[SEL] Dead Batteries & The Military

[Jim Hardman]

Jim, your story does my heart good.

Most of us agree that concrete floors are not a threat to lead acid 
batteries.  From personal experience, a greater danger is deep discharge and 
forgetting to recharge and adding distilled water.  We now use the little 
"battery minders" and believe they have value.

I have also noticed that when a manufacturer says "Three Year Warranty", 
they mean just that, plan on needing a new battery about one month past the 
warranty expiration.

This old conservative thinks that every young person should have a tour of 
duty in the military.  It did me a lot of good.  Thin kids gain weight, fat 
kids lose weight and the memories will keep you smiling for years.  "Not 
that little mousy kind of rat, I means rat now!"

Jim in Vermont

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Kirkes" <jd.kirkes at verizon.net>
To: "The SEL email discussion list" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 10:49 AM
Subject: Re: [SEL] re dead battery


> Once some years ago when I was in the Army they sent me to
> mechanics school.  I remember a lecture on batteries in
> which the instructor debunked
> the concrete floor discharge idea.  He did say though that
> if a dirty wet battery was placed on a wet concrete floor it
> would probably discharge.  Later when I was back at my
> regular company I happened to put some brand new tank
> batteries on the floor and was promptly sawed on by a
> sergeant who said it would wreck the batteries.  I explained
> what I had learned in school and got sawed on some more and
> wound up getting some wood to put the batteries on.  One of
> the many reasons I did not pursue a military career.
>
> Jim