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Wrenches,<br>
Russ in our Taos office sent me the following query. I haven't seen
this problem before and told him so, but others among you may know
more. <br>
<br>
What problems if any have you had with Quick-Cote battery terminal
coating? What else works really well and lasts the life of the
batteries?<br>
<br>
From Russ:<br>
We just had a situation involving Quick Cote on battery terminals
that has made us question its use for coating battery terminals and
cable lugs. We just installed a bank of HUPs on Monday using Quick
Cote. First we lost power with just the Trimetric and MX60 powered
up -- using an ohmmeter I found the problem to be a single jumper --
I got 7 megohms across two battery terminals connected by a jumper
-- so I replaced the jumper and got the Trimet and MX60 powered up
again. Then, when I powered up the OutBack inverters, there were
sparks on the battery terminals, and the power cut out again. At
that point I guessed that the problem must lie with the Quick Cote,
since ours has tiny crystals in it (it feels gritty), and I thought
those crystals must be holding the cable lugs off the battery
terminals a tiny bit. Sure enough, Mark and I took the cables off,
wiped off the Quick Cote from the contact surfaces and applied
vaseline, and when we powered up the system, no sparks. (So, the
jumper I removed probably wasn't to blame for the first loss of
power.)<br>
<br>
Our container of Quick Cote stayed on the truck (which stays parked
outside) during the seriously cold weather we got this winter, so it
probably froze. I'm guessing that's when the crystals formed.
Nowhere on the Quick Cote label does it say to keep it from freezing
though.<br>
<br>
We're going to go back out to another job to wipe off the Quick Cote
from the contact surfaces of the battery terminals and cable lugs,
since we just installed four new batteries there and used Quick
Cote, and I remember it being gritty at that time as well.<br>
<br>
Is your Quick Cote gritty?<br>
<br>
Russ<br clear="all">
<br>
<br>
I told Russ that it always has been gritty. When it's dried out in
the can (they often leak), I have added an oil-based carrier to thin
it - usually WD40, as it's on the truck - and it's always mixed
easily. So it's definitely solvent-based and shouldn't be affected
by freezing.<br>
<br>
I haven't had this problem before. I have found terminal bolts too
loose and that has caused failures, but never the coating.<br>
<br>
Thank you,<br>
Allan<br>
<br>
<div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span class="il"><b style="">Allan</b></span><b
style=""> Sindelar</b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
<a href="mailto:Allan@positiveenergysolar.com" target="_blank"><span
class="il">Allan</span>@positiveenergysolar.com</a><br>
NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer<br>
EE98J Journeyman Electrician<br>
<b style="">Positive Energy, Inc.</b><br>
3201 Calle Marie<br>
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507<br>
<b style="">505 424-1112</b><br>
<a href="http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/" target="_blank">www.positiveenergysolar.com</a></span></p>
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