# strange corrosion on one battery



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

Hi,
Have my battery's lined up and wired in parallel. I had car battery that I wanted to
keep charged up so I hooked it up at the end of the line. I used the same wires and 
terminals at the battery. The car battery terminals are covered in corrosion. All of the other
deep cycle battery's look like the day I put them in there. 
Strange? I'll try and get a picture tomorrow


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## tinkerhell (Oct 8, 2014)

The most common cause for corrosion on a battery is the hydrogen gases that vent during charging. The venting occurs during regular charging as well as excessive charging so it is hard to say which one is happening.

Whenever corrosion starts, cleaning it is a good idea. Don't touch it as it is very toxic. Also be carefull moving it, i got some on a favor pair of jeans and it ate a huge hole through it.

Baking soda and water can be used to nuetralize the acid on the battery, the solution will bubble when it comes in contact with acid. Once cleaned, a toothbrush and battery terminal cleaning solution might be needed to get the terminals nice and clean. The baking soda will help you stretch the life of the cleaning solution.

I'm going to try to get my thoughts together on the issue of charging vs overcharging. Will post something this evening.


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## tinkerhell (Oct 8, 2014)

Ok, waiting for the coffee makers to do its thing.

Charging in parallel:

This is best done with batteries of the same make and condition. And, periodically the batteries will need to be treated with a balancing charge where you charge them individually to the same battery voltage.

When parallel batteries go out of ballance, the battery with the lowest charge will receive the bulk of the current from a charging system. Excessive charge currents could result.

this might be what you are experiencing. Best way to tell is measure each battery when they are disconnected from each other


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

A little WD40 on the terminals will help stop the corrosion from forming.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

The chemically impregnated felt washers never fail me. A couple of bucks at Wallyworld or elsewhere.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

The sulfuric acid fumes from a poorly sealled post causes the post and connector to corrode. Once the lead sulfate crystalizes you have to scrape it off the post. If it is black when you use a brush it is lead sulfate. The wires turn green from copper sulfate. What they have in common is sulfuric acid reacting with the base metals. To clean your battery without the mess of baking soda use a 50/50 mix of water and "Sudsy Ammonia". (you can use straight ammonia and water but the Sudsy brand has a detergent in it that leaves a residue that slows future corrosion. 

Those felt washers that they call "battery protectors" are just common wool felt soaked with a base solution (like ammonia) that doesn't evaporate as quickly as ammonia.


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