Farmer Mold & Machine Works, Inc.

Future, Current & Past Battery Innovations: Batteries! What future?

December 20th, 2011

By Hugh Abner
[46 Years and Counting Manufacturing Batteries and Battery Machinery]

The most prominent energy researcher of our times has said, “Batteries used for electrical vehicles will have to be standardized.” ————— Okay, come on now ————- stop laughing. Seriously! Cut it out. We have things we need to discuss here. SHUT UP AND QUIT LAUGHING. Now of course a group of people like you in the SLIG battery industry know something about a standardized battery market. You know there simply isn’t one. I have not added them up lately but there are hundreds of battery designs just in the Pb-acid types. Read the rest of this entry »

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Future, Current & Past Battery Innovations: Government, Health and the Battery Industry (A long look back)

September 19th, 2011

By Hugh Abner
[46 Years and Counting Manufacturing Batteries and Battery Machinery]

One time years ago when I had the duties of a manufacturing engineer for a British owned American battery company I was assigned the task of accompanying one of our corporate health doctors through visits to our multiple U.S. factories. I had no idea his thing would be mostly after-hours work. As it turned out, though, it was not only interesting, it was fun. Read the rest of this entry »

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Future, Current & Past Battery Innovations: Subsurface Area

May 16th, 2011

By Hugh Abner
[44 Years and Counting Manufacturing Batteries and Battery Machinery]

Some of us that mostly have dwelled in our battery world by melting Pb and making mud do not normally stop and consider the importance of the surface area. It is an accepted fact to us when we are assembling a battery with “Low” plates versus “Tall” plates that surface area is part of an over-all kind of thing. Generally though, we pass it off as making cheap batteries versus expensive ones. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: battery innovations, subsurface area
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Future, Current & Past Battery Innovations: All This With Only 20%

February 2nd, 2011

By Hugh Abner
[44 Years and Counting Manufacturing Batteries and Battery Machinery]

There is an article this week in The Economist. I will not debate it here or try to improve on it. I do want you to know about it though because if your life is in our Pb-Acid battery industry then it will be interesting. If you are one of our industry’s scientist then you may want to debate it or you may already be trying to put it to use. All of you can read the article by googling – Einstein Car Batteries Economist and looking for a title – A Spark of Genius. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: battery innovations
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A Battery Factory Review (1965)

October 22nd, 2010

By Hugh Abner
[44 Years and Counting Manufacturing Batteries and Battery Machinery]

For this Blog I am going to get away from the usual comments about battery machinery even though there is much more of that to discuss. We still have one major machine in the Top Lead series which is fundamental to the industry and a big part of Farmer Mold and Machine Works, Inc. That would be the FMMW Bonder or what some call the Top Terminal Burner. Today though I am going to describe some battery manufacturing people. The first ones I met. Read the rest of this entry »

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Top Lead Three

August 9th, 2010

By Hugh Abner
[44 Years and Counting Manufacturing Batteries and Battery Machinery]

Well you have waited patiently on this version of Top Lead so I thank you. There is so much going on the world it is hard to resist taking advantage of this Blog format for commentary rather than historical review of the evolution of battery components. But Lead Acid Batteries are our thing. We at FMMW have been almost totally involved in the top lead of batteries for the past 40 years. Before that it was mostly grid casting machines and molds so that explains why we have been around for nearly 80 years now. Read the rest of this entry »

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BP

June 10th, 2010

By Hugh Abner
[44 Years and Counting Manufacturing Batteries and Battery Machinery]

Sorry! At this time in our country and especially for those of us on the Gulf Coast, as well as the Atlantic Coast I simply cannot bring myself to return right now to Top Lead.

The challenge is going to be to relate things in our industry, (SLI Lead Acid Batteries), to the (Oil or Petroleum Industry). A couple of things easily come to mind though. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: BP, lead acid batteries, oil
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Lardberg

March 1st, 2010

By Hugh Abner
[44 Years and Counting Manufacturing Batteries and Battery Machinery]

No! I have not lost it. I actually have seen lardbergs and I saw them in a battery factory. At the time they were a big part of my early on life as a factory manager.

Before I can tell the story though I have to explain that I have not forgotten that I promised a continuation of discussing Top Lead. In fact Top Lead III is going to exist. We, though, are going to take a break from it right now. Top lead is heavy and we – I – need the rest. It is important though and we will return.

The lardberg story took place back in a factory that was described somewhat in an earlier Blog. Yes, the same one where I learned through a revelation why I was sent to the battery world. Actually this story is just a bit more of the description of the self flagellation of the time. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: lardberg
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Top Lead Two – a continuation of What Top Lead (Pb) Means to All of Us

February 17th, 2010

By Hugh Abner
[44 Years and Counting Manufacturing Batteries and Battery Machinery]

Okay, if you are a hard core battery man then you truly did read Top Lead One and you have been reminded of the many changes to our industry that came when the plastic polypropylene battery cases were introduced for automotive SLIG batteries. Out went the individual rubber cell covers,the small round cell post and the bow tie shaped cell connectors. In came the one piece cover, half round (sometimes square) cell post and the up and over the partition cell connecting technology. Along with these changes in construction materials came the beginning of many reductions in the number of people required to man our battery assembly lines. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: automotive SLIG batteries, plastic polypropylene battery cases
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Top Lead One – What Top Lead (Pb) Means To All of Us

November 9th, 2009

By Hugh Abner
[44 Years and Counting Manufacturing Batteries and Battery Machinery]

When we get together at the various battery conventions we listen to several discussions about grid Pb or active material Pb but seldom are we entertained with a paper on top Pb. Yet Top Pb is one of those “Must” items.

Just in case you are not quite sure what I mean about top Pb then here is one explanation. Top Pb is all the Pb at the top of the battery. It is the Pb that connects the plates of a cell. The Pos. plates on one side and the Neg. plates on the other. Each cell has 2 cell posts. Again, one will be Pos. and the other Neg. The cells are connected together in series to form a battery of cells by using a Pb connector. Each connector connects the Pos. post of one cell to the Neg. post of the adjacent. Three Pb cells gave us the 6-volt batteries and 6 cells gave us out 12 volt batteries. The two end cells have a special post added to them and these are main terminal Pos. and Neg. post. These posts are used to connect the battery of cells to the electrical system’s terminal cables. In short the Top Pb is the internal electrical conductor of a battery. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Farmer, Mac, Parts Casting, TBS, Tiegle
Posted in Automotive Battery Assembly Equipment | 1 Comment »

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