Let Mother Nature tell you where to target specks and reds this month.
Have you ever wiped that wet, sticky looking mess off the top of a battery and then come back a short time later only to see it wet again? The culprit is battery acid deposited on the battery top when vapors spew from the vent caps during normal charging.
The layer of acid pulls moisture out of the air through a process called hygroscopic action, and the resulting sticky residue attracts dirt like flypaper.
Wiping won’t fix the problem, you have to neutralize the acid. Carefully washing the battery top with a mixture of baking soda and water accomplishes this and ends the problem. Be careful to keep the baking soda solution out of the battery cells because you don’t want it neutralizing the acid in them. Leaving the battery’s fill caps tightly in place will protect the cells as long as the solution isn’t splashed around on the battery top.
Left untreated, the layer of crud can conduct a slight current flow between the battery’s positive and negative posts and drain the battery even when all accessories are turned off.
An invisible coating of crud on the battery posts is another common problem that is difficult to detect. Enough of it can form between the posts and terminal connectors to insulate them from each other.
Scraping the post or the inside of the connector turns the crud into a visible, powdery residue confirming the problem. A few turns of the metal brush in a rotary terminal cleaner will make the posts and terminals clean and shiny and restore the connection.
Mix a baking soda and water solution in a jar and then soak the battery cable terminal ends in it until they stop bubbling. Let the terminal ends dry and reconnect them to the battery posts. Spraying the cleaned and tightened connections with a battery terminal sealer or covering them with a special dielectric grease will slow the formation of crud in the future. Sealer spray and dielectric grease are both available at auto parts stores.
Check the electrolyte levels in the cells of a flooded battery regularly and add distilled water as necessary to keep the plates covered. Dry plates can warp and touch each other causing a dead short in the cell and ruining the battery.
Recharge flooded cell, deep-cycle batteries as soon as possible after use, and keep them at least 75 percent charged while you are waiting to use them again.
Waiting until the night before your next fishing trip to recharge your batteries allows sulfation to form on the battery’s plates. The battery’s ability to store and produce power declines as the amount of plate surface area crusted over with sulfation increases. Sulfation kills most flooded cell batteries long before their internal components wear out.
Sealed, maintenance free batteries using absorbed glass mat (AGM) or gel technology don’t spew water vapor and acid droplets onto their tops unless you overcharge them or they develop catastrophic internal problems.
The absence of this dirt-attracting crud keeps these batteries and their connections looking like new all season long.
Prompt recharging is not as critical with these batteries (especially gel models), but it is still a good habit to develop. An annual post cleaning might be in order; otherwise, these batteries live up to their maintenance-free rating.
Full-maintenance, flooded-cell batteries offer more amps per pound and per dollar than maintenance-free types, but unless you are willing to keep them clean and full of water you should consider maintenance-free models instead.
