Battery terminal Powder

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 26 Jun 2011, 22:22

Hi all,

Ive a customer car which keeps dooing this:

Ive greased the terminal now to stop it but shall see end of this week if it has stopped it...

My Q is, what causes the POSITIVE to powder up like this??

Paul

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 26 Jun 2011, 22:27

maybe an electralight leak at the base of the pole ( a crack ???) Paul,

or there is a bad conection on the terminal, i see its got one of them oribble aftermeercat terminals fitted, with the secureing screws (NOT ) suposadly holding the core of the cable,

regards malcolm

Post by **Peter.N.** » 26 Jun 2011, 22:33

I would agree Paul there is probably a crack in the battery or the acid is leaking up the terminal post, a good coat of grease should cure it.

Peter

Post by **CitroJim** » 26 Jun 2011, 22:41

Not had this happen for years now but the old method was to clean off the corrosion by pouring boiling water over the terminal and then coating liberally in Vaseline as Peter says.... Vaseline in preference to anything else...

If it does not cure it and the batter is still good, clean it up really well again and pour a bit of hot pitch around it. Pitch was what was always used in the olden days to seal batteries...

Post by **Peter.N.** » 26 Jun 2011, 22:58

Don't they still use it?

Post by **CitroJim** » 27 Jun 2011, 05:40

Peter.N. wrote:Don't they still use it?

Like everything these days, they seem to be all plastic nowadays Peter

addo · Post by **addo** » 27 Jun 2011, 09:52

Women, too.

HDI · Post by **HDI** » 27 Jun 2011, 10:42

That is almost certainly a slight leak from around the base of the terminal.
I use Wynns terminal battery grease spray which is excellent at preventing the problem and also turns yellow in the presence of electrolyte thus confirming it.

Gibbo2286 · Post by **Gibbo2286** » 27 Jun 2011, 16:12

disconnect it and wash it off with boiling water before you grease it or it will just come back quickly, don't use car grease use Vaseline or Lanolin. G.

addo · Post by **addo** » 27 Jun 2011, 21:26

Very informative; I have the same problem on a cheapish battery so it's good to know the cause and solutions.