The other day, I was walking through a parking lot and a young man had his hood open and jumper cables attached to his car battery. He asked for a jump, unfortunately, I didn't have my truck with me, just a little sports car and I doubt that would suffice, nor did I much want to risk damaging my own electrical system, you know everything these days is high-tech, and costly to fix, you need a computer and it's not like the old days when you could do everything yourself without a master mechanics certificate for each make and model.
Okay so, let's talk because I felt bad for the chap. You see the young man told me he had to go pick up his girlfriend and he was already late. I told him there is a slight slope to this parking lot, let's just push it out of the stall and face it that-a-way. He said it was an automatic - bummer I thought, well that's what you get I guess. The kid had a few tattoos and I realized that the chances of him flagging down anyone were not in his favor. So, I began talking with him thinking as soon as someone came by, I'd approach them myself and he'd thus, have a way better chance to get a jump.
As I was discussing with him what had happened he told me of his new stereo system. Unfortunately, he didn't upgrade his alternator, or put in another batteries and it was over taxing his system. This is the fourth time he'd been stuck, and I wondered if assisting him would help him learn his lesson. What might that be you ask? Well, let me explain.
The reality is that far prior to the installation the installer must consider the size of the alternator, and draw down requirements of the system to run, along with what other systems in the vehicle will need to run at optimum. Merely, paying a friend to help you install a new car audio system isn't enough, especially if they don't have any experience, trial by fire, or actual automotive electrical knowledge. Further, these late model cars are designed the way they are for a reason, they are engineered for optimum and not for over-the-top high-end mega-wattage sound systems. See that point.
Yes, we did find someone with a big Ford Dually, and he jumped it without a problem, and yet, I wonder if my lecture to the kid sunk in. If not, he'll be stranded again and his girlfriend will dump him? Hell, I wonder if she's good looking, either way she definitely needs an upgrade in boyfriends if you think about it.
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