Terminal protectant spray

[beachin]

I keep my cart at the beach (covered when idle +/-) and I thought all protective sprays - battery or not - were snake oil - you guys saying this one works?

[cgtech]

Zep® battery coat dries "non tacky" clear-red and works pretty well if you can get at the whole terminal (RXV owners know what im talking about). I cant stand the greasy stuff, hit it with any pressure water, it flies everywhere. Seems most of the parts store stuff is the greasy stuff.

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by beachin

I keep my cart at the beach (covered when idle +/-) and I thought all protective sprays - battery or not - were snake oil - you guys saying this one works?

It works if you put it on right. Most people don't know how to put it on.

[eflyguy]

All it does is prevent surface corrosion, but as-stated above, you put it on once the clean parts terminals are assembled. You don't want anything between the lugs and the terminals & bolt.

You could put any kind of oil or grease on there, but this is more convenient.
..a

[yurtle]

I used to use baking soda and water to clean, and Vaseline to protect, but it would "suck up" a lot of dirt. It also required more effort to keep covered, so I caved and bought the spray cleaner and spray protectant.

I still clean them around once a month, but that's a good habit to get into. Around once a month (experts can weigh in on whether this is the right time interval), after charging I will top off water, clean, check for tightness, then spray with the red stuff.

[DaveTM]

You know, I've talked to my Brother in law about battery terminal stuff. Now, he is a master mechanic and works primarily on Macks'. Peterbuilts', and the big trucks. He basically said to me to clean my terminals, and when they begin to get a "hint" of corrosion on them, just remove 'em and baking soda 'em and clean 'em again for what it takes to do that. His opinion of the spray stuff is that those products are not really worth the effort.

But, that's his opinion. He's pretty good at what he does, so I've taken his advice. So far, I've only lost three batteries from the acid eating completely thru my batt holder!!!

Dave

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by DaveTM

You know, I've talked to my Brother in law about battery terminal stuff. Now, he is a master mechanic and works primarily on Macks'. Peterbuilts', and the big trucks. He basically said to me to clean my terminals, and when they begin to get a "hint" of corrosion on them, just remove 'em and baking soda 'em and clean 'em again for what it takes to do that. His opinion of the spray stuff is that those products are not really worth the effort.

But, that's his opinion. He's pretty good at what he does, so I've taken his advice. So far, I've only lost three batteries from the acid eating completely thru my batt holder!!!

Dave

YIKES!

I'm not sure whether the protectants do anything or not. Could be easy enough to do a side by side comparison. Run several terminals nekked, with Vaseline, and protectant, and see which grows fur first. My theory is the protectant and vaseline are better for folks who aren't diligently checking and cleaning daily. Liquid acid isn't the only thing we're worried about, as corrosive fumes are present while charging in a fairly enclosed environment.

Cars charge while driving, so you have a lot of air movement. Our batteries are charged when no air movement is present.

[Sir Nuke]

Originally Posted by yurtle

YIKES!

I'm not sure whether the protectants do anything or not. Could be easy enough to do a side by side comparison. Run several terminals nekked, with Vaseline, and protectant, and see which grows fur first. My theory is the protectant and vaseline are better for folks who aren't diligently checking and cleaning daily. Liquid acid isn't the only thing we're worried about, as corrosive fumes are present while charging in a fairly enclosed environment.

Cars charge while driving, so you have a lot of air movement. Our batteries are charged when no air movement is present.

This is good info.....that fact that our carts are "static" and enclosed when charging which causes the fumes that Yurtle mentioned.....which is why its best to either prop open the seat or remove it when charging the batteries so that there is some air circulation. I do this religiously and charge it after every days use, and I use a small acid brush and "paint" on a light coat of Vaseline on the battery terminals and after 6 months, they look as good as the day I connected them up.

[ROBinGA]

I also prop open my seat when charging. I always use a bungee hooked to roof support and then arm handle of seat and leave it open. In fact it stays this way all the time until i take it out and use. As follow up to some previous posts since I started this mess ... The former owner must have used a brand of protectant that did dry because there is still red overspray on the battery fill covers and around posts on the battery plastic and its not coming off. My recent application is light red and will wipe off if I touch it or use a cloth. That's cool with me as long as I know it's gonna need to be inspected and reapplied which should accompany my water level monitoring anyway. I do lightly spray off my batteries if my cart gets really dirty/dusty during a shooting competition and so far that has never given me any issues. I am careful to only rinse the batteries themselves and don't allow any other components to get wet. See any issues with this practice? Picture below show new cables installed and old treatment spray overspray remnants and then next post shows today with my CRC. Seeing the new picture shows me my batteries might need a wipe down or rinse again.

[ROBinGA]

Here is my pack with application of CRC protectant