Battery hold down corrosion

[smittykid]

Other than the battery top leaking, what else could cause this kind of corrosion? The damage was on the passenger side of the hold down. The fellow I bought the car from had already installed the red & green felt post pads. The posts on the battery were clean as a whistle & except for the corrosion, the hold down looked almost brand new. I cleaned off the top of the battery and installed a new hold down yesterday. There was a very small amount of water/acid between the caps. I will be keeping a very close eye on the battery top. The battery seems to take a charge just fine with no issues. Any thoughts? Thanks, Smitty

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Yo' Smittty Kid,
Just usual stuff that happens on most cars.
To clean it, Chief taught me to slowly pour boiling HOT water on the area. The ACID, with heat added, acts as it's OWN cleaner.
Poke old corroded battery cable ends in a can of HOT water & they come out looking LIKE NEW! ! Put your braided ground strap in HOT water & it'll look like NOS!
Bill W.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I always use hot water to clean off batteries. Pour on a few ounces and let it set for a few seconds, then pour on the rest of the gallon to be sure it's well rinsed.

Overcharging is probably the biggest cause of acid on top of the battery. I always use an electronic voltage regulator and haven't had any problems. I wonder how powder coating would hold up on the clamp? Maybe spray the underside of the clamp with 3M rubberized undercoating.

[Lawson Cox]

I have always sprinkled baking soda on the corrosion and rinsed it off with water. What does the hot water have to do with it??

[Mitch//pa]

You got good answers hot water and overcharging...

[Kurt in NJ]

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Overfilling the cells also is a cause of corrosion/ acid discharge

do not fill a discharged battery any more than to cover the plates --the level will rise as the battery comes to full charge

[Mitch//pa]

Yep what Kurt said also
Many people think a battery gets filled to the top

[MikeK]

I wonder if THESE would fit a group one 6V and how well they would work.
Any Guinea pigs out there? You would need three.

[Willie Krash]

Once cleaned, my preference hot water and baking soda, coat the areas you wish to protect with syrup. Include the cable ends at the battery.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by smittykid

Other than the battery top leaking, what else could cause this kind of corrosion? The damage was on the passenger side of the hold down. The fellow I bought the car from had already installed the red & green felt post pads. The posts on the battery were clean as a whistle & except for the corrosion, the hold down looked almost brand new. I cleaned off the top of the battery and installed a new hold down yesterday. There was a very small amount of water/acid between the caps. I will be keeping a very close eye on the battery top. The battery seems to take a charge just fine with no issues. Any thoughts? Thanks, Smitty

Acid mist from charging.

[smittykid]

Thanks, guys!

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by MikeK

I wonder if THESE would fit a group one 6V and how well they would work.
Any Guinea pigs out there? You would need three.

Good morning, Mike,
Servicing Highway Patrol Chryslers, the battery caps were almost ALWAYS melted! We saved good used caps to replace them. Some caps were like "hard rubber" & would last well. The UNDERHOOD temps must have been like HADES!!!
Bill W.