Two Really Good Buys

 Having been on this planet for more than three score years and ten and living, as do we all, in a fast moving age of technology, I have recently taken stock of two troublesome chores and my old fashioned approaches to them.

They are

1. Charging car and other batteries

and

2. cleaning fiddly things.

1. Car batteries.  I have two transformer/ rectifier-type battery chargers which have served me well enough but both have disadvantages.  They are big, heavy and unwieldy with their wires, plugs and clamps.   You worry that the battery is going to be overcharged if you forget about them.   Following battery under-use during COVID lock downs and the recent bitterly cold snap I worried that the Model T's battery especially (unused since 2019) may have had it.  Surely there were intelligent battery chargers around nowadays which would diagnose the battery's needs, deliver them, tell me so and then stand-by for action in some sort of sleep mode.  Well, there are.   Here's the one I bought but there are loads out there:

This was a middle-of the range charger of the modern type.  £50-ish -Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-MXS-5-0-Reconditions-Motorcycle/dp/B00FC42HAA/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0TJKWK86WPSHE1PTRSZ1

It is tiny, light and does the job.   First of all it sends pulses of higher voltage into the battery to shift any sulphur build-up on old plates, then is tests to see if charging is possible, then it gets on with charging, tests that the voltage is steady then puts on a green light to tell you all is charged up.  You can then either disconnect it or just leave it connected for ever.  It packs away into a sort of tiny duffle bag (remember those?)

It's first test was on Pat's Mazda MX5 which simply would not start after umpteen twice-a-week shopping trips to Booths supermarket.  This was bound to flatten the battery eventually.  One overnight charge and hey presto it started 'and has never run better' according to swmbo.

2.  Cleaning fiddly things.  Two specifics for me are spectacles and Braun shaver heads where hot water and old tooth-brushes were distinctly lacking in reaching nooks and crannies.  Answer - ultrasound.

This little thing is about the size of a small loaf of bread.  It is a cold water tank and a plastic basket inside.   It buzzes for about 1 1/2 minutes and shakes the water about and the dirt floats off.  The clear plastic lid enables you to see the magic happening which is absolutely fascinating to watch.  The blurb reckons that the cleaning is done  by microscopically tiny air bubbles forming on the surface of your item being cleaned.  Sure enough you can see a white cloudiness coming from the dirty bits from which full-blown air bubbles rise to the surface.  Not all the visible dirt floats off.  Most does though and the rest is certainly loosened.  A quick swish under a running tap does the trick.  You can repeat the cycle as often as you like and you can add a drop of washing-up liquid if it pleases you.

Cheap as chips too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/600mL-Ultrasonic-Cleaner-Cleaning-Basket/dp/B011LG1P8M/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6QZNH7HNYTWYG56PBRA1

Bound to wonder what else is out there just waiting to be found.

Usual disclaimers.