[RE-wrenches] Battery Terminal Connections

[penobscotsolar at midmaine.com]

And I would second, third and fourth Alan, Ray and William's
recommendations.Stainless steel flat washers on both sides of the terminal
with a split washer and vaseline coating have kept almost all of our
battery banks trouble free over the last twenty five years. We provide
each customer a laminated "battery care sheet" for the top of the battery
box. It includes watering instructions, "clean, bright and tight"
recommendations for the hardware,yearly cleaning of the battery top
surface with warm water, being sure to keep the battery tops tight, and
also recommendations of a yearly wipe down and re-application of a thin
coat of vaseline. This advice has kept us remarkably service call free on
our battery based systems (about 180 or so in Maine and the Caribbean)

Daryl


> Friends:
>
> In my opinion, the single most important procedure is to put a flat washer
> between the bolt head and the lead flag.
>
> Many, many times I have seen the bolt head sink into the flag, loosening
> the connection.  You know it has happened because the lead moves in around
> the bolt threads and makes the bolt difficult to remove.  I saw this twice
> last week, both with systems we installed, using hardware provided by the
> manufacturer that did not include flat washers.  We now provide the flat
> washers and use lock washers as well.
>
> Second most important procedure:  clean, shiny, metal-to-metal
> connections,
> torqued before any coating is applied.
>
> William Miller _______________________________________________
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