battery washers - how long do they last (prevent corrosion)

I have been getting alot of blue-green corrosion around my battery
terminals. It still happened after I replaced my battery. It seems that
this is caused by the tin wearing off on my battery terminals exposing
the copper. While I will consider replacing my terminals at some point,
I currently have been using those felt battery washers. Does anyone
know how often they last before they need replacement? Any other ways
to prevent terminal corrosion buildup? I hear that vaseline and other
greases are not good as they will leak into the terminal connection.
Thanks

 

There is some spray on stuff that resembles acrylic that will seal
things up for you. Comes in a small red can; check auto parts store.
Only a few dollars.

Lg

 

When I tried those felt washers, the connectors on my Accord would not
seat far enough down on the tapered posts to tighten properly because of
the felt thickness. I think they would work best with the older style
connectors. You can also use electrical anti-oxidant available at the
hardware.

dan

 

The blue green corrosion is caused by battery acid on copper. The copper will
last the life of your car if you get rid of the damn acid that is eating away
at it.

Fill a bowl with warm water and baking soda (about a 1:8 solution). Remove
the terminals from the battery. Generously wipe down the battery with the
solution. Do the same inside and out of the terminals. You'll end up with white
crud all over your battery, but it's pretty harmless and can be hosed off after
the acid is neutralized.

Find out why your battery spewed it's acid. Is the car overcharging the
battery. Did some fool overfill the battery?

 

Mine last forever. I soak them and the terminals in heavy oil regularly.

 

wrote in

No, it's caused by the post-to-case seal being broken through mishandling.
Corrosive gases seep out, causing corrosion.

A carefully handled battery will not suffer from this problem.

 

Return the battery. It's leaking acid at the terminals from damage or
poor construction. Good batteries don't do that.

Sulfuric acid fumes to some extent so it's destructive to nearby metal
as well as the terminals. It can corrode the copper cables under their
insulation and it can corrode the chassis near the bottom of the
battery. You might not notice the damage until something breaks a few
years from now.

 

Be careful with that stuff. It becomes really hard, and it's near
impossible to remove. I spread out one sheet of newspaper, but a
small amount of overspray was permanent on my garage floor. The
can said it contained MEK, so maybe some super-nasty MEK brush
cleaner might do the trick. Acetone certainly wouldn't get rid of
it. Oh - the stuff I used was marketed by Exide, but someone else
likely made it.

I've also tried gel-type corrosion inhibitors from Permatex and
Victor. Those don't dry up - they're still rather messy after
they're applied.

 

It appears we have the same "stuff"
My can says: Exide CRO/GARD Battery Protector
with red tint
eliminates corrosion and oxidation

Says it contains:
Toulene
Acetone
Methyl Ethyl Ketone.

IOW, it appears to be liquid "acrylic"

It's on my battery terminals right now, and there is zero oxidation
apparent on either the terminals or cable clamps.

Then again, there might be zero oxidation even without this "stuff"
As one other poster mentioned, outgassing is what is doing this, and
if your battery is excessively outgassing, it is time to look at both
the charging system ( for overcharging ) and the battery itself for
breaks in the seals.

The car battery is IMO one of the =most= neglected pieces of equipment
under the hood of any automobile. Not to say other things aren't
neglected also.

Lg