Leaking battery - can I patch it?

[zmoz]

I have a standard flooded lead acid battery which is leaking a little bit where the terminals come out of the plastic case. This obviously causes the battery terminals to become very corroded very quickly. Other than that the battery still works great. Could I just try and seal off the terminals with a bead of JB weld? Or maybe a different product? Any reason why I shouldn't do this?

[terry5732]

Why did it crack?

Did it freeze or are the vents plugged?

Any epoxy type material would be fine but you must cleaned and roughen the surface well. Maybe even make a little bigger space to force a little inside for adhesion. You can "weld" propylene cases with a soldering iron but the areas where you do will be less pliable and possibly prone to future cracking. Use strips from an ice-cream bucket or milk jug for your "solder".

Check the cause before administering cure.

[zmoz]

I have no idea why it's doing this...just a manufacturing defect I guess. The battery is about 4 years old. It didn't actually crack, it's just leaking where the plastic stops and the lead terminals start, so plastic welding probably wouldn't work.

[Vince]

Been down this road with a polypropylene tank.

From the JB WELD website FAQ:

Q: Is there anything that J-B Weld WON'T bond to?

Any flexible rubber surface

Leather

Vinyl

Canvass

Polypropylene plastic

Polyethylene plastic

[wpowokal]

Common problem, clean well with distilled water wet cloth, then apply sealastic, may not take 100% to the lead terminal but IMHO the best option.

allan down under

[zmoz]

Ok...what exactly is "sealastic"? :-)

[BruceDownunder]

Hahaha,

Silicon sealant -  shower sealant,gutter/downpipe sealant/boating window sealant/glass sealant/cylinder head gasket sealant/ the list goes on --check out your local building/hardware supplier.

bdu