ives may be buckled.
The active material is then not making good contact with the grids,
and the charging current cannot get at all the sulphate and change it
to active material. The remedy in such a case is to press the
negatives so as to force the active material back into the grids, and
to put in new positives if they are considerably buckled.

(h) One of the numerous "dope" electrolytes which are offered to the
trustful car owner may have been put in the battery. Such "dopes"
might cause very severe damage to the plates. Tell your customers to
avoid using such "dope."

The conditions which may exist when the plates of a battery take a
charge, as indicated by cadmium tests, but the gravity will not come
up to 1.280 are as follows:

(a) There may be considerable sediment in the jars but not enough to
short circuit the plates. If the battery has at some time been in a
sulphated condition and has been charged At too high a rate, the
gassing that resulted will have caused chips of the sulphate to drop
to the bottom of the jars. When this sulphate was formed, some of the
acid was taken from the electrolyte, and if the sulphate drops from
the plates, this amount of acid cannot be recovered no matter how long
the charge is continued. If the owner tells you that his battery has
stood idle for several months at some time, this is a condition which
may exist. The remedy is to wash and press the negatives, wash the
positives, put in new separators, pour out the old electrolyte and
wash out the jars, fill with 1.400 acid, and charge the battery.

(b) Impurities may have used up some of the acid which cannot be
recovered by charging. If the plates are not much damaged the remedy
is the same as for (a). Damaged plates may require renewal.

(c) Electrolyte may have been spilled accidentally and replaced by
water.

(d) Too much water may have been added, with the result that the
expansion of the electrolyte due to a rise in temperature on charge
caused it to overflow. This, of course, resulted in a loss of some of
the acid.

The causes given in (c) and (d) may have resulted in the top of the
battery case being acid-eaten or rotted. The remedy in these two
instances is to draw off some of the electrolyte, add some 1.400 acid
and continue the charge. If plates and separators look good and there
is but little sediment, this is the thing to do.

If Battery will not hold a Charge. If a battery charges properly but
loses its ch