Battery Terminals

[ChilinMichael]

So,

As some of you that were in the chatroom may know, and those who guessed it were right, the positive side battery terminal was once again corroded to high hell. I would like to fix this for good, some anti-corrosive grease or spray has to be used here, my father said this is common on these cars. Where the copper or bronze, whatever it may be on the connector, connects to the lead terminal on the battery, it's corroding. Making one hell of a hard substance that builds heavy on the copper/bronze part. I had to use a wirebrush on my dremel to clean it up. Are there connectors I can buy, cut off the ones on the wire, and replace that won't do this? Or a chemical/grease to use that's conductive yet stops this?

[Lil'missburnout]

Regular dielectric grease should do the trick.

[ChilinMichael]

I did put some of that on the terminal screw I just was not sure.

[Lil'missburnout]

Yup, coat the whole terminal with that on the battery and cable ends. That should do it for ya.

[ChilinMichael]

Done. Thanks for the tip, hopefully this will stop future issues. I still want to replace the connector at the end of the wire sometime in the future...it's very clean now but still not perfect, don't think it ever can be again.

[crash93ssei]

Odd... I guess I didn't realize that the laptop was logged in as Stephanie

[ChilinMichael]

[00Beast]

If the di-electric grease doesn't do it for you, they make coatings in a spray can that coats and seals the whole terminal, basically a varnish that seals it up.

[1fatcat]

The reason they corrode is because the battery is leaking acid at the terminal connector. To properly fix, you need a new battery and new cables. Or a new battery and clean the old cables VERY well. A baking soda and water mix works great to clean battery corrosion. Mix 1/2 cup of baking soda with one gallon of water.

[ChilinMichael]

Hmm....Optima Red Top, should be sealed quite well. Also, deep into the terminal screw, there's no sign of this issue. It's only where the copper/bronze part of the wire connector touches to the lead. My father says he's seen this plenty of times on GM side-terminal batteries. I think I want to take the approach of eventually changing out the connector on the wire for something of a different material.

[crash93ssei]

I would say that the terminal is not leaking, just corroding because of the two different metals in contact with each other with moisture and oxygen around. The dielectric grease will seal out the moisture and oxygen.

[1fatcat]

Those two metals should not corrode unless in contact with acid. Maybe a light surface discoloration, but it sounds like we are talking about a big hairy whiteish-greenish science experiment here that keeps growing bigger. If so, there is acid leaking out.

[ChilinMichael]

Nope, this is more the type of two metals that do not like each other plus weather. My father even knows of this as a standard thing for GM-side terminal batteries. The battery is not leaking. If the battery was leaking, the inner end of the screw would be corroded too, but it's not...it's only corroded where the lead meets the copper/bronze (whatever it may be).

[1fatcat]

I'm not sure how bad of corrosion you have I guess? If its bad enough to cause electrical issues, I would think you would have an acid leak. From my experience, most of the side terminal batteries leak between the lead terminal and the plastic case, not from the center of the terminal hole.