PulseTech Products Promotes Routine Battery Maintenance as Part of Your Vehicle Winterization Plans

SOUTHLAKE, Texas, Nov. 16, 2009 -- Fuel conditioners, antifreeze additives, oil additives and body finish products are items consumers typically consider when winterizing their vehicles for the season.

Batteries, often out-of-mind until the vehicle won't start, should be part of the winter prep checklist, as simple and inexpensive maintenance will provide a reliable battery start this season and more to come.

"Battery failure, especially in cold and inclement weather, can be avoided as failure is never cheap or convenient," said Robert "Smokey" White, a 25-year battery industry veteran and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Texas-based PulseTech Products Corp.

Ever wonder why a battery "dies"? The interaction of sulfuric acid with the surface area of the lead plates is at the heart of a battery's ability to create, store and release energy. Basically, a battery is able to store and supply energy if enough of the active plate material is available to allow an energy transfer to occur naturally. In theory, batteries should last many years, but they usually don't because of a series of detrimental problems caused by "excessive sulfation buildup" related to the natural and necessary formation of sulfate crystals that can, if left unattended, crystallize and harden forming a coating on the on the surface of lead battery plate that can lead to premature battery failure.

White said the answer is routine maintenance, which should not only include the regular cleaning and tightening of cable ends and battery terminals, checking battery acid levels (if the system allows), but most importantly the routine use of an intuitive Smart Charger, such as Xtreme Charge® (www.xtremecharge.com). This product, which can be applied to any 12-Volt battery, uses a state of the art design coupled with a proprietary technology to enable the user to easily and routinely maintain their battery's internal state of health by automatically providing patented pulse conditioning and the optimum charge it needs to enable peak performance. A proprietary algorithm also protects the battery from damage due to overcharging so it cannot be overcharged.

According to White, what makes the Xtreme Charge® technology so unique and effective is a distinct pulse waveform. This waveform created through years of research, initially for the US Military, has a strictly controlled rise time, pulse-width, frequency and amplitude of current and voltage pulse. No other known battery charging or maintenance system has these specific characteristics. Pulse Technology is used as a "tool" designed specifically to remove and prevent the buildup of damaging lead-sulfate deposits on battery plates in a non-harmful way, so a battery can accept, store and release maximum power all the time.

"It's like giving your battery vitamins," said White.

Cold weather, according to White, can cause a real "Domino Effect" leading to battery failure.

"When it's cold outside, sulfation buildup in combination with the slow down of the chemical reaction within the battery will rob the battery's ability to provide operational power and is only exaggerated as vehicle fluids thicken due to the cold. This cold condition causes even more available power and capability to be taken from the battery to start the vehicle, so the battery has to work harder than normal to provide additional power demanded by the vehicle and as a result realizes a further reduction in voltage causing faster buildup of sulfates on the lead plates," he said.

According to White, the answer for battery performance is to employ a simple, technology enabled year-round maintenance program to keep batteries operating at optimal performance. Now, simple "plug and play" maintenance provided by the various PulseTech products (AC, DC or Solar powered) could be employed, saving U.S. consumers more than $100 million a year by keeping batteries performing long past currently expected life cycles and out of the waste stream, landfills and smelters.