Discovery: Discovery 39L Filthy Batteries

[JohnLoves2Sk]

When I got my new-to-me RV, the batteries were only a year old, but were filthy. I pulled them all out, cleaned them all, put them all back in, and after a couple of trips, I took a peek at them, and found them to be filthy again. I understand that the compartments need to be relatively open to disperse hydrogen, but has anyone come up with a method to direct airflow so that road dirt doesn't constantly get flung up into the battery compartment?

[Mark_K5LXP]

I use 1/8" thick sheets of expanded PVC. It's light, inexpensive, easy to work and impervious to acid. I use silicone seal to affix the panels/shields onto/within the compartment. For extra credit you can mold the sheet into custom shapes with a hot air gun.

Hydrogen does need to vent but even for a large set of flooded batteries a few square inches is more than plenty. A small gap along one side away from road spray, or a PVC pipe elbow through one side pointed down as a vent covers it.

You definitely want to mitigate the accumulation of junk on the tops of your batteries. It promotes leakage currents between the terminals which compounds the issue of moisture induced terminal and cable corrosion.

Mark B,
Albuquerque, NM

[Bigd9]

I simply hose the battery compartment down everytime I'm around a water source. Only takes a few seconds and they stay clean looking. Every once in a while I will spray the batteries down with CLR Battery cleaner wait a few minutes then hose it off.