TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AMATEURS
ALL NON-WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AMATEURS
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED
WOOD COUNTY BULLETIN NR 14.08 DATE: February 23, 2014
SUBJECT: REMOVE THE BATTERIES
You've been told, and you've seen it many times in your life, to remove the batteries when not using a piece of equipment for an extended period of time. No matter what kind of batteries the equipment has in it, it's possible they will leak in time whether the equipment has been left turned on, or turned off.
It will usually take a little longer for the battery, or batteries to leak if the equipment is turned off, but in any case, given enough time the batteries will leak and the trouble will start.
As emergency communicators we don't use some of our equipment as often as we should, so there's a good chance that if we don't remove the batteries as soon as we're through with the equipment, the batteries will leak, and we have a problem. We should always remove the batteries before it gets stored away for the next time.
It's hard to believe how much equipment we may have that runs on batteries, until you get ready to use them. To list a few, there is your flashlight, walkie/talkie, laptop computer, TNC, calculator, some of your portable test equipment like a handheld frequency counter, or an antenna analyzer. Since all of this equipment runs on batteries we tend to buy the cheapest batteries we can, to do the job that needs to be done for the short periods of time which it is used.
The old saying "you only get what you pay for" holds true when it comes to batteries. Cheap batteries will do a good job for the short period of time that you may need them, but they aren't as sealed as the more expensive batteries, and will tend to leak in a shorter period of time. So as soon as the activity that you are working on is over, remove the batteries, so they won't damage your equipment, and it will be ready for the next emergency use.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV