Stopping Battery Terminal Corrosion

Over time, battery terminals can frankly become a little damaged. Often due to this damage, the terminals begin to become corroded due to the acid that is inside of the batteries leaking out. Stopping battery terminal corrosion is quite frankly one of the best ways to keep your battery working for as long as it possibly can. There are pretty much as many different methods for stopping corrosion as there are people. All of these different methods though basically boil down to two general categories, which are prevention and cleaning.

Preventions is probably the best way to go ahead and stop the corrosion. After all, if you can prevent it from ever happening, then you have stopped it, right? The first option that you have is to use some petroleum jelly. Remove the connector cables on your battery, and then liberally coat the posts with the jelly. Once you have coated the posts, reattach the cables. This coating allows the electrical current to pass, while protecting from any potential corrosion. Another prevention option that you could use is to "paint" the posts. This is not going to be painting in the traditional sense, where you use house or automotive paint. Rather you are going to be using a silicone spray. You can purchase this conductive protectant at any auto parts store, and if they don't have it there then you can get it from radio shack.

When painting the terminal posts, you are going to once again make sure that you have removed the cable connections from the battery. Then simply spray the material onto the post and allow it to dry. When it has dried, then just reconnect the cables and you should be able to go about your daily business.

As was mentioned earlier, there is the other general category for stopping battery terminal corrosion is cleaning. Often, this is going to be the first option for many people. The reason for this is that most people simply do not take the time necessary to prevent corrosion from happening, nor do they realize that they should do so. In such situations, the first realization these people have is when there is a sudden buildup of corroded gunk on and between the terminals. Once again, you are going to need to disconnect your cable hookups, and then remove the battery. Use a wire brush, and a simple mixture of 3/4 cup of baking soda and 2-1/2 cups of warm water to clean the area. After the area has been cleaned, use one of the above methods for prevention to help reduce the risk of return corrosion.