How to Change a Car Battery

Car Battery Replacement:

Recently, I had to replace the battery on my car from leaving the interior car lights on overnight. Below are instructions on how to choose the appropriate battery and how to replace it.

Although the pictures are specific to my Honda Odyssey, this is a basic guide on how to change a car battery that can be used on any car.


Steps to picking out the right battery:

Once you arrive at a store that sells car batteries you should be able to find a manual/booklet (as seen in the pictures below) which will identify the appropriate battery for your car.








Open the book to the page with your Make of car; look down the columns until you find your Model.
 
Note: Make sure you look up your car by model and DATE. The battery options may vary based on the date and model of your specific car.


After you have found your car, move across the row and find your battery options. Usually, several different battery options will be available.  Although the original Honda battery had 550 cold cranking amps, I chose an upgraded model with 750 cold cranking amps.

Now that you have your battery you are ready for the installation.

Steps to changing the battery: 

3: Location 
Find your battery. In most vehicles, the battery is located under the hood in the engine compartment.  Some manufacturers place the batter in other locations, such as the trunk.
Your owner manual should tell you where to find your battery if it is not visible in the engine compartment.

2: Positive and negative.
Note the location of the positive (red) and negative (black) cables. The positive (red) will usually have some sort of cover (often red) and be labeled (+).

In this picture the positive cable has a red plastic cover and the negative connector is unmarked.  



3: Negative 
The first step is to remove the negative cable. You can do so with a wrench. Simply loosen the bolt and lift off the cable.


4: Positive
Lift the cover on the positive cable and loosen the bolt. Then remove the positive cable.




WARNING: Be carfare not to place metal objects across battery posts. Car batteries are explosive.

5: Retention system
Remove the retention system. It will be different for some cars, but on my Honda I just had to loosen the two bolts on either side and then lift the retention system out of the car.



6: Removal
Lift the battery from the car being sure not to bump the battery on other parts.
Many batteries have a carrying handle. Use this handle to help lift the battery from the car.

7: Installation 
Now place the new battery in to the same location as the old battery.

8: Direction
Make sure the battery is oriented in the correct direction so that the positive is on the same side as was the old battery.

9: Retention 
Reinstall the retention system. Make sure that bolts are tight to ensure that battery does not move around.

10: Positive
Reattach the positive cable. Be sure you attach the positive cable to the positive post marked with a (+) on the battery.  Tighten the bolt. Wiggle the cable to ensure it is firmly attached.

11: Negative
Attach the negative cable and tighten the bolt.  Wiggle the cable to ensure it is firmly attached.

Note: Be sure to return your old battery to the same store where your purchased the new battery for recycling.  You will also get some money refunded, known as a "core charge" for returning your old battery.  The amount may vary from store to store but is usually $10-$15.

This project is complete!  Start your engines!!!

Thanks for reading!!

>> Be sure to check out my other posts for more helpful tips and instructional. <<

How to Remove the Background from a Picture or other Graphic

Removing the Background from a Photo:
It may seem insignificant, but knowing how to remove the background on a picture can come in handy...


Why should I delete the background?:
It can be very annoying when making a Power Point or brochure and the graphic you wish to use has a background. By removing the background you can give your work a more professional look.  

Take a look at the two posters below: 

In the first poster (left) my graphics have white backgrounds. In my final poster (right), I have removed the white backgrounds. After removing the white background, I added the graphics back to my poster. By removing the background from the pictures in the poster, the poster is transformed into something that looks professional. 

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I like to use Pixlr Editor. It is much like Photoshop, but it is free and accessible on ALL devices. NO download is needed. Click here to be taken directly to Pixlr Editor. 

This is an advanced photo editing tool. It may look daunting, but it can be easily mastered.  

STEPS:

(1) Upload photo to Pixlr Editor 
       Click "OPEN IMAGE FROM COMPUTER".

Click on the photo to be edited and then press "Open"

(2) Select the magic wand tool from the toolbar.
The tool bar is in the left hand side of the screen. The magic wand, as pictured below should be the 3rd option down. Simply click the icon to select to tool.  

(3) Background Selection
Now that the wand has been chosen, click on an area you want to select. The magic wand will outline the area selected with flashing dotted lines.

(4) Select More Background
Hold down the shift key and click on other areas of the background until the entire background has been selected.

*If you have a picture where the background has many shades or tones, you can go into settings and adjust the tolerance so that more or less of the background is selected at a time.* 
          


Just click the arrow by the numbers, as displayed above, and you will be given a bar from           which you can adjust your tolerance. Just remember a little goes a long way. You should only change your tolerance 5 degrees at a time. 

This is how your image should look once all the background has been selected.  Notice the dotted line that now outlines the column indicating the entire background has been selected.

(5) Unlock the background
Click the lock symbol on the right hand side of the screen to unlock the background layer.

(6) Delete the Background 
Press the delete key or choose "Cut" from the "Edit" menu to delete selected areas. 

Now your background is gone!

You can now either continue to edit the photo or export it by clicking file at the top of the page and then clicking save. 

Note: When you save the photo, make sure you save as PNG rather than JPG. Doing so will leave the background transparent, rather than giving it a white background.  

Expert Tip: If unwanted pixels remain that are too small to remove with the magic wand, you can zoom in and use the eraser tool. 
      -Simply click the erase tool in the tool bar on the right hand side and then use your mouse to         erase the pixels you do not want.  

In the far left example below, notice the extraneous pixels along the black edge.  Using the eraser, the extra pixels can be removed.

              

>>>Thanks for reading. Check out my future posts for more helpful insights and cool tips!<<<