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Old 05-25-2017, 02:58 PM   #1
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Battery terminal corrosion

Has anyone experienced this before, just brought the trailer home from storage and couldn't figure out why there was no battery power? Found that one of the terminal connections had corroded completely through. We have dual batteries.

I can fix it but I wonder if there is a larger cause. The trailer was stored outside with a cover, we had recently installed a solar panel and it seemed to be keeping the batteries charged. I had checked it about a month ago. The battery switch was in the off position.

Thanks.
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Old 05-25-2017, 04:06 PM   #2
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I had a trickle charger slowly overcharge a car batt once. It would be wet on the top of the batt like yours. It was a trickle, yet it did not turn off at the right voltage cutoff, (faulty made in china wal-mart trickle charger).
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Old 05-26-2017, 07:56 AM   #3
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Dunnet,
I thought more folks would have chimed in to help here. Did you think of any more ideas to the cause of this? Does your solar still charge even if the batt switch is off?
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Old 05-26-2017, 09:30 AM   #4
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Dunnet,
I thought more folks would have chimed in to help here. Did you think of any more ideas to the cause of this? Does your solar still charge even if the batt switch is off?
Yeah, its wired that way, at least on mine. The idea being that the solar keeps the batteries charged when stored, regardless of the isolator switch. I too would suspect an issue with the solar charger.

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Old 05-26-2017, 09:44 AM   #5
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Yes, the batteries are being charged while the switch off.
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Old 05-26-2017, 10:03 AM   #6
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Yes, the batteries are being charged while the switch off.
Ive always used dielectric grease on battery terminals, both in my vehicles as well as my trailer. No corrosion.

I'm still thinking this was either caused by overcharging causing the battery to off gas or leak, or perhaps the battery was overfilled. I would check the levels, replace the cable, and use dielectric grease on the terminals.

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Old 05-26-2017, 10:07 AM   #7
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While this is just a guess, I suspect you hit enough of a bump to splash some battery acid onto the top of the battery & that "ate" the copper. Unless you have far more panels than Escape provides, you can't get enough current out of a solar panel or controller to melt the standard wiring.

I get enough rain water into the batteries in my 17 that I am in the habit of cleaning the top of the batteries every time I check the fluid level (about every month or two).
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Old 05-26-2017, 10:32 AM   #8
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Interesting take Jon. Wouldn't the caps prevent any leakage even on the hardest bumps - provided they're on tight?

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Old 05-26-2017, 01:32 PM   #9
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That's a riot. I JUST finished repairing my badly corroded cable end what looked exactly like yours. One battery looked ok but the other one had corrosion on both terminals. I am wondering if I forgot to put lithium grease on the corroded terminals last time I checked the batteries. I am not sure but I think this type of corrosion is "normal" unless you grease the connections as has been discussed above.
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Old 05-26-2017, 01:45 PM   #10
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I'd up the maintenance checks as well especially being in a high humidity environment. Usually do a fill and check on mine every 3 months and can catch any corrosion starting and treat it.
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Old 05-26-2017, 06:30 PM   #11
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Here is a photo of the repaired terminal, all greased up with a new connector and soldered wire. The burnt insulation is from the torch used to soldier the new connector. I checked the other terminals and there is a bit of flexibility, this might lead to cracks and eventually the break.
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Old 05-26-2017, 06:33 PM   #12
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Interesting take Jon. Wouldn't the caps prevent any leakage even on the hardest bumps - provided they're on tight?

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They should, but I have had some leakage from both batteries after a ride on a rough road. Not much, but probably enough to do damage.
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Old 05-26-2017, 07:03 PM   #13
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I've successfully used liquid electrical tape on battery terminals in a sailboat and in a trailer to prevent corrosion. You can usually find it at a marine store. The only downside is that you don't want it in an area which gets really hot, like next to an engine as it will turn back into a liquid.
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Old 03-11-2018, 08:44 PM   #14
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Battery terminal repair

Here are a couple of photos of the revised repair using a terminal block. It has been a year since the repair and it looks good.
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Old 03-12-2018, 03:45 AM   #15
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Where did you get those nice terminal blocks?
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Old 03-12-2018, 10:16 AM   #16
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I picked them up from an electrical supplier.
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