Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Today is National Battery Day, no kidding.
Where would we be without the humble battery? Take a moment to consider how many of your household items use batteries – from cars to remote controls and hand-held devices, Battery Day is all about celebrating and recognizing just how important the simple battery is to our way of life.
Regular readers know that Mary purchased a 2006 Mercedes Benz 350 SLK in October. As soon as cold weather hit us, I notice it was sluggish starting and soon wouldn’t start at all. A jump-start took us to our favorite Mercedes specialist who told us that this was the original nine year old battery and they often see Mercedes Benz cars original batteries lasting 9-10 years.
That’s because its used a battery management system housed under the hood on the right covered by a lid marked “battery.” Nope, the battery is not there but the BMS is. (The battery is located on the left-hand side under a non-labled and removable drain that catches water from vents in the hood)
The battery management system manages a battery by protecting the battery from operating outside its Safe Operating Area, monitoring its state, calculating secondary data, reporting that data, controlling its environment, authenticating it and/or balancing it. Here’s hoping the (expensive) Interstate battery I replaced the original lasts as long.
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Along with photographer Barry Staver, Joe is co-author of Better Available Light Digital Photography with new copies are available from Amazon for $21.450 and used copies starting around six bucks.