1. I got to my car and the battery was flat. Fortunately, I had ridden my home-built electric skateboard to it (this was before even the first Boosted Boards came out - completely homemade, I built the trucks, drive system, etc). I went to the Goodwill next door and bought an extension cord for the wire. I stripped the cord, wired the board's battery to the car, and was able to start it.
2. I was driving my classic car home when the alternator failed, at 2am, in the middle of a big city. With my headlights rapidly dimming, I managed to quickly exit and find a parking lot (just as my headlights completely died). Fortunately, I again had that skateboard. I rigged up the battery to the electrical system and made it to within a mile of my house before the fuel pump and spark ignition gave out completely. I easily walked home, put a new battery in my backup car, and I was good.
The moral? Replace your car batteries when they're weak :) Also, LiPo batteries are beasts.
On our way to a remote cabin, when the alternator failed. Well, the alternator itself didn't fail: the bolt holding the distribution lead on corroded through and fell off. No cell service, long ways to any help, and my then-new girlfriend was not at all happy. I wandered up the road and found a piece of wood I could whittle to the right shape, and then dug through the boot. I hung the wire onto the bare stub of bolt remaining, locked the scrap of stick over it, then tied that on with the strap from a pair of old swim goggles. We made it the thirty miles to the cabin, had a good weekend, and the fix was solid enough to make it a hundred miles back home. Oh, and the new girlfriend is now my wife, so all things considered that's by far my most successful hack.
1. I got to my car and the battery was flat. Fortunately, I had ridden my home-built electric skateboard to it (this was before even the first Boosted Boards came out - completely homemade, I built the trucks, drive system, etc). I went to the Goodwill next door and bought an extension cord for the wire. I stripped the cord, wired the board's battery to the car, and was able to start it.
2. I was driving my classic car home when the alternator failed, at 2am, in the middle of a big city. With my headlights rapidly dimming, I managed to quickly exit and find a parking lot (just as my headlights completely died). Fortunately, I again had that skateboard. I rigged up the battery to the electrical system and made it to within a mile of my house before the fuel pump and spark ignition gave out completely. I easily walked home, put a new battery in my backup car, and I was good.
The moral? Replace your car batteries when they're weak :) Also, LiPo batteries are beasts.