Why is Neutralising Battery Acid and Cleaning Essential?

This article is going to tackle the question of Why Neneutralising battery acid and Cleaning your Battery is an important aspect of care and longevity with your cart batteries.

When it come to Low Speed Vehicles (LSV) which includes, golf carts, utility vehicles like the Club Car Carryall the process of cleaning your cart batteries is a key element in the overall health and longevity of your cart.

What happens during a charging cycle?

Hydrogen gas will be released into the air from your battery.  The hydrogen gas carries a number of different droplets, being water and also acid. THis gas finds its way into the other areas of your battery and over time if left alone, this will cause corrosion within your battery.  When we start talking about acid, this seems pretty natural to occur.  

Because of this acid occuring iit is very important to use a battery acid neutriliser and remove battery corrosion by applying a mixture of baking soda (sodiium bicarbonate) and water. You can pix this up in a bottle, but its best to use a spray bottle so that you can spray your batteries easily and remove the acid.  If you just use water to complete this you will not remove the acid but merely move it to another surface.

Here is a quick and easy formula to mix up at home that will remove the acid.

1 litre of water mixed with 2 teaspoons of baking soda.

Shake well before use.

Here are some steps for neutralizing and cleaning your batteries:

1.      Make sure all vent caps are closed tightly
2.       First neutralize, allow the mixture to sit for at least 3 minutes
3.       Use a cloth or soft thistle brush to wipe down the batteries (top and sides)
4.       Rinse the batteries off with clean water to remove the neutralizing solution
5.       Dry with a cloth
6.       Clean the battery terminals with a battery post and terminal cleaner
7.      Reconnect the battery terminals