Battery Maintenance

[John - K5AWO]

Time to clean the battery posts.



For those that haven't been doing their own light duty maintenance, I will put forth a simple routine.



1. Collect together some tools and baking soda and Noxid Grease.

1/2" box end wrench, pliars or vise grips, Battery post cleaner brush, pencil wire brush, full size wire brush.



2. Wash the battery with a water hose, wire brush the excess corrosion away.



3. While the posts are still damp, pour on some baking soda and use a small pencil steel wire brush to work it in all the crevices. After the fizz stops, wash it away and repeat.



4. Disassemble everything. Remove the Negative Post First! Passenger's side, then the driver's side.



Use a pair of pliars or vise grips to slowly working the clamp bolts loose and pull from the cable post clamps.



5. Wash everything again and go thru the baking soda wash/scrub routine until all corrosion is gone.



6. Use a battery post wire brush cleaner to twist away all dark oxide coatings from the battery post terminals and inside the clamps.



7. Coat the terminals and clamps with Noxid Grease. Reassemble everything being sure all terminals are coated before assembly. After all is done, Cover all metal parts with grease to prevent future corrosion problems.



This simple procedure will normally give 4 to 5 years of life to your terminals in between cleanings. Normally all you have to do is wash the post/clamps off once a year and recoat with the Noxid. Adhered to faithly and your batteries will never have corrosion on the terminals AND your starter will thank you.



Caution: Never put stress on the battery posts when loosening/tightening the bolts. Back the bolt up with a wrench. Stressing the battery posts will cause cracks in the post-to-grid structure resulting in early battery failure.



Have a nice day.

 

[rrausch]

Thanks for the sequence. The correct tools and materials do help. However, here is a funny true battery-cleaning story which happened to me.



Back about 1993 I was visiting my elderly Aunt Emma in Nevada Missouri, and as part of my normal visit I always checked her 1966 Chevy 4-door Impala to make sure everything was ok. So on that particular visit I noticed the battery was about 4 years old, and the battery posts were getting pretty corroded and I decided to clean them with bicarbonate of soda and a toothbrush. So I cleaned away on them, but when I was done the battery was dead as a doornail! Well, I figured that some of the soda solution had worked down into the battery cells and neutralized the acid killing the battery. I was worried, because I was going to leave the next day, and didn't want Emma to have any problems (she was in her 90's at that time--and yes she was still driving pretty well) I just went to the local Sears and got a top of the line Diehard and installed it and didn't say anything to my Aunt. I was a little sheepish about ruining her battery--she was VERY particular about her car--so I just kept my mouth shut about her new battery, and just chalked it up to doing a good deed.



About 6 months later I visited her again and she was talking about how the winter had been, and she mentioned that she had had a problem with the local service station. She had taken her car in for an oil change and THEY HAD STOLEN HER BATTERY!!! I asked her how she knew, and she said she knew darn well what her battery looked like and when she went to pick the car up she looked under the hood and A DIFFERENT BATTERY WAS THERE! (I was cracking up but trying not to show it) She said she complained to the Manager, but he wouldn't do anything about it. So I went out and looked under the hood of the Chevy, and it was the same Die Hard I had installed 6 months earlier. So I went in and told Emma what happened. One thing about her, she had a great sense of humor, and we both had a big laugh over the incident. I was really impressed that she knew what her old battery had looked like, but she grew up on a farm, and was very mechanical. She died in 1999 at 98 1/2 years old. God bless her, I miss her still.

 

[John - K5AWO]

wonderful Story Robert... .



Thanks for sharing that with us.

 

[WMonroe]

John-Good Post. It's about time for me to clean my battery terminals again.



Robert-Nice story.



Will

 

[Detroitiron]

John, good post. I have one question about the sequence of disconnect. Why passenger side first? I have always disconnected (-) first, and reconnected it last, and I have a full array of battery service tools, and years of experience to go along with them. But why did you specify passenger side first? Tell me this secret so if I'm doing it wrong I can learn something.

And Robert-great story! I've had relatives like that, and I miss them, too.

Dave

 

[John - K5AWO]

Originally posted by detroitiron

John, good post. I have one question about the sequence of disconnect. Why passenger side first?

Dave

Having worked in the "dumbkoff industry" for 40 years, I have had to come up with routines to prevent the "dumbkoff effect".



Scenario: Remove the ground on the driver's side battery so you are safe, right? Now start to remove the post on the positive terminal and oops... . dumbkoff let the wrench touch the fender. KaPow!!! sparks everywhere and one battery went thru the hood of the vehicle (not mine).



The passenger side battery was still hooked up and very happy to supply lots of spark producing energy to the positive post on the dis-connected battery.



Also, if you undo the driver's side first, then you have that positive cable from the other battery just waiting on you like a rattlesnake. Let that terminal touch a grounded spot and poof! no terminal. IF that remote battery is border line bad, it just might blow one of its' cells spraying acid everywhere.



If the passenger side is done first, YOU KNOW that you still have to undo the driver's side battery so you are careful.



Those of us who have done our own maintenance a long time know what to avoid and don't give the procedures a second thought.



Those who have never done it at all won't have the insight to avoid the errors that could get you hurt. Eyes burned, flesh melted, etc...



It was just a suggestion. I always unhook the remote batteries first. On our fire trucks we have four of them to service.

 

[rashwor]

Did mine this past weekend. Note... I still have the factory batteries on my '99 Ram. Not bad.

 

[klenger]

Did mine this past weekend. Note... I still have the factory batteries on my '99 Ram. Not bad.

They were probably defective when manufactured.

 

[Ncostello]

I use Napa Terminal Protectant when installing new batteries. And I'll wipe them off once in a while with Armour All. Never get corrosion on any of them. They just up and die eventually. But they look good at their funeral!

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

Good story. But level with us, was it Nevada or was it Missouri?

 

[John - K5AWO]

Sorry to dissappoint, it was in the Texas Panhandle area. A pipeliner working on a fleet truck back in 1974.



Hydrogen gas is a good propellant.

 

[southpaw]

Batteries are good, but one post mentioned rattlesnake. My mistake on a moline 950, the batteries are mounted under the top steps to the platform,not much room between the tops of the bats and the metal step. My wonderful wife gave me a new wedding band to replace one that didn,t fit any longer and i hadn,t worn since my AF mechanic days in the early 60s. I had just paced the new batteries on and was going thru the ++- - sequince and was about to show the missis how i hold the wrench in the palm of my hand and over the end of the wrench to keep it from hitting the metal step by accident , when the snake bit. as my signature indicates im a lefty and thats where the wrench was . The wrench touched the ring the ring touched the step and my chime was rung . 2 ea 950 cca batteries discharged with their total gusto. A red hot ring sailed across the shop and I shouted orders to retrieve a bucket of water that was near in which i plunged my hand. At E. R. the DR. was ready to amputate but sent me 40 miles to a burn clinic in Spfld Mo. they tried to save the finger and it worked i still have it ,The Drs. advice which i follow, is if you gotta wear a ring put it on a chain and wear it around your neck. Be careful. oh that big ol moline engine looks just like a big 89 cummins with 6 valve covers ,what a tractor.

 

[CatManTom]

The most part that ever one is forgeting is safety... Chemical burns hurt and before anyone starts working on batteries safety first... I suggest a full face shield and rubber gloves too. .

 

[CatManTom]

I have a story back when I was in the military. My buddys call the barracks at 2 am in the morning and asked me too come down town and help them out. They we at a gas station filling their pickup and notice two college girls couldn't get there car start. So they called me be cause I was a track vechicle mechanic ,so they started explaining that they connected their jumper cables to the girls car and tried to jump start the car and having no luck All I could remeber my buddys saying that nothing happen but the ligths worked radio played but after charging the car for a half hour . When they tried too crank it over the cars lights would go dim... Well being the good infantry soldiers they were they stayed with the girls until the morning letting them stay in them the warm truck as my buddys sat the the bed of the pick truck. After roll call I jumped in to my car and drove down too Colorado Springs and met them at the girls car. As I was inspecting their car I found the battery clamps on the batteries corroded so I put my safety glasses on and cleaned up the battery clamp and asked one of the girls too get in and see of the radio worked Yup it worked. . I told her too try to starting car as it came too life the girls were so happy and got out of the car and gave me a hug and kiss . . My buddies told the girls they had faith in me be cause I had pulled them out of trouble with their track vechicles so many times. Well the girls took our pictures I checked over the car and they went on their way too college in Fla. As they drove away I though thats some one daughthers is going to make it to where they had too go safely with a friendly soldiers stationed far from home ,we had sisters, girl friends to .



P. S. Please check over your kids cars too specially the girls

Pay it forward