I’d like a variety of advice here.
Yesterday, I drove to Tustin–35 miles from home. I was working at TBN again; I only work there a week at a time, two or three times a year. Anyway, it was a pretty fast drive on the freeways (I-405, Calif. 22, I-5); but, according to the car clock, which I keep properly set, the electricity went out on the car 3 hours after I got there; when I was ready to leave I couldn’t get it to start; a security guard gave me a jump start. (I always carry jumper cables.) Today, I had the battery checked and it turned out the negative connection was bad. The attendant shmeared some yellow stuff on both connectors, positive and negative; what can I use periodically on the connectors to keep this from happening again? (The battery itself is a 3-year-old Sears DieHard and is living up to its brand name. :))
Auto parts stores sell expensive stuff just for this purpose, dougie_monty, but you can use grease(as in bearing type) or even Vaseline. BTW, if you do this it’s a good idea to mix a couple of spoonfuls of baking soda in a cup of water and pour it over the top of the battery first, this will neutralize any acid(and, if it isn’t a maintence-free battery, make sure the cell covers are tightly closed).
Thanks, donkeyoatey; I keep plenty of baking soda, as antacid and toothpaste, so I could do this; I also have a jar of Vaseline…hey, I was lucky I was at a site where people who could help were around; otherwise I might have had to call the Auto Club and paid for the call, since I’ve gone over my quota for this membership period.)