Rust in battery compartment

[tmmar]

I know that this has been posted before but it seems that the original thread has been closed and is too old for me to make a new post to.

I have noticed that I have been getting white corrosion and rust on the floor of the house battery compartment. I am going to remove the batteries so that I can clean the compartment floor and paint it. My question is, how long can I leave the coach with the house batteries removed and will the residential refrigerator keep running OK? Also, will anything be effected by leaving the house batteries out of the coach for a period of time?

Also, what is the best product that is readily available that I can spray on the floor that will take care of the rust?

Thank you all for your input.

[dave-g]

mine did the same- The white stuff- I believe is from the battery acid. I washed it down with baking soda to neutralize the acid.

I do not know if the inverter would be happy being plugged in with no battery's connected- but I'm sure you frig would be ok for a few hours unplugged.

[ernest917]

Battery boil-over is causing your "white stuff"....

I totally stopped that from to my battery compartment by installing a battery water management system onto my batteries almost a year ago.... No more boil over....

[dan-nickie]

I run an extension cord straight to my refrigerator whenever I need to have the power disconnected. I run it through the window.

[NO3putt]

Put water system on ours 6 years ago, no white stud since. Skip

[Maingler]

There is a transfer switch in the inverter. When the unit is plugged in the 120v power just passes through to the sub panel. So plug it in but be careful when removing the batteries because the inverter will be charging.

[NO3putt]

I believe there is a circuit breaker inside that will cut off all power to the inverter. Skip

[tmmar]

Okay, removed the batteries and cleaned up the compartment. In the process of painting the inside of the compartment. My next question is, when I reinstall the batteries, what is the sequence they should be hooked up in? Do I hook up the negative wires first then the positive wires or positive wires then the negative wires or is there specific sequence I should follow?

[KyDan]

I'm not a berky owner so please forgive me for posting here but I usually hook up the positive sides first.

My theory is that if I hook up negative first and then accidentally let my wrench touch any part of the frame or metal around while I'm connecting the positive it will be a short - positive to ground and cause a big spark.

IF you hook up the positive first and touch wrench to ground it 's not going to spark. Then hook up negative second which is ground any way so if you touch something (other than the positive lead) it shouldn't spark much or at all.

I'm sure others will have other ideas but that's my theory.

Back in the days of my industrial maintenance I've seen golf cart batteries in our "scooters and golf carts" actually blow up when shorted.
Do be careful and I strongly advise wearing safety goggles when working closely around batteries!

[NO3putt]

Tom, positive first, neg last is what I've always done. Skip

[tmmar]

Skip,
Thanks for the info. Should I attach all of the positive cables to the batteries and then all of the negative and ground cables?
Tom

[Mmnsc]

Tom
Only the last negative cable has to be attached last