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Battery Box Corrosion
Posted on Sunday, October 01 @ 22:01:42 UTC by Ryan

General Information ChuckW writes: BATTERY MAINTENANCE

Like a lot of HMV owners’ I don’t drive my vehicles as much as I would like. In fact, my M38 rarely comes out of the garage except for vehicle rallies. For the last few years, I have been plagued by battery acid corrosion damage to the battery boxes in my M38, especially the cowl box.



This year, I decided to do something to stop this problem. I pulled the batteries and hold-down hardware out of both boxes, and gave the boxes a good scrub down with a baking soda and water mix to neutrilize the acid, followed with a good soap and water scrub. After everything was dry, I wire brushed, primered and repainted the damaged areas on the outside of the boxes, and recoated the inside of the boxes with undercoating.
Before I reinstalled my batteries, I looked around on the internet and found a product called Battery Mat. It’s a felt-like pad that is impregnated with acid absorbing chemicals.  When the pad is placed under the battery, it acts to collect acid fumes coming from the battery and soaks up liquid also to prevent acid from eating under the battery and around the sides. The Battery Mat is thin enough that no modification is needed to the battery mounting system, and the battery stays solidly secure as normal. The battery mat should last 3 years under normal conditions.
I found out that the US Military is using this same product to prevent corrosion damage on current issue vehicles. I ordered four 8” x 12” black battery mats from DC CarCare for only $16.75, including priority shipping. DC CarCare web site address is: http://www.dccarcare.com/battery.html 

DC CarCare president Don Mallinson also provided me with the following tips for long term battery storage:
  I will give you this advice from my years of storing old cars.  Keep  your battery hooked up to a small battery maintainer.  I do not sell these currently, but the ones I like are from Battery Tender JR.  Go to this web site for the best prices on the internet  http://www.accwhse.com/batteryt.htm

  The basic Battery Tender Jr is what I mostly use, but the upscale version is a bit nicer.  Once I started using these on all my old cars and on my lawn equipment that may sit for weeks at a time, I never have had any more battery acid accumulation.
  Make sure you start with a healthy battery, have it tested by a good shop, I like Interstate Battery.  Clean everything up and make sure there is no bare metal.  Use a battery post spray (not grease, although I did use it for years, it is messy), and Interstate sell a good clear one, no need to have the messy red stuff.
  With the Battery Mat, a maintainer and a healthy battery, you should stop any acid accumulation and damage problems.

Battery Mat absorbant material

 
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M37 Operators Manual


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"Battery Box Corrosion" | Login/Create an Account | 5 comments | Search Discussion
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Re: Battery Box Corrosion (Score: 1)
by ltsaile on Friday, November 03 @ 13:01:46 UTC
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Good article... I don't know if this helps others but I run my M38 jeep at least once or twice a month during winter garage storage, just to keep batteries charged. They are not on a trickle charger. It seem to work so far, knock on wood... jim



Re: Battery Box Corrosion (Score: 1)
by ChuckW on Tuesday, December 14 @ 21:05:33 UTC
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Follow up: Three years later and the battery boxes look great. No corrosion or signs of rust. I'm very pleased with the battery mats and will be replacing them soon.



Re: Battery Box Corrosion (Score: 1)
by usma1941 on Sunday, November 09 @ 13:37:02 UTC
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What I did with mine, I bought some dry hard spray undercoating and after cleaning the box' sprayed them on the inside, so far so good. I was also told by a battery manufacture that you do not need to put so much water in the cell's. Another little trick was to dampen a wash cloth and pour baking soda on it, after drying put it on the bottom of the box.



Re: Battery Box Corrosion (Score: 1)
by ChuckW on Tuesday, August 07 @ 15:30:26 UTC
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Followup: After 12 years, I replaced the battery mats with new ones. No sign of corrosion on any of the battery box components. Very satisfied.



 



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