[RE-wrenches] battery venting; Corrosion

[Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems]

Almost all RV's have a small, poorly vented battery box with 4 GC2 batteries. We see corrosion all the time. When we replace batteries, we use zinc coated copper terminals and apply a thin layer of grease with a toothbrush to every exposed portion of the connectors. This simple step, with the occasional reapplication, keeps all terminals as fresh as the day installed for many years. I am speaking from experience of hundreds of installations. 

Larry Crutcher
Starlight Solar Power Systems

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On Jan 4, 2012, at 1:40 PM, Jeff Yago wrote:

Here is another issue related to this thread.  

Yes, you can build sealed battery boxes and add vent pipes, fans, whatever,
but battery terminals and battery cables installed in a confined box will
have far more problems with terminal corrosion due to more concentrated
forms of gasses and a mist of acid moisture that will settle on all
surfaces.

We have been called in to repair off-grid systems that used battery boxes
only a few years old that had battery cable ends and battery terminals
almost totally dissolved, yet, we have the same type batteries and cables
installed in larger well-ventilated battery rooms that you could eat off of
the floor 10 years later.

I say that battery boxes should be a last resort and used only when there is
no other way, and then you better make sure there are multiple sources of
adequate ventilation air.

Jeff Yago
DTI Solar Inc.