Clean battery with garden hose?

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Can one safely (without ruining the battery) clean a car battery by spraying it with terminal cleaner (the stuff that foams Pink if acidic) and then waiting a few minutes to spray it off with a garden hose?

My battery had been leaking and causing the battery securing bar to corrode. So I took it all off and out of the engine bay. Sprayed it and wire brushed it and few times and then gave it a fresh coat of Rustoleum BBQ High Heat paint. The battery levels all looked good but I wanted to clean off any corrosive acid from the battery top before reinstalling everything. Thanks.
 
And if it did, batteries are meant to have water added sometimes, so it's not like you're doing anything risky.
 
Originally Posted By: horse123
And if it did, batteries are meant to have water added sometimes, so it's not like you're doing anything risky.


Good point. My concern was that it wouldn't be distilled water (not that our city water is hard) and that the battery cleaner might get in also.

The caps felt snug when I reinstalled them. Not sure why it was leaking in the first place... driving in an area full of hills and a loose cap?
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Don't blow the caps off.been there myself lol

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Doh! Sounds like something that would happen to me...
 
I typically take a large cup of warm water and put a few spoonfuls of baking soda in it.
Stir it up, wait 10-15 minutes for it to dissolve as much as possible.
Then I go out and dis connect the battery and slowly pour the alkaline water over the acidic everything.
I make sure to hit the cables and the clamps to help slow acids.

Being that it's around 100 degrees these days it only takes a few minutes before everything drys out and you can button everything back up and go.

If you do this go slow. Vinager and baking soda react less violently than battery acid and baking soda.
 
Key words being "out of the engine bay." I wouldn't want to drive acid-water deep into the engine compartment/ subframe as it will corrode like crazy. Baking-soda water would too.

If you remove the battery and find acid in the tray, then neutralize with soda and gently rinse, but see that the rinse has a nice trip down to the driveway.
 
Yes, make sure the water doesn't put your acid in a worse place inside the frame or something. And I wouldn't even do it on the driveway either unless you have some gravel. It will stain concrete.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Key words being "out of the engine bay." I wouldn't want to drive acid-water deep into the engine compartment/ subframe as it will corrode like crazy. Baking-soda water would too.

If you remove the battery and find acid in the tray, then neutralize with soda and gently rinse, but see that the rinse has a nice trip down to the driveway.
This ^
 
Lemon Pledge furniture polish and some soft rags. You don't need chemicals, water, soap or anything else. The battery will look like new on the day it dies, brand new. Try it and let me know what you think.
 
I use sudsy ammonia for battery cleaning and acid neutralizing. Much easier and cleaner than baking soda.
 
I wash the battery in all of my cars annually. I never take them out either. Never a problem. I spray them with simple green...wait 5 minutes and rinse.
 
FWIW when they make auto start batteries and once they have been fully charged; they dump the acid, refill with the correct specific gravity then put in caps and it goes down a rinse line where water is sprayed and the acid washed off. Then it gets labeled and prepared for shipment.
 
I clean batteries with warm water and baking soda. Then wipe down with Pledge. Been doing it this way for the last 30 years or so. Battery will look like new. I also clean the tray while I have it out if needed. Baking soda again with a good rinse. Paint on any bare metal.
 
How is baking soda water going to corrode anything?

It's not even mildly acidic, even once it's been on the battery. You are overwhelming a very thin coat and limited amount of acid with much more of a basic solution (chemically). If anything, letting the baking soda water drain down will let it neutralize any acid that may be on the underlying battery tray and nearby metal
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The OP's batt is out, but the tray and area around a battery needs neutralizing too. The acid on top of a battery is from out-gassing, and it is not confined to just the battery... The whole area and the tray must be treated too.
 
Acid on a battery is from leaking post, not out gassing. If the battery is being overcharged and vigorously boiling or if the battery is overfilled then the gasses can carry acid molecules with it which get deposited on the top.

But the gasses are always the water molecule being split with oxygen and hydrogen as the expelled gasses. Very few batteries out gas or even need water added today. If one does need a lot of water due to heat, leaking post or overcharging more than likely you are lowering the specific gravity, this causes more gassing from overcharging and it is a spiral downward from then on.
 
I see this when using the two CRC products (cleaner/detector & inhibitor).

Batteries? I tend to wind up with replacement batteries that have caps/need water.
Are these subpar to the modern sealed batteries?
 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
I see this when using the two CRC products (cleaner/detector & inhibitor).

Batteries? I tend to wind up with replacement batteries that have caps/need water.
Are these subpar to the modern sealed batteries?
Sealed AGM batteries are much better. They operate with a pressure relief valve around 10 psi. This keeps the gasses and acid in the case. Both my OEM Hyundai batteries are AGM. One is from 2008 the other from 2010 and still going strong.
 
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