Dear Tom and Ray:

Our 3-year-old son has autism, and one of the things that soothes him is to sit in our 2006 Honda Pilot and watch DVDs on the factory-installed player -- while the car is parked in the garage. I was wondering if there is any danger of draining the battery completely; I just turn the key to the first position, and it's usually not on for more than an hour at a time. -- Stephanie

TOM: That's absolutely fine, Stephanie. Running the DVD player for an hour with the key in the accessory position shouldn't do any harm to a good battery.

RAY: But if you want to be absolutely worry-free, go to Sears and buy an automatic battery charger. You plug it into the wall and hook it up to the battery. Then the charger monitors the condition of your battery, and automatically charges it back up whenever the voltage drops. When the battery is fully charged, the charger turns itself off and goes back into "monitor" mode.

TOM: Then you and your little guy can sit there all day if you want to, and you'll never have to worry about whether the car will start. Good luck, Stephanie.