Monthly Archives: April 2012

In honor of Earth Day on April 22 and all the rightly-deserved emphasis on helping to reduce our carbon footprint and keep Mother Earth safe and healthy for future generations, we want to use this blog to promote recycling—specifically batteries.

Most types of batteries can be recycled, and thanks to efforts of individuals and businesses, more batteries are being recycled than ever before. Certain batteries are recycled more readily than others, and today nearly 90 percent of lead-acid automotive batteries are now recycled.

Lead-acid batteries include golf cart, motorcycle, UPS, industrial and commercial batteries, to name a few, and can be the regular type, sealed lead acid, gel type, or absorbent glass mat (AGM) batteries. They are recycled through a process that involves grinding them, neutralizing the acid, and then separating the polymers from the lead. The reclaimed materials are then reused in a variety of applications, including making new batteries. By recycling the lead it is

Dead Batteries...The Joy of Children

It was my turn to take my son to school today. As we prepared to get in our red Subaru Legacy my son asks, "Dad, did you charge the battery yet?" I had completely forgotten to do so. The battery went dead the prior week after our youngest daughter found an unlocked door and managed to flip every switch, turn every dial, and twist every lever. Needless to say, the lights and everything else that draws power were left on without us noticing.

[For the step-by-step playbook on how to overcome today's smart chargers and revive a dead battery refer to the bottom of this blog post]

I had a PulseTech Xtreme charger in the garage and connected it to the terminals. Nothing. The charger indicated it was connected to AC power and that it was not connected to a battery. Of course, being the 'smart' man that I am, I figured the charger was wrong or at the very least the clamps slipped off.  So I held the clamps directly on the auto post avoiding any corrosion

For all you parents who bought your child riding toys and specialty toy items like radio-controlled cars and aircraft over the holidays, only not to be able to play with them due to cold or weather, it’s time to pull those items out and get them kid ready because warmer temperatures are most likely here to stay!

Riding toys by leading manufacturers Peg Perego and Power Wheels can provide hours of entertainment and fun for your kids. However, there’s nothing quite so disappointing as having a battery that isn’t charged, or even worse, being out riding and have the battery stop working. Those of you in the know will agree that it’s no fun at all to then have to cart an inoperable riding toy back home—leaving a bad taste in your mouth and a sad face on that of your child.

If your child constantly wants to ride and for longer periods of time, it may make sense to consider buying a back-up battery so that fun doesn’t need to stop when the battery does. That way, you can just swap out batteries