Battery Hold Down Corrosion

[Joel Ashley]

The battery hold down system on our coach has been problematic since we got it in 2006.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who's experienced these issues, and am wondering what others have done about it.

I try to keep the tray and batteries clean and the cable connectors free of sulfur bloom and corrosion.  The nylon strap hold down system though is tougher to deal with.  The screws that mount the strap ends to the tray bloom and corrode in spite of my attempts to retard their deterioration, and are difficult to clean and treat because you have to remove the batteries to do a proper job of it.   I've even slipped those red and green felt battery post anti-corrosion rings down over the strap fittings, but the screws still rust.  Stainless screws will be my next move there.

The biggest headache though is the quick-connect buckles on the nylon straps.  The original equipment plastic ones actually melted.  Apparently acidic fumes must creep down the strapping and concentrate at the bottom where it mounts to the buckle/connector.  The nylon straps themselves incur no harm, but the male upper connector halves connected to them literally melt!

So I searched hardware stores left and right and finally found some chromed 1 inch metal quick connect buckles at a Coastal ranch supply store in the horse harness dept.   A niece we were visiting last summer sewed the female half onto the tray side strapping, just like the original plastic one was configured, one for each of my two sets of straps.  I then sprayed the new metal connectors with Permatex battery post anti-corrosion paint, though it didn't cover chrome very well.  

Son of a gun the other day I went to clean the batteries and check acid levels, and one of the male halves of the new buckles was shot.  The only place it corroded was where the long strap wrapped around it's slots;  almost totally eaten away and covered in white bloom.  The squeeze nubs and the rest of the buckle half were unmarred and fully functional, still clean and paint entact.  Only where the nylon strap figure eighted around the slots did it rot away.  The nylon clean as a whistle;  but obviously fumes must condense on the strapping where it crosses over battery tops, and leach down, concentrating where the strap winds around the connector half.  The sewn-in female buckle half attached to the tray is unaffected.

Now I find Coastal doesn't sell that chrome connector anymore, but I'm gonna keep looking, and if I find one I will super-coat it with anti-acid paint and try again.  I'd try stainless if such a buckle was made, but acid might get to it as well.  

One shouldn't have to rinse and dry one's strapping once a week to deal with this annoyance.  I've either got to halt the leaching down the strapping somehow, or find a better or more resistant buckle/connector system.  Anyone else successfully dealt with the issue?

[Richard And Babs Ames]

Hold down are probably overkill and not required. We have not had a battery jump in 30 years and 500 plus miles. We went with AGM batteries over the Trojans wet cells and have no problems now.

[Mike And Mary Engen]

We have 6 volt golf cart batteries and eliminated our problem by just using the original battery caps.  The set we replaced had to be cleaned all of the time and we had similar issues to yours.  We were told the problem was the quick release caps that released all three with a pivoting mechanism, they leak alot. Not sure what you have for battery caps, but thought we would mention it.  No more corrosion as the acid isn't leaking out.
Note: We neutralized the entire area with some spray that comes out yellow and turns pink when it finds acid, bought it at either Walmart or NAPA, then the new batteries went in.

[Joel Buchan]

Go with the AGM's and get rid of the hold downs. Batteries will do fine w/o tie downs.  Life Line AGM batteries would be my choice.  Then you can look into a good solar system. Four panels and controler, then you will never need to be plugged in.  My system works great with power to spare. AM Solar out of Springfield, OR.

[Richard And Babs Ames]

http://store.solar-electric.com/batwatmiscap.html Water Miser Battery Caps have a good reputation and are not a problem when you equalize.

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

Joe,

You may try velcro to hold the straps together, or just eliminate them.  We have 8 batteries without tie downs and no problems bouncing out ot the tray.  Our '98 Patriot did not have tie downs either.

Larry

[Gerald Farris]

Joel is right about AGM batteries not being a cost effective solution for his problem, as it would probably be around $1,000.00 repair and he probably still has around 4 years left on his OEM batteries.  

If you have not done so yet I would thoroughly clean the problem parts that are reuseble and soak them in a paste of baking soda and water to neutralize all acid before coating them with a good protectant like the Permatex paint.

If you are having to water your batteries too often (every 3-4 weeks) you are either overcharging the batteries or you need better battery caps. Either one will cause excess gasing and therefore corrosion.

If the only problem you are having is with the hold-downs on the batteries, check carefully to see if they are needed. If the batteries are mounted in a snug tray that goes up about half of their hieght like my Marquis, the hold-downs are not needed and may have been only added for liability protection. However if the batteries are not snug and in a deep tray the hold-downs are neccessary.

Gerald  

[Richard And Babs Ames]

Our coach does not have the tie downs and the snug fit tray is 3/4 inch angle. We have over 100,000 miles without a problem.

We went with http://www.eastpenn-deka.com/ AGM after having to rebuild the rack and hearing of 8 plus year users and still going strong. We got about 5 years out of the Trojan wet cells and they did very well using little water the first three then getting pretty gasey the last two years of use.  We store under a pole barn plugged in for our dehumidifier in FL.  Hope our AGM's work like the reports we have gotten.

[MarcRodstein]

I have had Lifeline AGM's for 3 years and I just love them. They have much more power than my old Interstate batteries, recharge faster, and there is never any need to add water or clean up corrosion. To me, that makes them worth their cost. I just replaced my starting batteries with Optima AGM's and now I never have to check batteries for water or corrosion again.

[Bill White]

I just put the water miser caps on new batteries that was just installed.  I will report the results later, but I was having a lot of corrosion problems too.  It's the outgassing of the batteries as they charge and it is very corrosive.  If the water miser caps return the gases back into the batteries as water, then that should fix the problem.