Best practice for cleaning and protecting connections?

[Hedges]

Howdy UE, welcome to the party.

That will work great on my vehicle batteries which are Lead-Acid but if I ever need to do that to a LiFePO4, you will see a grown man cry.

Hey mate, just saw you concern about cleaning the terminals and connection well I know the approach which I found pretty good in some my clients case. Battery terminals can be cleaned with a mixture of baking soda and distilled water using a battery terminal cleaner brush. Afterward rinse the terminals with water, ensure that all connections are tight and coat the metal components with a commercial sealant or a high temperature grease. This is one of the approach which may help you or if you found out the better way I am open for suggestions.

p.s.: you won't last long here promoting your business. And you're showing your ignorance presenting inane suggestions (given the topic at hand.)

If you want to learn some new things from DIY and experienced people, hang around and read the threads. But the owner of the forum recently purged membership of almost all people from companies, except those who were actually helping.

 

[toms]

I use Alminox between the terminals and busbars. This is what the manufacturer says: “ Contains sharp, conductive zinc granules suspended in a viscous petroleum base. Under pressure these granules make high pressure contact points with the parent metal to effect a sound electrical connection, whilst the base material seals the joint to prevent further corrosion. ”

It also fills microscopic voids in the surfaces, to increase conductive surface area.

I use studs on my batteries, and loctite these in before applying alminox with a tinting brush (as already suggested). It doesn’t get on the threads past where the busbar sits.

Once complete, i wipe away any excess with a lint free cloth.

 

[WYtreasure]

I use Alminox between the terminals and busbars. This is what the manufacturer says: “ Contains sharp, conductive zinc granules suspended in a viscous petroleum base. Under pressure these granules make high pressure contact points with the parent metal to effect a sound electrical connection, whilst the base material seals the joint to prevent further corrosion. ”

It also fills microscopic voids in the surfaces, to increase conductive surface area.

I use studs on my batteries, and loctite these in before applying alminox with a tinting brush (as already suggested). It doesn’t get on the threads past where the busbar sits.

Once complete, i wipe away any excess with a lint free cloth.

Thanks toms,
Is the product your are referring to ALM325G?

 

[HRTKD]

I hope nobody got the idea that I was suggesting any of this paste be used on threads. If so, I did not intend for any of my comments to come across that way. I don't put anything on the threads of my cell terminals. Not even thread locker.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

So @upnorthandpersonal would you conclude, considering your experience and research, that 847 outperforms No-ox-ID, Noalox, Ox-Gard or De-Ox under normal (dry to humid) solar system electrical environments because it is an anti-oxidizer and more conductive?
I'm not trying to split hairs, just curious.

Yes, because the others are just to prevent oxidation and are non-conductive while 847 prevents oxidation, is conductive, and 'fills the gaps' in imperfect connections. It also means you don't have to be as precise not to use too much. Normally I wouldn't use it on copper connections or anything (and not on thread, or any other connections except the battery terminal), but these battery terminals are a bit special in that they are aluminium and can't be torqued much. The combination of these two leads to bad connections. A general corrosion inhibitor only addresses one of them.

By the way, almost anything in this field is toxic to aquatic life - you just have to make sure you don't discharge the material in nature.

 

[houseofancients]

The idea was to show that 847 can improve connection. Reason for doing it on plated copper is to take oxidation out of the equation for this. The compound (847) is a corrosion inhibitor as well and suitable for use on aluminium contacts for example.

been trying to find it here locally, but no luck so far.
where did you order it ?

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

been trying to find it here locally, but no luck so far.
where did you order it ?

Farnell has it:

https://nl.farnell.com/mg-chemicals/847-25ml/carbon-conductive-assembly-paste/dp/2811926

and RS as well:

847-25ML | MG Chemicals Conductive Grease 25 ml | RS

uk.rs-online.com

Digikey as well (Finnish link, sorry):

847-25ML MG Chemicals | Teipit, liimat, materiaalit | DigiKey

Tilaa MG Chemicals 847-25ML (473-1230-ND) DigiKeyltä. Tarkista varastotilanne ja hinta, katso tuotteen tekniset tiedot ja tilaa verkossa.

www.digikey.fi

They should ship to most of Europe. If not, Amazon.com from the US...

 

[toms]

Thanks toms,
Is the product your are referring to ALM325G?

Yes, that’s the stuff i use - there are a lot of similar joint compounds.

 

[Martijn]

The idea was to show that 847 can improve connection. Reason for doing it on plated copper is to take oxidation out of the equation for this. The compound (847) is a corrosion inhibitor as well and suitable for use on aluminium contacts for example.

Seen that mentioned before, just ordered some. Thanks.

Farnell has it:

https://nl.farnell.com/mg-chemicals/847-25ml/carbon-conductive-assembly-paste/dp/2811926

and RS as well:

847-25ML | MG Chemicals Conductive Grease 25 ml | RS

uk.rs-online.com

Digikey as well (Finnish link, sorry):

847-25ML MG Chemicals | Teipit, liimat, materiaalit | DigiKey

Tilaa MG Chemicals 847-25ML (473-1230-ND) DigiKeyltä. Tarkista varastotilanne ja hinta, katso tuotteen tekniset tiedot ja tilaa verkossa.

www.digikey.fi

They should ship to most of Europe. If not, Amazon.com from the US...

Digikey is shipping from the US, for a total euro Euro 56.

I just ordered from below, ships to NL for Euro 10,- for a total of Euro 33,-

MG Chemicals - Carbon Conductive Paste, 28,30 €

mg Chemicals 847 Carbon conductive paste, 25 ml

www.muellerbestellung.de

 

[WYtreasure]

I hope nobody got the idea that I was suggesting any of this paste be used on threads. If so, I did not intend for any of my comments to come across that way. I don't put anything on the threads of my cell terminals. Not even thread locker.

I did not get that impression. Thanks for reminding me to be neat and tidy.

Yes, because the others are just to prevent oxidation and are non-conductive while 847 prevents oxidation, is conductive, and 'fills the gaps' in imperfect connections. It also means you don't have to be as precise not to use too much. Normally I wouldn't use it on copper connections or anything (and not on thread, or any other connections except the battery terminal), but these battery terminals are a bit special in that they are aluminium and can't be torqued much. The combination of these two leads to bad connections. A general corrosion inhibitor only addresses one of them.

By the way, almost anything in this field is toxic to aquatic life - you just have to make sure you don't discharge the material in nature.

Cool, I am getting a clear picture in my head. Finally!
Whatever the product is, "A little dab will do ya".
Too bad about the aquatic life. I hope folks find a safe alternative whenever there is a chance of damaging the food chain.

Moving right along.
So far the oxidation removal products have included: sandpaper - wire brush - brass brush - steel wool - scotch bright (without oxides).

And the clean before assembly products have included: automotive brake & parts cleaner - electrical contact cleaner - pure as you can get alcohol - acetone - mineral spirits or mineral oil.

I believe all of the above will work for our purposes. Anyone want to select the best or is the horse dead?

I appreciate your experience and honesty. I agree, I’m probably overthinking all of this with a 12V system. I really just don’t know how much that I don’t know and I’m glad I asked. Thank you!

I'm glad you asked as well. And if you don't mind, I'll assume the "overthinking" position for a few more posts.

 

[HRTKD]

The brake parts cleaner is, in my opinion, an extreme. For most situations, it is unnecessary. Like huge overkill. I used brake parts cleaner on my (bare) copper bus bars because they were covered in cutting fluid from when I drilled the holes. I used plenty of brake parts cleaner (outside, while wearing a 3M breathing apparatus) to thoroughly clean the bars. I then sanded them as needed, blew off the dust (outside) with compressed air and then did a final cleaning with a lint-free paper towel soaked in denatured alcohol. After that I was careful to avoid touching the nice shiny contact surfaces with my fingers or lay the bars on something that could transfer a residue.

For tinned surfaces, I think you want to avoid scratching the surface. I would use a very high grit sandpaper, like 2000 grit or higher, only if the surface was rough. A tinned bus bar created by a reputable manufacturer shouldn't have much in the way of surface imperfections. Otherwise, clean it with a lint-free cloth and denatured alcohol and apply whatever conductive, anti-corrosion paste you prefer.

I have an arsenal of chemical cleaners in my cabinet. Denatured alcohol is probably the most user friendly of the bunch.

 

[Hedges]

Too bad about the aquatic life. I hope folks find a safe alternative whenever there is a chance of damaging the food chain.