Terminals

Some people rarely open the hood of the car except to refill car fluids. When was the last time you opened your hood? Chances are, if you have not checked lately, you will find that your battery terminals may have corroded a bit. A battery terminal is the post on your car battery that is attached to a clamp.

Regardless of the battery terminal types, there is always going to be some battery terminal corrosion. Do you know how the corrosion developed? It seems that the acid in your batteries produce a gas, specifically hydrogen. When you engine is engaged, a tiny amount of gas escapes. The fumes from the gas are tainted with the dirt, humidity and other elements such as the oil, grease and coolant. They react with the gas and a white crusty crust develops on the battery cable terminals.

While you cannot halt the corrosion, you can certainly slow down that corrosive buildup on the terminals. One such product you can use is called battery terminal anti-corrosion compound. Before you can apply it to your battery terminals, dual battery terminals if you have more than one battery, you will have to clean the existing terminals. Cleaning corroded battery terminals takes just a bit of elbow grease.

You can use a small wire brush to scrub off the white crusty deposits. Afterwards, brush with a baking soda solution. You can buy special battery terminal cleaners like little wire brushes or chemical solutions. However, when it come to battery terminal treatment, you should always were safety goggles and gloves. This is a precaution due to the corrosive nature that slowly leaks out of the battery. You have to be especially diligent about cleaning heavy duty battery terminals.

If you don’t want to contend with that corrosion as much, look into copper battery terminals. They don’t have as much of the corrosion factor as other materials. In fact, you likely don’t have to worry much about battery terminal cleaning period.

If you have more than one battery in your car, chances are that you had to use battery terminal crimpers in order to create new connections for the new battery. If you do have a second or even a third battery, you need to ensure that they each have a battery terminal protector.

The bottom line is that once terminals become corroded, they start getting intermittent connectivity. By taking care of your battery diligently, you will less likely develop corrosion.