Battery Maintenance

By Mike Palermo Jr.

You will be hard pressed to find something more frustrating than to be sitting on the grid for your qualifying session of for the race, and have the engine not start due to a weak battery. Just imagine; you finally win that elusive Pole Position, wait patiently for the Grid Marshall to give you the one minute signal, you flick the ignition switch and press the starter button... Nothing!! Your eyes snap to the tach in hope that you simply could not hear your engine fire off for the roar of all the other power plants surrounding you. GET REAL... THIS AIN'T INDY! The tach doesn't budge. You throw your hands in the air. In frustration, you make the mistake of pounding your fist on the steering wheel. The Grid Marshall has seen all of this before, and with your action, immediately points to the person in the 2nd place car. You try to make eye contact, but you can't seem to focus through the blood, or are those tears? You watch as the 101 cars that should have been following you (and wondering just how you can be so fast) proceed out onto the track. Your vision clears sufficiently to notice that the starter is slowly walking over to your car He or she informs you that you may accept a push start at this time. You look in your mirrors, and to your horror, see that the only people that haven't left for the stands are one kid in his Boy Scout uniform, and a little old lady with a cane. After lengthy negotiations with the kid, in which you agree to give him several laps in your car next Saturday, he takes the woman's cane and threatens her into helping push the car. Your luck changes... it fires, and you are under way. YES!! Those chumps that were laughing at you a minute ago are going to pay big time now! You head out onto the straight only to realize that the engine runs great up to 3900 rpm, at which point it starts breaking up due to low voltage. ARRGGHH!!!

How can this be avoided? Easy. Here is how.

1. Don't skimp on your battery. How much are you willing to give up to save $10? Sears Die Hard motorcycle batteries are hard to beat. Don't skimp on size either. Tow or three more pounds gets you a lot more crank.

2. Your battery is your friend. Treat it kindly. With our ever increasing treatment of drinking water, it is important that we either use distilled water or at least allow the tap water to set for several days to allow the chlorine to dissipate. Keep the level above the plates to eliminate rapid oxidation.

3. Keep the battery at full charge when possible. A trickle charge is a must. These batteries are designed to accept a maximum of 1 to 2 amps depending on the individual unit. Any more will shorten the life drastically. It is wise to charge the battery between sessions when possible, and to place it on the charger as soon as you arrive home (especially hard to remember).

4. Never allow the battery to set outside during cold periods. Set it in the garage on at least 1 inch of wood, and always make sure that the posts and top surface are clean. I have found that a dirty top surface acts to drain down a good battery.

5. Wiring in an auxiliary plug, allowing the use of a full size car battery for starting (especially on cold mornings) can make a big difference also.

If all of this sounds like a lot of work, you need to go back and reread the first section of this article one more time.

GOOD RACING!!!

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