Corrosion On House Battery Hold Down Clips

[fzeuner]

I have been cleaning off the corrosion on the hold down clips on the house batteries long enough. They are Exide Batteries with painted metal clips holding them down.

The gas from the batteries eats off the paint and the clip grows a big flower, if you know what I mean.

Has anyone permanently solved this issue??

[dickandlois]

fzeuner,

I do not know of a permanent fix, you can use terminal spray paint or DC-4. one could make some hold down clips out of lexan, but you still have the hold down bolts.

So I clean them, paint them and coat them with grease. Not perfect, but they do last longer.

The other thing I do is pressure wash the battery's and the compartment after washing the area with a baking soda and water mix, to neutralize the acid every 6 months.

Park the coach in an area where the rust and acid will not stain a surface like concrete.

Rich.

[gmullen]

I put 3 oz of mineral Oil in each cell and It has eliminated my corrosion problem. Put it in over a year ago and have not had any problems. Installed new tie down straps at the same time and they still look new.

[fzeuner]

Mineral oil, that's interesting. it doesn't effect the performance of the battery? Also, what did you use for tie down straps? I was looking at the big straps they use on flex duct work in houses. They are long, large and probably would withstand any stress.

[wolfe10]

While mineral oil has long been used as a "home remedy" for bubbling of battery acid, I am not aware of a single battery manufacturer who recommends it.

So, before using, you might check with the manufacturer of your batteries.

[casuall454]

Mineral Oil ( baby oil ) is used in each of the cells to reduce the off gassing that occurs during the break down of sulfuric acid /water vapor in your batteries.

As the oil is a emulsion that floats on top of the water in your battery cell, this decreases sulfuric vapors being produced ( “big flowers” that you spoke of and yellow I’ll bet? ) yet while your driving down the road and your batteries are shaking the sulfuric gas is vented to the atmosphere and dissipated immediately.

As most batteries carry a three (3) to five (5) year warranty, you will have to decide if you want to add a nominal amount of mineral oil to your batteries or address the corrosion issue to your battery boxes and associated mounting hardware.

Best wishes on your choice.