By Dan Marinucci, special to Tire Business
AKRON — Rescuing a valuable meter or testing device after its battery leaks may be easier than many service personnel realize.
Here are some practical clean-up methods that may save you and your staff time, money and aggravation.
If you are a tire dealer or automotive service shop operator, you probably have a variety of devices around the facility that operate on AA, AAA or 9.00-volt batteries. This device, tester or meter may be at the front counter or back in the service bays. But regardless of where it's used, sometimes it sits idle and could be overlooked or forgotten for some time.
Countless meters, testers and useful little gadgets are powered by common alkaline batteries. Mind you, alkaline batteries may be cost-effective power supplies in a variety of applications. However, alkaline batteries may leak — especially when left unattended.
It's difficult to predict just when these batteries may leak. Suffice it to say that many alkaline battery users only recognize this potential shortcoming after the damage already has occurred. Leakage from old alkaline batteries may damage or destroy the battery terminals inside a device.
Ultimately, you or one of your technicians may have to replace a valuable meter or tester because battery leakage ruined it. At this point, knowing a safe, effective clean-up procedure could save someone at your facility several hundred dollars in replacement cost. What's more, exercising an ounce of prevention could prevent the damage in the first place — more on that topic in a moment.