Re: Thoughts on industrial design

On Tue, 29 Apr 2025 07:27:35 -0500, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:

On 4/28/2025 10:21 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 4/28/2025 8:47 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:

>
On the other hand, if you want to experience the depths of
true "off",
just let that atavistic 12V battery run down, and prepare
to find an
experienced mechanic with a jump starter just to get the
door open,
never mind rolling down the windows.

 
I've had two 12V battery incidents with my Kia EV. Despite
having a 64 kw-hr battery full of electrons (at something
over 300V), the car would not start. Some parasitic loss had
drained the very conventional 12V battery down to a voltage
too low to fire up* the electronics. One was a complete
mystery, the other was a device plugged into an outlet
within the car.
 
I happened to have a spare motorcycle battery on hand and
charged. I used that to "jump" the car's 12V battery, and
all was well. It doesn't seem to require much current to
kick the electronics awake, energize the relays, etc.
 
The car does have a "utility mode" in which the big traction
battery tends the 12V. That's mostly intended for things
like camping, where one might run lights, etc. off the 12V.
 
(* Note the archaic term still in use: "fire up," as with a
steam engine.)
 
 

>
>
My cars will bump start on a small incline or with two guys
pushing on flat ground.

In much of my first year of college, with a 1952 or 1953 Chevrolet ( I
can't remember which), I could put my shoulder to the A pillar and
start it all by myself. It had a battery but the starter motor was
toast. The ignition switch was NG, too, so I had to hotwire it, and it
burned oil so bad it would routinely foul the spark plugs. I kept a
coffee can of cleaned spark plugs so I could change them out.

FWIW, It's tricky changing a plug without stopping the engine, but it
can be done. The following summer, I fixed all that stuff, sold it,
got married, and a job, and bought a nicer car, a really nice '56
Chevy that my first wife wrecked after I went back to college.

--
C'est bon
Soloman