Corrosion on battery?

[MikeG1]

I just read an article in Boat US about concerns with corrosion on battery terminals and connections. I checked mine ans see a fair amount of corrosion on the positive connection to a 24v trolling motor. I'm thinking I need to change this out...but, very near the connection is a rectangle gray box that is located on the wire. It looks all but impossible to change the connector without replacing this box.

What is the box??? I'm thinking some type of fusible link. It is located in the positive side of one battery.Are they available and are they difficult to swap out? All info appreciated.

Thanks. Mike

[CI_Guy]

Sounds like a circuit breaker. They are available with manual switches or self resetting, and can be found at any boat dealer or online from places like West Marine, Overton's or Iboats.

[MikeG1]

After more research it appears the box is a 24v 40 a resettable circuit breaker. The corrosion is on a piece of metal that connects the breaker to the battery. Is this something I should address, or is it fine as is? Everything works fine.

[h8go4s]

Clean the corrosion off with a small wire brush and clean the battery post also. Re-install and go fishing. It ain't rocket surgery.

[MikeG1]

Rocket surgery it ain't, but a fire it could be. I must say I find your comment ignorant. Perhaps you don't know what you don't know.

H8go4s....You come off as the fisherman who launches your 9.9 and stays within several hundred yards of the ramp. I personally run 12+ miles into Lake Erie, sometimes with my daughters. I run hard on very hot days only to troll for hours on end. I am proactive with safety. I maintain my equipment and look for problems when they start....Unlike you from what it sounds. The very last thing I want is a fire or breakdown. It may not be rocket science, but it can kill ya.

I hope you don't have the same lax attitude with electrical components around your house. I experienced a shed fire due to the same lax attitude of a neighbor who refused to respect AC extension cords. You sound like that neighbor. I'd be willing to guess you've never experienced an electrical fire and I hope you don't. If you did, your attitude would be different.

I am unable to find on-line the article on electrical corrosion that Boat US published in this month's magazine. If I could, I would copy and paste it so you could read and educate yourself. And, I'd bet you don't purchase the marine insurance which subscribes one to the magazine, so you'll not read it yourself. But then who needs marine insurance...it ain't a rocket.

Clean it with a wire brush, rinse it with baking soda and water, check tohe wire good a lot of the time the corrosion works up the wire inside the insulation, if it all looks good put it back together and use a battery corrosion protectant. If it happens again your battery is probably leaking around the post.

[cyber16]

Check to make sure your charger is not overcharging as that is a byproduct of the gassing of the battery during a charge.
Check fluid levels and don't overfill, vent the area when charging.
there are plenty of sprays or you could use a little grease to coat the connections to help minimize the problem.
It has everything to do with a vented wet-cell battery & its gassing or possible leaking via the caps
my 0.02c

[andersaki]

Originally Posted by MikeG1

Rocket surgery it ain't, but a fire it could be. I must say I find your comment ignorant. Perhaps you don't know what you don't know.

H8go4s....You come off as the fisherman who launches your 9.9 and stays within several hundred yards of the ramp. I personally run 12+ miles into Lake Erie, sometimes with my daughters. I run hard on very hot days only to troll for hours on end. I am proactive with safety. I maintain my equipment and look for problems when they start....Unlike you from what it sounds. The very last thing I want is a fire or breakdown. It may not be rocket science, but it can kill ya.

I hope you don't have the same lax attitude with electrical components around your house. I experienced a shed fire due to the same lax attitude of a neighbor who refused to respect AC extension cords. You sound like that neighbor. I'd be willing to guess you've never experienced an electrical fire and I hope you don't. If you did, your attitude would be different.

I am unable to find on-line the article on electrical corrosion that Boat US published in this month's magazine. If I could, I would copy and paste it so you could read and educate yourself. And, I'd bet you don't purchase the marine insurance which subscribes one to the magazine, so you'll not read it yourself. But then who needs marine insurance...it ain't a rocket.

Mike,

Take a chill pill, the man is just trying to help. No need to get snarky.

andersaki

[REW]

Mike,
A couple of things.

If a battery is in a marine environment, it is a bit more subject to residue build up around the posts than say an automobile that is in a drier environment.

As a result, it is a good idea to frequently check the battery terminals and clean them - whenever needed of any and all corrosion.

After the terminals have been cleaned with a solution of water and baking soda and a stiff brush, then rinse everything with clean water and dry everything out.

Then, take your wheel bearing grease and give the terminals and connectors, a good coating of wheel bearing grease. Then, use install the items on the battery post, install the nut and tighten everything down with a wrench. When the nut is made tight, any grease between the connection and the battery post is displaced, but the remaining grease will retard air and moisture to reduce the corrosion.

---------------------------
If you have corrosion on the circuit breaker and or the brass strip that connects the circuit breaker to the terminal and if it can not be made to appear new by cleaning, then replace the breaker and brass bolt on strip, before coating the connections with grease to insure a good long term solution t your issue.

By the way, if you find that the corrosion has wicked its way back up the wire that is leading away from the circuit breaker, you want to strip the insulation back to the point of no corrosion and install a new ring connector on the end of the wire. Hopefully, you have some slack in that wire, if it is necessary to strip back insulation.

An example of an inexpensive 12 volt 40 amp bolt on circuit breaker.

Another thing that helps corrosion is the purchase of one of the felt washers of the correct color that is chemically treated to retard corrosion.

https://www.amazon.com/989-Anti-Corr.../dp/B000CQFS0O

The red washer goes on the + terminal and the green washer goes on the - terminal.

Good luck

[yarcraft91]

Originally Posted by MikeG1

All info appreciated.

Clean the connecting metal tab, evaluate how much metal has been lost to corrosion. Corrosion can look much worse than it really is. If it has just pitted the connector, re-use it, but put some grease on the battery post and metal connector before you re-connect them to minimize corrosion. The use of grease on battery connections is standard factory practice for batteries in new cars.

If you decide to replace the breaker, consider a different style of breaker, mounting the new breaker on a bulkhead near the battery and connecting the breaker to battery with a short battery cable. For a 40 amp breaker, #6 or #8 AWG wire will be sufficient and removes the breaker from any possibility of corrosion damage.

The way you responded to h8go4s isn't exactly consistent with your statement quoted above.