16 



operating as they continued to age. Among replacement parts in high 

 demand were storage batteries. Battery life was commonly considered 

 to be upwards of 2 years or less, although there was no technical 

 reason why this life should not be doubled or tripled. The obvious 

 imphcation was that batteries in the hands of the pubhc were re- 

 ceiving insufficient care and attention. However, a hvely market 

 existed for batteries : As scrap from which the lead could be extracted 

 to produce new batteries for the market; as replacement battel ies 

 to be "reconditioned" and sold as such; and as a source of replacement 

 parts for the reconditioning of other batteries. Battery technology 

 called for a particular and critical composition of lead, such that 

 battery producers constituted a preferential market for battery 

 scrap lead. 



An important complication was the technological aspect of storage 

 batteries themselves. Although they are universally required for auto 

 operation, as well as for many industrial and standby power som'ces, 

 their characteristics and behavior in practice are not well known by 

 the using public, and their detailed processes have been imperfectly 

 characterized in the scientific literature. During the AD-X2 contro- 

 versy, much was made of the fact that "even scientists do not know 

 how batteries work," — or so it was alleged. This point was taken to 

 signify that an additive whose effect was inexplicable might still be 

 of practical value. There was a wide range of popular ignorance among 

 users of batteries as to how to operate them most efficiently, and so 

 as to insure a maximum operational life. There was a great wealth of 

 partial, and partially incorrect, knowledge derived from practical 

 experience on the part of repair and salvage shops. There was also an 

 imperfect level of "supply discipline" observed among these tech- 

 nologists, who did not — for example— follow faithfully the "first in, 

 first out" policy in moving stock from inventory to sales. For another 

 example, distilled water is specified to be added to replace evaporation 

 losses to the battery electrolyte, to keep it above the plates, but some 

 service stations fiU the water bottle from the tap; local water supplies 

 vary widely in solute content, and this builds up harmful impurities 

 in the electrolyte. The designs of batteries varied considerably from 

 company to company. Similarly, the owners of batteries exposed them 

 to an infinite variety of conditions of use and misuse. It became evi- 

 dent, as the testimony about AD-X2 accumulated, that scientific 

 data about electrochemical processes under controlled conditions do 

 not translate well into the indeterminate, usually dirty, and invariably 

 complex and disorderly conditions and effects of battery maintenance 

 and service. 



In summary, there was an urgent demand for batteries, new or 

 rebuilt; lead was scarce and costly, and old batteries were the ideal 

 raw material to produce new batteries; any lag in the cycling of bat- 

 teries to the customer, into use, into the junkyard, and to reclamation 

 of their lead, was disadvantageous to the producers of batteries. 

 Care, maintenance, and operation of batteries was an imperfectly 

 practiced art, rather than a science. The circumstances called for 

 invention of a means for prolonging the life and improving the per- 

 formance of batteries, insofar as the customer was concerned. Battery 

 producers saw monetary advantage in accelerating the turnaround 

 time of batteries, once their efficiency began to dip. A two-way trade 



