Section II — Shop Equipment — Shop Methods
Chapter 11 Care of the Battery on the Car
Any man who goes into the battery repair business will gradually learn by experience what equipment he finds necessary for his work. Some men will be able to do good work with comparatively little equipment, while others will require a somewhat elaborate layout.
Fig. 38. Typical Work Room Showing Bench About 34 Inches High, Lead Burning Outfit, Hot Plates for Melting Sealing Compound and Hand Drill-Press for Drilling off Inter-Cell Connectors.
There are some things, however, which are necessary, and the following lists are given to help the repairman select his equipment. The man with limited capital will be unable to buy a complete equipment at the start, but he should add to his equipment as fast as his earnings will permit. The repairman may be able to “get-by” with crude equipment when his business is very small, but to make his business grow he must absolutely have good equipment.
The following list gives the various articles in the order of their importance. The first seven are absolutely necessary, even for the poorest beginner. The others are also essential, but may be bought as soon, as the money begins to come in. Some of the tools must also be bought before opening doors for business, such as the putty knife, screwdrivers, pliers, and so on. Each article, which requires explanation, is described in detail, beginning on page 100.
Equipment Which Is Absolutely Necessary
1. Charging Outfit, such as a motor-generator set, rectifier, or charging resistance where direct current is available.
2. Charging Bench and Accessories. With the charging bench must go the following:
A syringe-hydrometer for measuring specific gravity of electrolyte, for drawing off electrolyte and for adding water to cells.
A special battery thermometer for measuring temperature of electrolyte.
A voltmeter to measure cell, battery, and cadmium voltages.
An ammeter to measure charging current.
A glass bottle for distilled water. Also one for electrolyte.
A number of eighteen inch lengths of No. 12 flexible wire fitted with lead coated test clips, for connecting batteries in series while on charge.
3. Work bench with vise.
4. Sink or wash tank and water supply.
5. Lead-burning outfit. (This should properly be called a lead welding outfit, since it is used to melt lead parts so that they will be welded together.)
6. For handling sealing compound, the following are necessary.
Stove.
Pot in which compound is melted.
An iron ladle for dipping up the melted compound.
One or two old coffee pots for pouring compound.
7. Shelving or racks for batteries waiting to be repaired, batteries which have been repaired, rental batteries, new batteries, battery boxes, battery jars, battery plates, etc.
8. Bins for battery parts, such as covers, inter-cell connectors, plate straps, terminals, handles, vent plugs, hold down bolts, separator hold-downs, and so on.
Equipment Needed in Opening Batteries
9. A battery steamer for softening sealing-compound and making covers limp, for softening compound around defective jars which are to be removed, for softening jars which are to be set in a battery box, and so on.
10. Putty knife to remove softened scaling compound.
11. One ratchet brace with set of wood bits or square shank drills of the following sizes: 3/8, 5/8, 3/4, 13/16, and 7/8 inch, for drilling off terminals and inter-cell connectors. A power drill press, or a portable electric drill will save time and labor in drilling off the terminals and connectors.
12. Center punch for marking terminals and connectors before drilling.
13. Ten inch screwdriver for prying off connectors and terminals which have been drilled. The screwdriver may, of course, be used on various other kinds of work also.
14. A ten-inch length of 3/4 inch angle iron to protect upper edge of case when prying off the connectors and terminals which have been drilled.
15. Two pairs of standard combination pliers for lifting elements out of jars. A pair of six or eight inch gas pliers will also do for this work.
16. Machinist hammer. This is, of course, also used for other purposes.
17. Terminal tongs for removing taper lugs from terminals.
18. Pair of long, fiat nosed pliers for pulling out separators and jars.
19. Open-end wrench for use in removing taper lugs from terminals.
Equipment for Lead Burning (Welding)
In addition to the lead burning-outfit, the following tools are needed:
20. A plate burning rack for setting up plates which are to be burned to a plate strap.
21. A plumber’s or tinner’s triangular scraper for cleaning surfaces which are to be welded together. A pocketknife will do in a pinch.
22. Steel wire brush for cleaning surfaces which are to be welded together. This may also be used for general cleaning of lead parts.
23. Coarse files, vixen, round, and flat, for filing lead parts.
24. Set of burning, collars to be used in burning inter-cell connectors to posts.
25. Moulds for casting sticks of burning lead. A pot for melting lead is needed with the mould, and mould compound is also needed.
26. Set of post builders-moulds used for building up posts which have been drilled short in removing terminals and intercell connectors.
27. Pair of blue or smoked glasses to be worn when using lead burning outfit.
Equipment for General Work on Cell Connectors and Terminals
28. Set of moulds for casting inter-cell connectors, terminals, terminal screws, taper lugs, plate straps and posts, etc.
29. Set of reamers to ream holes in terminals and connectors.
30. Set of hollow reamers for reducing posts.
Equipment for Work on Cases
31. Cans of asphaltum paint for painting cases. May also be used for acid-proofing work benches, floor, shelves, charging bench, and so on.
32. Paint brushes, one wide and several narrow.
33. Battery turntable.
34. Several wood chisels of different sizes.
35. Small wood-plane for smoothing up top edges of case.
36. Large glazed earthenware jars of washing or baking soda solution for soaking cases to neutralize acid.
Tools and Equipment for General Work
37. One pair of large end cutting nippers for cutting connectors, posts, plate lugs, and so on.
38. One pair of 8 inch side cutting pliers.
39. One pair of 8 inch diagonal cutting pliers.
40. Several screwdrivers.
41. Adjustable hacksaw frame with set of coarse blades.
42. Gasoline torch.
42. Soldering iron, solder and flux.
44. Separator cutter.
45. Plate press for pressing bulged, spongy lead of negative plates flush with surface of grids.
46. Battery carrier.
47. Battery truck.
48. Lead lined box for storing separators. A large glazed earthenware jar may be used for this purpose, and is much cheaper, although it will not hold as many separators, on account of its round shape, as the lead lined box.
49. Several old stew pans for boiling acid soaked terminals, connectors, covers, etc., in a solution of washing soda.
50. Set of metal lettering stamps, for stamping POS and NEG on battery terminals, repairman’s initials, date battery was repaired, and nature of repairs, on inter-cell connectors.
51. Cadmium test set.
52. High rate discharge testers.
53. Pair of rubber gloves to protect hands when handling acid.
54. Rubber apron to protect clothing from acid.
55. Pair of rubber sleeve protectors.
56. Rubbers to protect shoes, or pair of low rubber boots.
57. Tags for tagging repair and rental batteries, batteries in storage, etc.
58. Pot of paraffine which may be heated, and paper tags dipped after date has been written on tag in pencil. A 60-watt lamp hung in the can may be used for heating the compound. In this way the tag is protected from the action of acid, and the writing on the tag cannot be rubbed off or made illegible.
59. A number of wooden boxes, about 12 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 4 inches deep, in which are placed terminals, inter-cell connectors, covers, vent plugs, etc., of batteries being repaired.
60. Several large glazed earthenware jars are convenient for waste acid, old separators, and general junk, which would otherwise litter up the shop.
Stock
61. A supply of spare parts, such as cases, jars, covers, plate straps, inter-cell connectors, plates, vent plugs, etc., should be kept.
62. A supply of sealing compound is necessary.
63. A carboy of pure acid, and carboys of 1.400 electrolyte ready for use should be on hand. A 16 oz. and a 32 or 64 oz. graduate are very useful in measuring out acid and water.
64. A ten gallon bottle of distilled water is necessary for use in making up electrolyte, for addition to cell electrolyte to bring electrolyte up to proper level, and so on. If you wish to distill water yourself, buy a water still.
65. A supply of pure vaseline is necessary for coating terminals to prevent corrosion.
Special Tools
Owing to special constructions used oil sonic of the standard makes of batteries, special tools are required, and such tools should be obtained if work is done oil these batteries. Some of these tools are as follows:
66. Special wrenches for turning sealing nuts on Exide batteries.
67. Two hollow reamers (post-freeing tools) for cutting lead seal around posts of Prest-O-Lite batteries. There are two sizes, large and small, see page 389.
68. Style “B” peening press for sealing posts of Prest-O-Lite batteries to covers, see page 390.
69. Pressure tongs for forcing lead collar oil posts of Vesta batteries, see page 415.
70. Special wrench for tightening sealing nut oil Titan batteries.
71. Special reamer for cutting sealing ring oil Universal batteries.
The list of special tools is not intended to be complete, and the repairman will probably find other special tools necessary from time to time. In any case, it is best to buy from the battery manufacturer such special tools as are necessary for the batteries that come in for repairs. It is sometimes possible to get along without the special tools, but time and labor will be saved by using them.