Mobile Battery Fitting in Dorset

THE SITUATION

A flat battery on a village lane

The call came from a farm gate two miles past the last village, which is where we expect most of our battery work out here to be. The vehicle was a pickup that had been standing over a winter, and the battery was not merely flat, it had swollen enough to lift its lid and you could see the movement when we pressed it. That is the point at which a battery should not be charged, because the gas venting out of it is what makes the failure dangerous rather than inconvenient. We disconnected it, fitted the replacement the registration called for, and took the old one back on the van with us. The vehicle itself was fine, which is the outcome we prefer, but we spent time on the gateway because a gateway a van cannot quite get into costs an hour of the driver's day.

LOCAL ADVICE

Practical advice for Dorset

• A battery that has swollen and lifted its lid cannot be charged. If you can see it has moved in its tray, treat it as dangerous rather than merely dead.
• On a vehicle standing over winter in cold and damp, expect the battery rather than the alternator. A meter reading at the roadside saves an hour of guessing.
• On a farm gate, tell us whether a van can actually get in. Plenty of gateways take a car and not a van, and finding that out before we set off is faster than finding it out on arrival.

QUESTIONS

Questions about battery in Dorset