[simran]

I have Rex Baking Powder - Ingredients are Starch, Sodium Bicarbonate and Sodium Aluminium Sulphate.

I'll put 3 tbspn in a 1 ltr bottle and liberally wash the area ... i have put WD40 already, I hope that will not cause any problem.

Then will paint the battery holder over the weekend!

Since this was there for a few weeks, I hope there is no permanent damage. Will post pictures as well.

[rajeev k]

Ordinary baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) from the kitchen is best. Prepare a mild solution, rinse and wipe with a cloth all the acid water spills. Then clean with car shampoo or mild soap solution. dry with dry cloth or old towels and it would be fine. if the paint had gone apply primer and paint. The thing to be noted is that there would be spills for some more time till the level drops to a safe level.

This is a nasty thing which I had faced once when a guy at an autoelectric service centre did exactly the same to my M800.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

baking soda sounds like a good idea. Should give feedback, too by fizzing on contact with acid

I believe this is sodium bicarbonate (confirmation please?) just to help make sure nobody tries to sell you caustic soda*, which is as dangerous as dilute sulphuric acid.

*Sodium Hydroxide? Not so sure about this one.

Caustic soda (yes it is sodium hydroxide) eats thru metal and flesh/bones. It is 'Dangerous' with a capital D!

It is sodium bicarbonate AKA soda bicarb AKA baking soda. Yes it fizzes on contact with acid or acid encrusted surfaces like some battery terminals.

Originally Posted by simran

I have Rex Baking Powder - Ingredients are Starch, Sodium Bicarbonate and Sodium Aluminium Sulphate.

I'll put 3 tbspn in a 1 ltr bottle and liberally wash the area ... i have put WD40 already, I hope that will not cause any problem.

Then will paint the battery holder over the weekend!

Since this was there for a few weeks, I hope there is no permanent damage. Will post pictures as well.

You will need to use 2-3 TBSPs in a mug i.e. about 500 ml of water. Dont make the solution too dilute or it wont be able to neutralise the acid encrustation. One you have liberally applied the solution to the affected surfaces, wash off with plain water and preferably get all bare metal chassis parts coated with anti corrosion paint.

Cheers!

PS - I'm willing to squeeze the neck of ANY technician who overfills engine oil or any other fluid in my car. Overfilling bugs me like crazy! Fortunately my new battery is sealed.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by simran

Then will paint the battery holder over the weekend!

Don't just paint; either repair or replace. Car batteries are usually heavy. Then, there's the force of impact from unseen speed breakers & potholes. Your battery holder needs to be in good shape to support the battery. If it's badly rusted, I would recommend you to get a new one.

[goandude]

I have done 17k km on my dzire. At 15k got a carnation service done on the car where oil, oil filter, air filter and battery water was filled/changed. this morning while checking the engine bay found acid damage (white fluffy material) on the battery base and a air filter screw. located 4-5 inches away. The battery seems fine no damage and terminals are clean. enclosing a pic the top circle is the air filter screw, then the middle is the screw holding the battery in place.

what do I do?

[goandude]

almost two weeks and no reply. So I took my car to http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/mumbai...ba-mumbai.html and he said that nothing to worry as some acid spills out through the breather holes. He cleans the visible white stuff with water and his hands. Checks all battery parameters and says OK. However after a week the same white stuff reappears and this time it is much more than seen in previous post.

This is how it looked after removing the battery.

This is after cleaning with water and cloth. Note the corrosion on the sides where the metal has been eaten away.

Now a coat of paint is provided for protection (hopefully)

The battery going back.

Will let you know how things go after a while. Umesh Services is good for all battery work.

OT- Umesh saw the team bhp stickers and said "oh you are from team bhp? I know GTO. See here is his card" And he fishes out GTO's card with pride "Photo of my garage is on the website"

[Aroy]

Batteries are made way tougher than in past. In my case my Esteem was used by my son for five months. One fine day I find him pushing the car, but to no avail. On inspection I found the battery almost dry in all the cells. I filled up the cells with tap water, let it rest for half an hour and the car started! I have been advised by an expert to use only water (distilled is best, but normal municipal water is OK, until and unless it is hard water), no acid till it is checked with a meter.

Regarding acid spill. I have had quite a few, and always, take the battery out. Clean the area with plenty of water (including areas near it and hoses), dry the area, if possible paint the affected metal parts with a primer (keep a 50ml can of ordinary primer paint for all sorts of emergency touch ups).

Ordinary grease is affected by the acid, so desist from coating battery terminals with grease. Use petroleum jelly - Vaseline, and your terminals will never sulphate!.

No matter what the mechanics say, never fill the battery above the MAX mark. If the water evaporates frequently, check the charging voltage, and get it corrected if high. Overcharging will boil the water away from your battery within a few hours of driving, especially on long runs.

A trick I use to prevent the body damage due to acid spill is to make a cover from an old truck tube keeping the sides 3-5cm above the battery. That contains most overflows.

[dadu]

@goandude,

They did their best clean and repaint. You could have also used Baking Soda(Cooking soda in small ration shops) to neutralize the effects. The only thing you should be worried is the Air filter screw, if rusted or jammed it wont open and then you dont get only the top cover of your filter, you will have to replace the aseembly, try opening it and then screw it back with grease on its thread.

[goandude]

Originally Posted by dadu

@goandude,

They did their best clean and repaint. You could have also used Baking Soda(Cooking soda in small ration shops) to neutralize the effects. The only thing you should be worried is the Air filter screw, if rusted or jammed it wont open and then you dont get only the top cover of your filter, you will have to replace the aseembly, try opening it and then screw it back with grease on its thread.

That was an eye opener. Thanks. Will do as you suggest ASAP

[Rakshith220]

Originally Posted by GTO

Don't just paint; either repair or replace. Car batteries are usually heavy. Then, there's the force of impact from unseen speed breakers & potholes. Your battery holder needs to be in good shape to support the battery. If it's badly rusted, I would recommend you to get a new one.

Hello sir i am a newbie at team-bhp, I tried and searched all the possible sections of team-bhp but did not find any thread which was relevant to my query and hence i am posting my query out here regarding rusting or corrosion pertaining to Bikes caused due to Battery Acid Leaks!
I have a BAJAJ pulsar 220F August 2011 model and have clocked 5400 kms till date since i use my bike for only local rides around my home area and a weekend long drive of about 50 to 75 kms. It is regularly serviced at Authorised BAJAJ service outlets and is like a New Bike till date.

Coming to my Query, Recently i visited a exide battery authorised service outlet and got the electrolyte of the battery refilled (as it was a little low) but the service person with/without his knowledge filled the electrolyte to the battery's brim and ever since then the battery electrolyte started leaking out from the battery. Luckily the drain pipe was also installed during the refilling (on my request) but after about a week i noticed that the bike's main (centre) stand has started getting corroded (rusted) for which i immediately exchanged the old exide (acid) battery to Amaron (Dry) Battery and applied about two coats of black spray paint to the rusted area of the main (centre) stand but even after doing so the stand is getting rusted at the same area again after a week with certain whitish powder like formation and also brown rust at the spot which was seen even when the rust had just started on the stand!
Should i REPLACE the main (centre) stand (as you have mentioned in your above post) which costs about Rs.400 or is there a way i can restore the existing stand as the rust has just started developing only on the surface of the the corroded area of the stand? Please help.

Thank you in advance!
Regards,
Rakshith.