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Time to check your batteries

I think that spring has finally arrived here in Ohio.  It seemed for a while that winter would never end as the cold weather continued almost through May.  However, it has been in the high 80s and low 90s with lots of sunshine, and what else do you need to get your camping fever going.

Since we are all planning a lot of RV trips this summer, this might be a good time to make sure our RV batteries are ready also.  I only mention this because when I checked mine today, that was not the case.  I figured I would check the water level and that would be it.  Instead it turned into a major project that took most of the afternoon.  I don’t have photos of my batteries, but this is an example of what I saw when I looked into the battery compartment:

The white, or green corrosion is a chemical reaction caused by the sulphuric acid in the battery.  It is dangerous, and can deteriorate the battery, the connectors, and the hold down bracket.  All in all, corrosion should be taken care of pronto.

In my motorhome I have a total of 6 batteries.  There are four 6VDC batteries which provide power for the coach facilities such as lights and entertainment.  In addition there are two 12VDC batteries which provide power to start the engine.  The coach batteries had several corroded connections and the battery hold down bracket was also corroded.

I took the whole mess apart, took the four coach batteries out and cleaned up the floor plate which holds them.  I also washed off the four batteries, cleaned up the connecting cables and the hold down bracket and then painted the bracket to help protect it from future corrosion.  In order to accomplish this I used copious amounts of baking soda dissolved in water.  I stuck the corroded connectors into the solution and the chemical reaction with the baking soda neutralized the corrosion and removed it from the connectors.  I also used baking soda to clean the tops of the batteries and to clean up the floor plate. 

After doing all the necessary cleaning and painting, I reassembled the system using a corrosion inhibiting grease on all the connections in order to minimize future corrosion.  If you decide to clean up your RV battery compartment, it is best to disconnect the negative terminal first, then the positive terminal.  When reassembling, reverse the proceedure and connect the positive first, then the negative terminal.  The reason for this is that the negative terminal is connected to ground and if you leave it connected, all the metal “stuff” around the battery is also connected to the negative terminal.  If you use a wrench to disconnect the positive terminal first, and you accidently touch any metal part, you will create a dead short through the wrench, which will cause a large arc and maybe a fire.  Best to disconnect the negative terminal first.

When I got finished with my project, I had a nice, clean battery compartment, ready to go camping.

Hopefully you are all inspired to get out there and get your batteries cleaned up.  If so, tell us about your experiences.

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