Weird Battery Issue

What y'all are looking at is my 2 golf cart batts in their rack. The one on the right has a growth on the bottom of its rack underneath the strap, it's actually pushing the strap outwards. Pic 3 is the strap undone and showing this growth. I'm assuming this is aluminum oxide, but why is it there? The strap is plastic, so not conductive. The batts are in battery boxes, not touching the aluminum racks. The last 2 pics are the eaten up cable which I will replace. I chipped this stuff away from the rack and vacuumed up the fuzzy crud.The batts are grounded to the frame of the boat, along with everything else. What's happening here and how can I fix it?
Thanks in advance.
Mike
P.S: Sorry for the less than stellar pictures.

Can't tell from the photos but this is what I have seen when batteries are boiling out because of overcharge. Was the top of the battery wet? Sign of overcharge... Overcharge can occur when one of the batteries are taking on a large charge, (shorted or week cell) and the other is being over charged as a result. Something to check......

The aluminum racks are grounded, right?

It looks to me like the battery boxes are slightly wet like everything on a boat. That creates a circuit from the pos battery terminal through the wet box to the rack to ground. That creates a corrosion situation and leads to the aluminum oxide that you see.

Clean up the oxide, insulate the rack and the problem should go away.

Now where was that cable connected?? The corrosion on the end is the result of a long term bad connection. The voltage drop across that connection led to the corrosion.

David

Don't remember any wet on top Roger, but will look next time at the boat, thanks.

David: The boat is all aluminum stem to stern, but the racks are not grounded other than being welded to the boat. By insulate do you mean keep the batts and their boxes separated from the racks by something like a rubber gasket under each one?

And the cable was connected from the neg terminal on the right batt to the pos terminal on the left batt. 2 six volt golf cart batts.

Possible battery leak? Take some of the battery cleaner you can get a wally world and sprey on it. If it changes color then you may have a leak from over charging or the battery is cracked.

Acid wicking down the strap from a leak above??

Wicking possible, battery cleaner a great idea worth trying.

Greetings,
Mr. GC. Hoo boy...REALLY hard to remember Chemistry 101 but, and I stand to be corrected by someone who knows for sure...I have witnesses this corrosion/fuzzy stuff (fs) before in areas that are nowhere near any aluminum. The electrolyte in wet cells is sulfuric acid. Pretty well reacts with most metals. While the fs may be aluminum sulfate, it could also be lead sulphate (from battery posts) or zinc sulphate (galvanized plating on battery cables).
As mentioned, the ER is quite a damp place so any vaporous acidics from battery out gassing or actual electrolyte boiled off from overcharging can quite easily be distributed almost anywhere in proximity to your batteries. Again as mentioned, it could be wicking down the hold down strap and concentrating where the strap is close to the frame.
Solutions? Clean up and neutralize any acidic residue around the batteries and on the hold down straps. Consider painting the battery trays with something to minimize corrosion in the future. Coat cable ends with grease and keep a close eye on any electrolyte around the tops of the batteries.
You might consider spraying the tray with something similar to this:
http://www.batterystuff.com/battery-products/miscellaneous-accessories/bcp-10.html
I'm sure one of the automotive supply places (O'reilly's, NAPA or the like) will have an anti-corrosion spray that's easy to apply.

Well Mr. RT, the strap is sounding like the culprit here, need to figure out a way to isolate the straps from the top of the batts and see if that works.

Greetings,
Mr. GC. I don't think it IS possible to effectively isolate the strap. Could you change out the strap to a non-woven material? Stiff rubber perhaps? or maybe coat the strap in something like this.... Plasti Dip Protective Coating Products | Plasti Dip Protective Coating Products | Rubber Dip Coating

Yeah, there has to be a better strap out there RT, those are cheapo straps that work fine but I'll look around and see. It will be well worth it if new straps stop the bats from eating up my boat. Thanks to all for the suggestions.

Things I'd try:

1. Thorough cleaning and neutralization of entire area and all components.

2. Rubber mat under each battery to isolate it from the hull

3. Thick rubber pads at each strap corner to protect the strap from direct contact with battery fluids

4. Regular monitoring to watch for changes/leaks.

If you have battery acid on the battery tops, try water miser caps or something similar to minimize loss of water.

Are the batteries relatively new and healthy?

You probably have done this but if not, I would suggest to turn your charger off for several hours, dependent on your load. You want a small load on it. Then after a few hours under load check the voltage of each individual 6 volt battery. They should be very close to the same voltage. Much difference you have a battery weak and probably causing overcharge/boil on the other battery. If that is the case replace both at the same time.

I agree with a wet strap providing a conductive path

You can mix up baking soda and water to clean the battery, strap and mounting area. The baking soda neutralizes the acid.

Al: The batteries are about a year and a half, old, maybe 2 years. I'll clean them up and get the straps off the tops, I have some rubber insulation that should work. Thanks to each of you for the suggestions, I'll follow them and see what happens.

Instead of strapping directly over the top of the battery,why not strap over the top cover?You could place some builders foam sheet over the battery to prevent chafing through the cover, or some EVA foam sheet similar to what yoga mats are made of.That would prevent wicking of battery electrolytes through the straps.

I just looked at the Flow Rite Pro-Fil system for keeping batteries full of water, I think it was been mentioned on TF awhile back. Looks like a great idea, is anyone out there using this gadget to fill their batteries?

I haven't used that particular one.When I was a maintenance man,I used the trojan model to keep the batteries full on various pieces of equipment where some of the batteries were difficult to reach.Never had an issue.Just check the water level in the tank and fill with distilled water as needed.

Imperceptible crack or pin hole in battery case at or on circumference around pole. Pushes acid up onto pole exterior during high rate charge because the moisture follows up the pole. This can happen even if cells are not at all full. Year ago on my gen set starter batt I kept getting unusually high rates of sulfating that ate up items hooked onto the battery clamp. Even though battery kept working fine I finally gave up, hauled it out and went to Batteries Plus store with that battery. I planned to purchase new one and keep older offending battery as an extra. They did some heavy draw downs and found old battery well charged with plenty of life left. Then they gave it a high amp jolt charge and the problem became apparent as acid-moisture quickly began oozing out of area around terminal. I left that old bat with them. Gen set is enjoying its new batt!

Hope this helps - Good Luck!

Happy Batt Daze!! - Art

This is not a cure but have you ever heard of battery mat

Battery Mat home page

great product they have a dealer in Baton Rouge I think out on Airline highway near Evangaline but certainly south of the curve

I have used this product with great results but it is still important to try to trace the issue

You can also just line the bottom of your battery boxes with baking soda before you drop in the batteries.

siestakey said:

This is not a cure but have you ever heard of battery mat

Battery Mat home page

great product they have a dealer in Baton Rouge I think out on Airline highway near Evangaline but certainly south of the curve

I have used this product with great results but it is still important to try to trace the issue

Click to expand...

Hi siestakey

Thanks for description and link.

Battery Mat's general literature reads interesting. I went through their website and could not locate too much in-depth info on most products they offer... virtually no pictures (only two bad quality photos of the Matt) and no diagrams. Interestingly, there is no mention of price nor a way to order off the site (maybe I missed something??); simply a phone # and email address.

Are they just not too good on marketing to the public; already having plenty of biz from govt. contracts??

How'd you order yours / any retail dealers in the U.S. - Like NAPA or O'Reilly auto stores?

I like to touchy-feel before purchase and surely to at least see in-depth, descriptive product pictures. Although your post is convincing... you'd think testimonials from others as well as some pictures of instillations aboard boat, in car, etc would be a good idea for them to expand sales.

Happy Batt Daze - Art

Capt.Bill11 said:

You can also just line the bottom of your battery boxes with baking soda before you drop in the batteries.

Click to expand...

Great idea. I drop baking soda alongside the batteries into the box after install, but only a 1/4 inch or less of wiggle room.

When batteries vent they vent some acid vapor. IMO a cover with plenty of air space and air vents may condense some of that and keep in inside

I just bought the FlowRite battery filler system. It's pretty simple to install and should be a big help in watering the batts, they're in a PIA place to reach, requires a mirror to look down at the holes while filling. I'll let y'all know how this works out.

Gulf Comanche said:

I just bought the FlowRite battery filler system. It's pretty simple to install and should be a big help in watering the batts, they're in a PIA place to reach, requires a mirror to look down at the holes while filling. I'll let y'all know how this works out.

Click to expand...

Hey GC - I look forward to learn your success. Just went through FlowRite website.

My boat batts:

- Four 31 deep cells batts (house bank and engine starters)... nestled low in ER center, between stringers... way to rear of twins, by transmissions and shafts, underneath Professional Mariner charger.

- One 27 starter batt for gen set... far to front of ER... charged by Gen Set when running and trickle-amp solar panel when not.

- One emergency-only isolated 27 combo batt in its own box at center of ER (slightly to port, past stringer)... charged by trickle-amp independent charger that is usually turned on when AC elect power runs by dock or gen set.

Distance from house bank to gen set starter 8' +/-; isolated emergency batt in-between.

Question I have regarding FlowRite: Am I correct that it would be used only for the four 31's as house bank... seeing as the other batts are so distant from house bank? Or, are there ways to have water feed tube routed to all batts?

It does require contortion feats to do house bank and gen starter... although it's only needed for quick check-up in six months and fill-up per year intervals.

sunchaser said:

Great idea. I drop baking soda alongside the batteries into the box after install, but only a 1/4 inch or less of wiggle room.

Click to expand...

If you have a little extra clearance at the top of you battery box you can put down some of that grated plastic mat (like Dry Dek) on top of the bakeing soda and then set your battery on the mat. That keeps a nice air space under the battery as well as keeping the battery bottom out of any junk or liquid that might form in the bottom of the box.