Allan,
I used Quick Cote for years until my local supplier had problems
getting it in a timely manner.
I never had a problem with it but then again, I never put it on
the lug/ terminal mating surfaces
prior to making the connections. Then I carefully coated the
terminals, making sure to not
miss any spots.
I've had several opportunities to have a look at the mating
surfaces years later and never found
any corrosion. I would imagine that grit would indeed create a
connection problem. But you say
you've never seen this yourself?
I wonder if the formulation has been changed recently?
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 2/22/2011 7:12 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote:
Wrenches,
Russ in our Taos office sent me the following query. I haven't
seen this problem before and told him so, but others among you may
know more.
What problems if any have you had with Quick-Cote battery terminal
coating? What else works really well and lasts the life of the
batteries?
From Russ:
We just had a situation involving Quick Cote on battery terminals
that has made us question its use for coating battery terminals
and cable lugs. We just installed a bank of HUPs on Monday using
Quick Cote. First we lost power with just the Trimetric and MX60
powered up -- using an ohmmeter I found the problem to be a single
jumper -- I got 7 megohms across two battery terminals connected
by a jumper -- so I replaced the jumper and got the Trimet and
MX60 powered up again. Then, when I powered up the OutBack
inverters, there were sparks on the battery terminals, and the
power cut out again. At that point I guessed that the problem
must lie with the Quick Cote, since ours has tiny crystals in it
(it feels gritty), and I thought those crystals must be holding
the cable lugs off the battery terminals a tiny bit. Sure enough,
Mark and I took the cables off, wiped off the Quick Cote from the
contact surfaces and applied vaseline, and when we powered up the
system, no sparks. (So, the jumper I removed probably wasn't to
blame for the first loss of power.)
Our container of Quick Cote stayed on the truck (which stays
parked outside) during the seriously cold weather we got this
winter, so it probably froze. I'm guessing that's when the
crystals formed. Nowhere on the Quick Cote label does it say to
keep it from freezing though.
We're going to go back out to another job to wipe off the Quick
Cote from the contact surfaces of the battery terminals and cable
lugs, since we just installed four new batteries there and used
Quick Cote, and I remember it being gritty at that time as well.
Is your Quick Cote gritty?
Russ
I told Russ that it always has been gritty. When it's dried out in
the can (they often leak), I have added an oil-based carrier to
thin it - usually WD40, as it's on the truck - and it's always
mixed easily. So it's definitely solvent-based and shouldn't be
affected by freezing.
I haven't had this problem before. I have found terminal bolts too
loose and that has caused failures, but never the coating.
Thank you,
Allan
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