Eddie's Tip of the week: Now is a great time to take a minute and check your cars battery and connections.

Eddie's Tip of the week: Now is a great time to take a minute and check your cars battery and connections.

SAFETY FIRST: Wear eye and hand protection, never work directly over a battery, never use an open flame around a battery, and dispose of your old battery properly(RES offers free recycling of any lead acid battery).

Loose connections are the most common cause of poor starting and will lead to premature battery failure. Battery connections need to be tight and clean, the battery terminal should be nice and shiny before you tighten your cable clamp to the battery. Corrosion can be prevented with petroleum jelly/anti-corrosion spray applied after the connections are tight. Using hot water and baking soda make it easy to clean your terminals of all that fuzzy corrosion and is better than a brush that will send corrosion flying everywhere(and it tastes terrible). Check the fluid level in your battery, do not fill it above the collar of the battery(about 3/4" from the top of the battery). Over-watering can cause electrolyte to spill all over and create a mess and reduce the battery service life. I recommend installing a trickle charger instead of a battery blanket or pad. Battery blankets and pads wear out quickly, can cause a fire, and are not regulated. Install a automatic trickle charger instead, it keeps your battery warm, full, and shuts off when not needed saving you money during the winter. Perform this maintenance once a year and you will save yourself Money and save yourself or others from getting stranded this winter. 

RES can do all of this for you at our store. We have trained technicians, a heated shop, and can get you in and out very quickly. We also replace worn cable ends, build custom cables, and provide and install the best arctic grade batteries in the state. Come in or call us. 1698 Airport way/ 458-8000/www.renewableenergysys.com