What's the best practices to keep them from corroding? Spray worth doing? We use to just coat them with grease but made it a pain to work on later.
Best practices for boat battery terminals?
- Thread starter FlyingTexan
- Start date
Like life, it all comes down to choices. Either deal with whatever coating you choose to apply. Or else deal with the corrosion itself. Whichever you feel is easier, and / or less labor intensive.
I believe in...
using a battery maintainer/Tender or maintainers that can be setup/daisy chained for multiple batteries, will help with the sulfation(corrosion) that you are experiencing. Plugging in the maintainer(s) when ever possible, even overnight between usage. Also, if you have lead-acid batteries(LAB) with removal caps, that keeping up the acid/water level, helps as well. Along with whatever you prefer to coat the terminals with. I use dialectical lube.
https://www.crownbattery.com/news/sulfation-and-battery-maintenance
using a battery maintainer/Tender or maintainers that can be setup/daisy chained for multiple batteries, will help with the sulfation(corrosion) that you are experiencing. Plugging in the maintainer(s) when ever possible, even overnight between usage. Also, if you have lead-acid batteries(LAB) with removal caps, that keeping up the acid/water level, helps as well. Along with whatever you prefer to coat the terminals with. I use dialectical lube.
https://www.crownbattery.com/news/sulfation-and-battery-maintenance
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I've never had terminal corrosion issues in my boat batteries. They come out for winter and not in long enough and out of sight unlike a daily driver vehicle. I just give mine a shot of DeOxit when installing them for the season for the heck of it.
I have 4 batteries in my Lund Tyee Grand Sport. One is a LITHIUM 50 amp to run my Garmin live scope and my Hummingbird fish finder GPS system. Two large batteries are for the Terrova electric trolling motor and I have a regular starter battery. Therefore I use 3 chargers/maintainers and keep it plugged in all the time except when in the water or towing. I do not use anything on my batteries and have never had any corrosion problems but it's a fresh water only boat.
For our ocean boat's 4 batteries and terminals, I use the West Marine spray corrosion inhibitor for terminals. Lake boat gets dielectric paste.
That philosophy didn't answer the question though.
Normal BITOG behaviour, sorry to say.
CRC corrosion inhibitor.
Though on my personal boat I've never touched the terminals. I don't even pull/disconnect the battery over the winter anymore.
Though on my personal boat I've never touched the terminals. I don't even pull/disconnect the battery over the winter anymore.
They always corrode here. Have to do something at some point.
I just chip in when my brother in law rents a pleasure craft for family events. Way less headache.
Boats have never been a headache. I love them
Just pulled the Pathfinder down to the bayhome and hitting the water tomorrow.
These are the studs with a nut right? I have never seen corrosion there myself. I just went to AGM batteries in the boat. All 3.
I use a SS nut and lock washer. No wing nut.
Quite honestly I am just not seeing corrosion in any boat or vehicle battery.
I use a SS nut and lock washer. No wing nut.
Quite honestly I am just not seeing corrosion in any boat or vehicle battery.
AGM's are sealed better than flooded batteries. I've had no corrosion issues with AGM's. Just had to clean a terminal on a JD diesel SxS the other week for a no crank issue. Battery in it is buried outside under the cab and terminals are not easily visible. '22 OEM flooded battery.
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
WD40 works okay …
The 33 gets some surface corrosion on the house battery... but thats wet stored in the brine. The corrosion inhibitor fixed that for the most part...
My 19, the block is usually the issue. I even sank the thing and it was all still alright. Thinking about it though... I usually hose down everything with 6-56 at the end of the season which I am sure helps... I rebuilt the whole boat back in 24 so it hasn't been together long enough to have any issues yet. Gets reasonably good airflow where the battery is now so it may never be an issue. I will say the cheap cable ends caused all sorts of issues on the 330. The anchor or comparable ones fixed 90% of that. The cheap ones the tin on the ends would actually rust...
You can see the battery location here:
And thinking about it... that battery is 7 years old... I should probably replace it and clean all connectors.
NOCO spray..here in the PNW the marine air will get after even passenger car terminals. I've used NOCO spray for decades.
I use wires with ring terminal ends. Marine style battery lugs. Coated with silicone grease.
I think I have pics on here somewhere of it.
Still doing work.
In nearly 30 years of messing around with car batteries and doing it almost daily for around 20 years I would say crimped ring terminals and naval style lugs are the way to go.
But I'm also lazy and I'm not about to cut off perfectly serviceable and corrosion free battery connectors.
In nearly 30 years of messing around with car batteries and doing it almost daily for around 20 years I would say crimped ring terminals and naval style lugs are the way to go.
But I'm also lazy and I'm not about to cut off perfectly serviceable and corrosion free battery connectors.
Here ya' go. With complete hillbilly narration, all in under 30 seconds.