The Steaming Rants of Ernie Wight

Power Management

I'm struggling to keep control in some of the worst rain I've seen in years. Not control of the vehicle, but of the power. I need main beam to see what's coming in the road, I daren't swerve or brake suddenly. I need the wipers on to clear the rain away from the screen so I can see what main beam is trying to show me. And I need the heater fan on full to try and clear away the persistent condensation on the insides of the glass so that I can see through the twin arcs swept by the wipers to whatever it is the main beams have picked out of the darkness ahead.

Another puddle looms in the lights and splashes underneath, and the fan belt starts to screech as the red warning light comes on. I have to lift off the throttle, and dip the lights before the belt grips and the red light goes out. At every puddle we go through I make snap decision what to kill. On a straight road where I've seen far enough ahead I'll dip the lights. On bends I'll kill the wipers, or if there's time, reach down and cut the blower fan. If I can see the puddle before I hit it I can apply the corrective action in advance, and then the game is to judge how much I need to lift off, and when to switch back on whatever it was I had to do without.

Forward planning is a key part to power management, but at speeds of up to 60mph it is hard to plan more than a few seconds ahead. It does make a difference however. On an approach to a capital T junction I'll dip the lights before I turn the indicator on. With dipped lights its easier to see the advance of main beams from unseen cars on the other road. As I approach junctions where I'm turning off into a side road I'll kill the blower fan before indicating. When I pull up and stop the lights go off as soon as the handbrake has been pulled on. I've already had one fail-to-start after parking for 5 minutes with the headlights on and engine off, and don't want to be stranded again.

If this sounds like an old car struggling in a wet night rally, then yes, it could well be, but this vehicle has an alternator instead of a dynamo, with a multi-v belt. It's a Transit flatbed, and it is loaded up with Kilos of the White Stuff. It is good practice for rallying, which is about the only positive thing I can find in my current situation. I'd apologise for that pun, but I can't seem to find the words.

And those helpful sodium lights actually spell trouble for the White Stuff, trouble I don't need.