Chugga chugga

Over the last few days I had several goes at charging the bus batteries. By the time around 22 hours of charging has been amassed - 8 hours one day, 8 the next and 6 the day after, it became obvious that my undated AC Delco batteries are dead. Indeed, a straight edge placed across the ends showed the ends to be slightly curved. I have very much the feeling that my bus had been used not as a mobile hunting cabin as described but more as a static cabin. Then somebody fixed it up to go and sold it to me.

I looked around at batteries and eventually spotted a really cheap pair at $100 each. The warranty was only 3 months but they should in theory have lasted a couple of years or so I figured.

So, I popped into Advance Auto on SC302 and spoke with an older guy who knew immediately what I needed and took me straight to it. They had only one battery and would order the other. I decided to try to revive my old batteries then to come back in a few days. Thus a few days later I returned having failed to get the batteries charged. This time, the helpful fellow wasn't there and I was faced with somebody that didn't really know what a battery looked like. Indeed, they never offered to order me a battery having failed to find it and walked away mid conversation. Needless to say, I took my business elsewhere.

What a difference, I went to the same people that replaced the faulty oil pressure sender on my car a few weeks ago. They were overjoyed to have the business. They weren't quite sure what I was asking for but read out my specification of Group 31, 950CCA with studs to their battery supplier and announced surprised that the new batteries would be in the store later in the afternoon. Thus, this morning I went and picked them up. It was so nice to have a supplier that gets the customer what the customer wants. So they charged a few extra dollars - so what? I was happy to pay the extra for the excellent service!

After getting the batteries home, I cleaned out the nastiness from the battery compartment. It had been full of dead leaves. That's some of what makes me suspect the bus had been a static cabin. Then I installed the batteries, wiring the kill switch in correctly. It still needs to be properly mounted, however.

Flipping the kill switch to the on position, i inserted my key into the ignition and the engine started right away. That's a job well done! Now there's no reason why the mechanic on Saturday won't have an easier time!