That was once a 3/8″ bolt. And it had a head, and a washer and a nut. Now there’s what you see, and it wasn’t holding a positive cable to its terminal well at all. (Yes, Zelda. For some things I do wear gloves. Long ones. And eyepro, and sleeves.)
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They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means “The Ultimate Argument of Kings,” and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. “We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it’s about: You’ll do as I say or I’ll send my goons to kill you.”
I thought about that for a long time. If there’s an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I’ve got bullets – he’s got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that’s not going to happen. So if there’s an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain’t bullets.
It finally came to me – and that’s when I abandoned the city and most of my stuff, and gave all that was behind me a good stiff Randian Shrug.
The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.
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Aggg, looks like that thing died a long time ago. 🙂
Napa sells a product called NCP-2: a battery corrosion preventative spray. It’s a good product, and a small spray can goes quite surprisingly far. We use a lot of it on travel trailer battery banks.
Your existing safety equpment is a good start to reassure us you will write another blog. BUT you also need rubber boots, full face/head protection (not just eyes, and is your eye protection full leakproof goggles?), and an apron. When you work on everyone’s batteries at a minimum you must have a gallon of water nearby and be able to get to it quickly, along with a box of baking soda and maybe soap. Two gallons of water would be better. A hose with running water would be best. A fire extinguisher rated for battery fires too. Sensible safety measures would mandate a second person nearby and able to help (which means they also have full PPE) when you service the batteries. It is almost impossible to undo the damage that battery acid can do to the human body. Just saying…
With so many batteries to maintain, a community purchase of at least one set of full battery acid rated PPE – two would be better for safety – and a fire extinguisher and water containers, large boxes of baking soda, etc., to be stored in an easily accessed and portable container would seem sensible. Looking forward to photos of you – and your backup person – in full gear.
PS Is all of your hardware rated for use with batteries?
Zelda is correct! Having worked with submarine batteries, and seeing/experienced a few amazing mishaps, I will tell you ou CANNOT be too careful.
🙂 I knew it! Zelda, I love you. Never change.
I hereby nominate Zelda as the Official TUAK Safety Officer. And she’s right, y’know.
Glenn555: Guess what happens when a battery explodes and sprays acid onto a box containing some of the boomer’s launch controls. Did you know you can prepare to get underway, despite being moored and on shore power, utilizing a fire ax and lotsa frantic yelling? I’m glad I wasn’t there.
Joel: a big box of baking soda can be useful with acid booboos. But I bet you already knew that.
Not only knew it, I’ve used it. Boomers aren’t the only gadgets with explody batteries, it can happen on cars, too. I had a co-worker who cross-connected a charger and had one go off in his face. It was impressive. We wrestled him into the wash stall and worked him over with lots of water and a paste of baking soda on a rag across his eyes. You know why red shop rags are red? It’s a litmus solution on white fabric and when it turns blue, you know you’re dealing with acid. His came back from the hospital blue. Didn’t lose his sight, but he did get some manly new facial scars from the frags.