7up to clean corroded battery terminals

[KXCam22]

I was cleaning some badly corroded battery terminals and connectors on a golf cart. I read about using cola to clean them. It worked OK but took lots of scrubbing with a wire brush. Then I found a can of 7up in my desk (at work) so gave that a what-the-hell try. Wow!. The 7up cleaned 100% of the green corroded deposits off without any mechanical scrubbing or brushing. It took about 10 minutes to completely dissolve all the deposits and leave bare shiny copper. There was a vigorous fizzing chemical reaction. Took 2 cans to clean them all and you could tell when it wore off as the fizzing stopped. Thought this might help (or at least amuse) somebody. Cam.

 

[txav8r]

@KXCam22 Cam, I have 4 6V golf cart batteries in the motorhome. They are protected with vasoline I think, anyway, they are a mess. They aren't corroded that I can tell, but I would like to clean them up and use the red cherry spray to protect them as it won't attract dirt and grim like vasoline. Any ideas on cleaning that up?

 

[KXCam22]

Mine were similar with the red protectant spray. Soaking in 7up will clean the copper with a bit of wire brush scrubbing the old red stuff will come off. The vaseline should wipe off. I usually use vaseline but didn't on this cart since it is my work transportation (pulpmill) with lots of sawdust fines blowing around. I figured the vaseline would turn into a snowball of wood dust. I just posted this since I was fascinated at how well 7up cleaned copper. Cam.

ps I ended up buying a new set of batteries. Thats what you get when you forget to add water....ever.

 

[bronze_10]

I grew up on a dairy farm and we used Pepsi to do the same thing... Its like magic..

 

[txav8r]

I wanted to pass along something I discovered when we bought the motorhome. It is a battery watering system. This is the single biggest issue besides maintenance charging, that batteries suffer from. The electrolyte level falls from using/charging, and many boat owners do not replenish it because removing the batteries in our boats is a PIA. I have AGM batteries on my boat for this reason. But most don't want to spend the money to put AGM's in the boat. A watering system makes keeping up with the electrolyte level easy. On my motorhome, I have 4 BIG 6V golf cart batteries, that serve as my house batteries. They are not easy to get to although easier than our boats with two or more batteries. I have the Pro-Fill system on the 6V batteries, but you would want to use the Qwik-Fill system on our boats. It is as easy as taking a gallon of distilled water out to the boat, hooking the quick connect on the battery bank to the hand pump hose, and pumping until it won't pump any longer. No spills, no leaks, no mess, and your batteries stay at the right water level. The come in a kit and you cut and fit to your bank(s). Here is a link for 12V marine application, and I will post this in a separate thread, but just wanted to share the info.

https://flow-rite.com/battery-watering/marine-rv/qwik-fill


Here is a video link to how to use them. There are installation videos and more on their website.

 

[itsdgm]

Makes you wonder what that 7up & Pepsi does inside our bodies Great info @KXCam22

I remember as a kid using Taco Bell hot sauce to clean a penny. Would never have thought to use soda on batteries and cables.

 

[KXCam22]

Gingerale was slower than 7-up but still worked. Cam