Battery terminal corrosion

[WA5LTA Bill]

What can be done to prevent/reduce corrosion of the bolted battery terminals. I am using replacement connectors that I purchased from Larry B's some time back. The crossover cable and the starter cable have been replaced. I cleaned all the connections with a stainless steel plumbers brush a couple of weeks ago. The terminals are now developing a white powder on them. The corrosion had gotten so bad before cleaning that the starter was dragging.

 

[Chief USA]

I dip my terminal connectors attached to the cables in a hot water heavy solution of baking soda. This neutralizes any acid and the baking soda solution will migrate up into the cable strands and protect them from future corrosion. Once I have installed the connectors to the batteries I coat them liberally with a spray anti-corrosion compound that seals the terminals and cable ends up. This has served me well for MANY years.

 

[DavidC]

Amazon product ASIN B07TG8WDFY

 

[Chief USA]

Amazon product ASIN B07TG8WDFY

I see that has happened to you too! I tried to post a link to a set of headlight assemblies the other day in reply to the post and no matter what I did, it would post as #ad.

Moderators??? Are you reading this??? It would be much appreciated if you would look into this issue and fix it. Thanks.

 

[DavidC]

I see that has happened to you too! I tried to post a link to a set of headlight assemblies the other day in reply to the post and no matter what I did, it would post as #ad.

Moderators??? Are you reading this??? It would be much appreciated if you would look into this issue and fix it. Thanks.

Funny, it shows fine on my end. I did have what you state and found out I had to disable the ad blocker then all is well again. Do you have an ad blocker ?.

 

[Chief USA]

Funny, it shows fine on my end. I did have what you state and found out I had to disable the ad blocker then all is well again. Do you have an ad blocker ?.

I sure do. LOL! I should have thought of that. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[DavidC]

I sure do. LOL! I should have thought of that. Thanks for the heads up.

Took me a little while and experimenting, old age kicking in.

 

[Chief USA]

Took me a little while and experimenting, old age kicking in.

Works like a champ now!

 

[Mark31]

My drill: Sometimes it might be necessary to do a second baking soda soak (like Chief USA says) to get all the acid "kilt". Take battery bolts out and file the holes bright. Battery brush the cables and terminals until perfectly bright. Then thoroughly coat with Vaseline. If cold weather, heat up the Vaseline. Wipe off batteries when changing oil and dobb some more Vaseline if necessary. At 3.5 years, take off cables and clean terminals. At 7 years, replace batteries (Johnson Controls) to save the starter and to keep from having dead batteries at an inconvenient time.

 

[Terry]

I've used NCP2 corrosion preventive grease on cars and heavy equipment for over 40 years, never had a corrosion problem on treated terminals. You still need to clean all the corrosion off first. You can get it from Amazon and some parts stores.

 

[Wayne M.]

Once the corrosion is neutralized, I’ve discovered that fluid film (in the spray can) is the best battery dressing I’ve ever seen.
I gave it a shot since I was doing the whole truck and I’m sold on the stuff. It’s also great for door hinges.

 

[seafish]

A simple Vaseline coating applied to the terminal after cleaning is effective and inexpensive to prevent battery corrosion. Just dont tell your wife WHY you borrowed her tub of Vaseline !!! LOL

 

[petersonj]

ust dont tell your wife WHY you borrowed her tub of Vaseline !

But, if she asks, you might want to tell her why.

- John

 

[seafish]

But, if she asks, you might want to tell her why.

- John

LOL !!!

 

[spacecadet]

What can be done to prevent/reduce corrosion of the bolted battery terminals. I am using replacement connectors that I purchased from Larry B's some time back. The crossover cable and the starter cable have been replaced. I cleaned all the connections with a stainless steel plumbers brush a couple of weeks ago. The terminals are now developing a white powder on them. The corrosion had gotten so bad before cleaning that the starter was dragging.

If the terminals are developing deposits in just a few weeks, it's likely that the seals around your battery posts are bad. The vibration of our engines is a lot tougher on batteries than passenger cars.

 

[Matt42]

I stopped having battery terminal corrosion when I stopped using flooded cell batteries. After an expensive switch to AGM batteries, that was the end of corrosion.

The main reason for the switch to AGM was to prevent being stranded. Here, a flooded cell battery might last 24 months and it'll quit with no warning. A set of AGMs give warning.

 

[FOXY005]

^^^^ I got AGM's for the same reason Matt42 said. Solved the corrosion problem.