RV Battery Maintenance 101: Preventing Corrosion and Damage
RV batteries provide the means to start your RV and power its 12-volt appliances. When you think about it, your RV’s batteries enable you to enjoy a lot of the amenities in your RV that make it a little home on wheels wherever you go.
Your lights, water pump, furnace, and fridge need a fully functional house battery to operate well. All things considered, our RV batteries do an awful lot for us. All they ask in return is a little love and attention so they can do their job properly. After all, a corroded battery can put a damper on the fun in your RV.
What does battery corrosion look like?
Battery corrosion is pretty easy to spot. It’s a pale whitish, blue/green crust that forms around your battery posts. Whether it’s the chassis battery that fires up your engine or the house battery that runs your 12-volt appliances, corrosion on your battery terminals will prevent or slow electricity from traveling through the cables that connect your battery to your converter (or starter if it’s a chassis battery).
With that being said, a corroded battery won’t be able to deliver electricity, at least not efficiently. So, what do you do if you spot some of this blue-green, fun-killing stuff on either of your battery posts?
What to do if you have a corroded battery
If you don’t take steps to prevent battery corrosion on your chassis or house batteries, you’ll need to deal with corroded battery terminals sooner or later.
If you’ve got whitish/bluish-green powdery stuff on your battery posts, you’ve definitely got corrosion. Here’s how to get rid of it and prevent more from forming.
You’ll need:
- Nalgene or rubber gloves
- Safety glasses
- A ratchet with an appropriate socket, or a wrench or crescent wrench
- A wire brush or a toothbrush
- Dielectric grease
How To Clean And Protect Your Battery Terminals
- Safety first. Start by donning a pair of rubber gloves and safety glasses.
- Disconnect the negative (black) battery cable first, using the appropriate sized socket, wrench, or crescent wrench.
- Disconnect the positive (red) battery cable second.
- Use a brush to gently scrub the corrosion away and wipe up any residue with a damp paper towel.
- Apply dielectric grease to each battery post to prevent corrosion from forming again.
How To Prevent A Corroded Battery
Apply grease
The easiest way to prevent battery corrosion in your RV is to apply a layer of grease to each post and check them regularly for corrosion.
While you could use any kind of grease for this, dielectric grease may have some advantages over other types of grease because it’s dirt, salt, and corrosion-resistant. Other types of grease tend to attract dirt and dust.
Stay on top of your RV maintenance
Make sure you keep track of all your RV maintenance and repairs with an online tool such as RV LIFE Maintenance. Not only can you keep all of your documents in one place, but you’ll also receive timely reminders when maintenance is due to help you avoid costly repairs and potentially serious accidents.
Related articles:
- Do You Have The Right Batteries For Your Power Needs?
- Are RV Lithium Batteries Worth The Upgrade?
- The Best Rechargeable Batteries For Dry Camping
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