Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:09:36 -0400
Reply-To: Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Cause of the white corrosion deposit around a battery?
In-Reply-To: <6bc66ccf1003170727j618744bco2809a5af7c502a70@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
So are you ever gonna live that one down............
Cheers,
Doug
On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 10:27 AM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks everyone.
>
> Good explaination, Mr. Dave. I've seen those little felt rings. Never
> realized what they were on the posts for though. and Ry, good tip about
> cleaning up with Soda Water. I've used baking soda in solution before, but
> some Perrier would be ever so much more 'classy' (and easier)
> I just found out about 'high temps' around batteries. My wife's Ford
> Diesel (two big starting batteries (in series?) just needed new batteries,
> which she brought home (in that Subaru) from Les Schwabb and installed in
> her truck herself. She was in a big hurry to go to Idaho to get a horse
> so I was helping her re-connect the brand new batteries to get away at
> dawn. She had the terminals on the right hand battery, but the driver's
> side was still un-connected. I double-checked to see that she'd got the
> passenger side batt. in place correctly and then looked at the driver's
> side, which was set in there the same way. "Great", I thought, "She got it
> right" and in the dawn "light" I dropped the cables onto the posts...which
> gave out a huge flashing arc! The one side was required to be installed in
> 'mirror image' of the other, it turns out...the + post of the battery that
> I
> 'helpfully' tried to instal backwards was turned into a puddle of melted
> slag! $100+ mistake. note to self: Coffee and a headlamp *required* when
> doing pre-dawn auto mechanic's stuff.
> Don Hanson
> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 6:54 AM, Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@cox.net> wrote:
>
> > to more completely answer the question, I believe the deposit is metal
> > sulfate produced when sulfate condensate from the battery comes in
> contact
> > with metal. Either grease or oil will prevent it. If you want to get
> > fancy, most battery vendors sell little felt circles impregnated with a
> > substance that blocks the corrosion from developing. Just slip the disc
> > over the post and tighten down the clamp. They come in red for the
> positive
> > post, green for the negative, and they work. If you do use oil or
> grease,
> > remember to tighten the clamp down before greasing the post, of course.
> > There is also a special material sold in a squirt can. It coats the
> > terminals with a purplish plastic like substance that also blocks
> condensate
> > and air from the terminals but in no way prevents clamp removal.
> >
> > So far as only the positive post corroding, I believe the sulfate can
> > condense on any surfaces in the vicinity of the battery. In extreme
> cases,
> > the entire support system for the battery will fail. If the corrosion
> were
> > from oxygen rather than sulfate, then on steel parts, the substance
> would
> > be rust red. Now, eventually such parts do rust, if the sulfate
> corrosion
> > doesn't get them first.
> >
> > In the simple case, perhaps the lead post itself is corroded with a
> simple
> > lead oxide, but when the corrosion is over other parts, it is metal
> sulfate.
> >
> > DMc
> >
> > ---- Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET> wrote:
> > > It's corrosion and should only be on the positive terminal.
> > >
> > > Sometimes you have a leaky seal around a post but this is rare these
> > days.
> > > More often the corrosion is because the + side of the battery attracts
> > > oxygen ions from the air and the oxygen interacts with the metal,
> causing
> > > the corrosion.
> > >
> > > There are a lot of "fixes" you can buy but the best one is to put a
> drop
> > of
> > > oil on the terminal every time you check your oil. The oil will spread
> > out
> > > into a thin film & will protect the terminal from corrosion.
> > >
> > > Some people put grease on the terminals. Grease will also work but you
> > need
> > > to make sure to cover the entire terminal, even the bottom edge of the
> > > clamp. If you don't then any exposed metal will corrode.
> > >
> > > Tom
> > > www.kegkits.com
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On
> Behalf
> > Of
> > > Don Hanson
> > > Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 12:04 AM
> > > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > > Subject: Cause of the white corrosion deposit around a battery?
> > >
> > > What makes the powdery white or gray deposits on some of the metal
> > parts
> > > around the van batteries? Actually my Vanagon stays pretty free of the
> > > deposit, but we inherited a 2.5 Subaru Forester that gets it bad. We
> > stored
> > > it down in Californa during the summer and use it as a vacation car. We
> > > opened it, around Xmas time to find the battery(disconnected but fully
> > > charged) was covered with a whitish powdery deposits, heaviest on the
> > > hold-down ring and the clamps, but also under the batt on the tray. I
> > > bought another new battery...and cleaned everything up with baking
> soda,
> > > like a good little car guy before installing that one...
> > >
> > > We brought it back to the NW...(shhhh...I'm hoping to finesse it (the
> > > motor) from my wife, eventually..for use in a ....) and I just noticed
> > that
> > > the hold-down clamps and the retaining ring is again almost pure white
> > with
> > > a fine powdery substance...Both my Ford Diesel trucks do the same
> thing,
> > but
> > > to a lesser degree.
> > >
> > > What the heck is this stuff and how do you prevent it forming?
> > >
> > > Don Hanson
> >
>
--
http://www.dougalcock.com
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