWNERS MUST
GIVE ATTENTION To
THEIR BATTERIES
Automobile Engineer Warns
Against Purchase of "Back
Alley Variety.

----
There recently appeared in the Chi
cago Daily News, an articles by Erwin
Greer, president of the Greer College
Of Automotive Engineering, under the
title of 3"Take Care of Your Battery"
which L. A. Eneboe of the Great Falls
Wizard service station says contains
real battery information. The article
follows:
IF you want to obtain low cost of
battery service on your car you must
do three things: You must have a
standard battery, you must see that 1t
is serviced properly, and you must
give it a certain amount of attention
yourself.
IF you consider the cost of a bat
terry and the work it has to do you
will readily realize that it needs exact
ly the care that you give the engine.
There are now on the market more
than 100 different makes of storage
batteries. Out of this number a good
percentage are virtually worthless
made by responsible concerns. The
worthless ones are sometimes called
| back alley batteries, because they are
| made in barns, garages and shops that
| have no recognition. 1t does not take
any particular skill or experience to
make such batteries. The plates are
purchased from one source, boxes,
Jars and electrolyte from others, and
so the parts are put together and the
| resultant called q storage battery.
Gets "Stuck" Either Way
eff the parts were properly made
and correlated a good battery could be
produced, but such a battery would
! Tho, b,ra 70 call nj r,cI, a stiff nr;oa
as compared with the reputable makes
that the alley builders could not com
pete. So the motorist is asked to buy
these put-together batteries at a low
price, sometimes at a high price. 1t
does not matter much about the price,
for the motorist gets stuck either
way.
IF you need a battery, buy one
made by a reputable firm. r That does
not necessarily mean a large manu-
%facturer who advertises his wares all
over the country, because there are
many smaller battery makers who
haven't the distribution nor the adj
vertising volume. The battery business
is one that must be studied in order
to produce a good unit at low cost.
This study calls for constant expert
mental work in every branch of manu-
facture, and this is something the back
alley builders do not care to do.
"Once you possess 4 good battery
the next thing to do is to give 1T the
care it deserves. All you have to do is
to add distilled water once each week
in summer and once two weeks in
winter or at such intervals as found
necessary to keep the cells filled to
level. Aside from this simple proceed
ure see to it that the terminals are
clean and tight and the battery as a
unit is mounted solidly in place. If a
white or green deposit appears on one
! of the terminals little or no current
will flow into or out of the battery.
| Disconnect the terminal and scrape Oft
the deposit, wipe the terminal dry and
cover with a light coat of grease or
vaseline.
Distilled Water Only
"Never add anything but distilled
water. There are some garages and
even battery service stations that will
try to sell you some special electro
lvte to revive the battery. These spe-
cial solutions should not be used, for
while it is perfectly possible to add
chemicals temporarily to revive any
battery it harms the battery in the end.
re the battery is so far gone that 1t lwll
not take a charge, special eiectroiyte
will give it only temporary relief at
great cost.
"See to it that the generator charg-
ing rate is low or high enough to keep
the battery up to charge. Some driv-
crs do little continuous driving with
the result that the battery is Under
charged. Others do constant driving
and little starting and stopping with
the result that the battery is usually
o~vercharged. 1t is difficult to antici-
pate driving conditions, therefore the
wise owner occasionally has the bat
terry charged at a service station. If
possible go to a reputable station where
the shop equipment is adequate and
where an honest opinion will be CIV
en-"