hen you take separators out of the
tank to place in a battery, and do not put the separators on a dirty
bench before inserting them between plates. The best thing to do is to
hold the separators in one hand and insert them with the other, and
not lay them on any bench at all.

REINSULATION

Separators are the weakest part of a battery and wear out while the
other parts of a battery are still in good condition. Good plates are
often ruined by weakened separators causing short-circuits. Many
batteries which have to be junked after being in service about a year
would have given considerable service if they had been reinsulated.

Generally the separators of one cell wear out before those of the
other cells. Do not, however, reinsulate that cell alone. The
separators in the other cells are as old as those which have worn out,
and are very near the breaking down point. If you reinsulate only one
cell, the owner will naturally assume that the other cells are in good
condition. What happens? A month or so later one of the other cells
"goes dead." This does not have a very soothing effect on the owner,
who will begin to lose confidence in you and begin to look around for
another service station.

If you explain frankly that it is useless to reinsulate only one cell
of a battery and that the other cells will break down in a short time,
the customer will want you to reinsulate all the cells. A somewhat
higher bill for reinsulating all the cells at once will be more
agreeable than having the cells break down one at a time within a
month or two.

In the case of the customers who come in regularly for testing and
filling service, you will be able to tell when the separators are
wearing out. When you find that a battery which has been in service
about a year begins to run down frequently, and successive tests made
in connection with testing and filling service show that the generator
is not able to keep the battery charged, advise the owner to have the
battery reinsulated. Do not wait for the battery to have a dead cell.
Sell the owner on the idea that reinsulation will prevent the
possibility of his battery breaking down when he may be out on a tour,
and when it may be necessary to have his car towed in to a service
station. If you allow the battery to remain on the car when it begins
to lose its charge, the owner will not, of course, suspect that
anything is wrong, and if his battery one day breaks down suddenly,
lie will