subject: Make Preparations To Deal With A Dead Battery [print this page] Make Preparations To Deal With A Dead Battery
The experience of returning to a vehicle after a shopping foray to find that the battery of the vehicle has lost its charge can be a discouraging and frustrating one unless proper preparations have been made in advance to deal with the situation. When using mechanical means other than mechanical keys, such as those carried by police officers, to open a lock vehicle door, there is the risk that the door may be damaged, the window may be broken, or the paint may be scratched in the process. A police officer will generally ask you to sign a waiver that will excuse him or her of culpability should any damage occur. The purchase of strong magnets to store keys underneath the vehicle is good, inexpensive insurance to prevent this.
If, when the shopping foray is over, the battery in the vehicle is found to be dead. There may be a problem getting into the vehicle. When the battery loses its charge, the electronic, radio-activated key will not unlock the door. To make things more complicated, the latch that opens the hood is inside the vehicle preventing assistance from other motorists. It is a very discouraging conundrum, especially if something important, that is needed immediately, is locked inside the vehicle when this happens. A pet locked inside the vehicle makes this situation very urgent. The window may need to be broken if a solution cannot be found immediately. This situation can be avoided by sticking spare mechanical door keys somewhere underneath the vehicle with strong magnets, beforehand.
When the door is finally unlocked and opened, access to the hood latch is available. The situation becomes much simpler at this juncture if there are other motorists in the vicinity with jumper cables. Simply open the hood and request a jump. If there are no motorists in the vicinity with jumper cables, a second inexpensive insurance policy comes into play. In addition to strong magnets, solar battery chargers can be purchases at little cost, comparatively.
With a small solar cell that is kept in the vehicle for use in emergencies, the battery can simply be recharged through the cigarette lighter outlet in the ashtray or console. If the vehicle is facing into the sun, the solar cell can be placed on the dash to collect sunlight. If it is not facing into the sun, the solar cell must be placed in the rear window or strung out the door and placed onto the roof of the vehicle to collect sunlight until the battery will start the vehicle. When the vehicle starts, the solar cell should be unplugged and replaced in its storage space. The vehicle is then running and ready to go.
With the purchase of these simple, inexpensive items, life is much simpler in this situation. Without these items, the experience can be much more frustrating, time consuming, and dangerous. The event could even leave the door, window, or vehicle paint damaged which will cost much more than the small investment for the preparations to deal with a dead battery.
